I want to give a child a life who wouldn't be given a life. I want a child that nobody else wants.
I think a lot of people have a problem with the fact that I've adopted an African child, a child who has a different color skin than I do.
Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross and the Jackson 5, that's what I grew up on.
Because I was a dancer, I started going to auditions for musical theater, which forced me to sing.
I had decided that if I was going to be a singer, I had to earn it. I had to learn how to play an instrument.
When I left Michigan and I came to New York, that was my goal, to be a professional dancer. And I sort of fell into singing by accident in a way.
I think of myself as a performance artist. I hate being called a pop star. I hate that.
I love being a mother. My children fill me up in many ways, and inspire me in many ways, but I need a partner in my life, and I think most people feel that way.
Being famous has changed a lot, because now there's so many outlets, between magazines, TV shows, and the Internet, for people to stalk and follow you. We created the monster.
If you have children, you know you're responsible for somebody. You realize you are being imitated; your belief systems and priorities have a direct influence on these children, who are like flowers in a garden.
I went to the University of Michigan for one year, and fortunately they had a foreign-film cinema, and I discovered it, and I thought I died and went to heaven.
I think it's fun to get in a room and sweat with people. I'm happy to share my workouts with everyone.
I'm guilty of eating Magnum bars before I go to sleep at night.
I've always danced and exercised. I can't imagine not doing it. I'll be Martha Graham in my 90s doing contractions on the floor.
I live - I live a highly scheduled life. There's absolutely no time wasted. I'm very focused. And I have a great assistant.
I wear the Jewish star, but I'm not - I haven't converted to Judaism, and I'm not - I'm not - I'm not Jewish in the conventional sense because the Kaballah is a belief system that predates religion and predates Judaism as an organized religion.
Writing is a very intimate thing, especially when you write lyrics and sing them in front of someone for the first time. It's like a really embarrassing situation. To me, singing is almost like crying, and you have to really know someone before you can start crying in front of them.
When I first moved to New York, I wanted to be a dancer. I danced professionally for years, living a hand-to-mouth existence. I never tapped into nightlife; all I knew was dancers. We went to bed early and got up early and went to free concerts at the Lincoln Center and Shakespeare in the Park.
Where you record is very important. It can't be too nice, it can't be too expensive, it can't have a view to an ocean or a field.
You realise that having a number one record and being loved and adored isn't the most important thing in the world. But at the same time, I don't have a problem with it. What I'm trying to say is, I'm not a reluctant pop star.
