Record Quotations | Page 9

I'll always write music. Whether I release a record, whether I let the public hear it or not, I'm always writing music.

I sketch while I'm on set, and it's a way for me to record all of the locations I've been to. I don't keep a diary but a sketchbook.

I urge younger artists to know that you don't have to be anything you don't want. You can do whatever's comfortable for you. From the music I make, to the things I do in my life, I'm true to my R&B core. I have the capability to make pop records and crossover, but that's not my aim.

I would hate to think of the theatre world without critics. Without them, we'd not have the record of each season.

I don't think you can cover a song unless you love it and have a relationship with it. With 'Golden Heart' I felt a sense of responsibility. And when we were recording it in the studio, it felt almost dream-like. Something you might hear if you were in Senegal, with someone singing from the mosque in the morning just as the sun's coming up.

You know, we opened a record number of stores last year.

If I go away, I take a little picture of my son. It's in a frame with a speaker, and he recorded a birthday message for me when he was nine or 10. I can't listen to it without filling up.

In 2004, I went onstage for the first time. They put a mike in my hand and pushed me out the door into the crowd. I did the three songs I had recorded and got out. It was the worst day of my life.

We're in that phase. It's been 50 games. We should have some consistency by now. But we're not there. We just haven't put it together. That's why we have the record we have.

We're in a wonderful situation that there are loads of American record companies that like what we do. And that's a lovely thing.