I was married for 36 years but now I'm free.

I'm a great believer in letting lyrics just flow out, wherever they come from.

A great song can make a terrible singer sound good, but a good singer - you put a great song on top of that, you're really in great shape!

I never felt like I had a mother.

All guys get into music because they love music and they also want to get the girls.

I don't remember feeling love.

My grandmother had this high-tech security system - a rusty nail she used to lock the door.

I'd been in love before - I was always in love.

My earliest memories are being pinned to a fence with a switchblade.

I was the most subtle person in the world.

I'm never in my life going to do a record that's a tribute to myself. I don't need it.

China's got a billion people and a hit record over there is a million records. You know that ain't right.

My son is a hip-hop producer.

I guess hip-hop has been closer to the pulse of the streets than any music we've had in a long time. It's sociology as well as music, which is in keeping with the tradition of black music in America.

Frank Sinatra took me to a whole new planet. I worked with him until he passed away in '98. He left me his ring. I never take it off. Now, when I go to Sicily, I don't need a passport. I just flash my ring.

Sidney Poitier and Sidney Lumet were instrumental in helping me get started as the first black composer to get name credit for movie scores.

Everybody, no matter what vocation they're looking at, should add music as an essential to their curriculum. Music can be a very important part of your soul and your growth as a human being. It's so powerful.

When you work with Ray Charles, Billy Eckstine and Frank Sinatra, and you tell them to jump without a net, you better know what you're talking about. Thank God I was ready for it.

I was rapping in 1939. It's old. The roots are complex. And kids don't know.

Melody is king, and don't you ever forget it. Lyrics appear to be out front, but they're not; they're just an accompanying factor. If they're good, you're really in good shape. Lyrics are written to be rewritten.

I think the attraction of 'American Idol' is about the basic human nature attitude that is, 'We can put you up there. But we can take you down.'

I met Ray Charles at 14, and he was 16. But he was like a hundred years older than me.

After I learned the piano, I went on to learn percussion, the tuba, b-flat baritone, French horn, trombone, trumpet, most of the instruments in the orchestra. Trumpet was my instrument.

I live on the Internet.