"I don't need no one to tell me how to sing. I just open my mouth and everything comes out."

"I never had a lesson in my life. I never learned to read music. I can't read music. I play by ear, and I sing by ear."

"I've been in love with a lot of men. But I've never been married to any of them."

"I don't know what I'd do without music. It's the only thing that keeps me going."

"I don't dig that 'happy' jazz. I like to hear a guy play his horn, and I want to hear what he's thinking."