I grew up in Christianity. They preach a lot that you should get married and be a wife and be a virtuous woman and all of that. So I was so eager to do that, and I didn't really take the time I needed to grow into my own. And I ended up running into a really bad situation. I didn't even really date my ex-husband. We just kind of jumped into it.
I'm proud of my curves, my daughter, as well as the harsh past that helped shape me into the strong woman I am today.
Sometimes when you do interviews, it gets twisted up.
I stay true to myself, my daughter. I just remember where I came from - I remember what I'm coming from - and then I remember why I do what I do.
I decided to be heterosexual because I felt like that's the life God intended me to live.
I do what I do to inspire people. They can't be inspired by an ego, a big-headed person. It doesn't work. It doesn't match. And I really want to be that role model for people, for children. I want to be real. To my fans, I want them to view me as a real person. Don't put me on a pedestal. I'm human. I make mistakes, I cry, I hurt - just like you.
My ex-husband didn't like my singing. He didn't like my hair. He hated my eyes. Everything. Everything he complimented me on when we first met, he just hated.
First time I sang, I was singing Alicia Keys in the bathroom of my mom's beauty shop. I was six.
Everybody is a human being. We should be able to coexist with one another.
I have never spoken for anyone but myself.
A lot of people behind the scenes were telling me that I was going to have to do something with my hair, my weight, all of that stuff.
Labels, boxes, and politically correct terminology all seem small and irrelevant when being compared to the violent and brutal attacks on the lives of people who are different than what society says we should be.
People say a lot of hurtful things, but in a way, the abuse that I endured from my husband prepared me for that. The things I had been told and drilled into my head from him were worse than what anybody could say to me.
A lot of the former Idols were voting for me, and that makes me feel really good.
I learned that sometimes our struggles are a little bit bigger than us and talking about them and coming through and having the courage to get out of them. I learned how many I touched and inspired through the journey of 'Idol' because I was just singing on the show. I wasn't really being an advocate for anything.
The reaction that I got from 'Diamonds' I would have expected to get from 'House of the Rising Sun' or one of the other songs.
Growing up, Tina Turner was definitely one of my influences, and, um, I take things from different artists, and I put them in my music, and I put them in my persona and my - they help me form into the artist that I am, so - for people to actually hear that come through the music is exciting.
My fans are so loving and encouraging. They're with me on good days and bad days.
I don't want to come off as one of those artists that's not down to earth and real.
To be honest, if it wasn't for my daughter, I don't think I would have gotten out of the situation that I was in before 'Idol' because I am a domestic violence survivor.
