As women we have more of a tendency to be people-pleasers and I know a lot of women who are not vocal about what makes them happy.

I progressed through so many different styles of music through my teen years both as a player and a vocalist particularly the jazz and pop of the early 20th Century.

I'm sure any vocal teacher that listens to me would rather cut my throat than do anything - I do everything all wrong - but I think for me that's the best - because I don't think I have a voice so I think what I project would be style - if I learned to sing I'd lose my style.

I was very inspired by my mother. She was a vocal teacher and sang in a band and my first memories of her were going out with her on the local circuit.

They read their sports pages know their statistics and either root like hell or boo our butts off. I love it. Give me vocal fans pro or con over the tourist types who show up in Houston or Montreal and just sit there.

I had a vocal coach. It's a sad thing but I had to hire someone so that I could get my Australian accent back.

The only thing I would unequivocally say is that I have never had any interest in romantic comedy I just couldn't do it. I think I'd be terrible.

For my part if I consider poetry as an object I maintain that it is born of the necessity of adding a vocal sound (speech) to the hammering of the first tribal music.

My commitment to the Republican movement was pure and simply patriotism a love of Australia... a desire or passion that all of our national symbols should be unequivocally and unambiguously Australian.

When I get recognized for 'Twilight ' it's usually a teenage girl and they're usually really loud. So it certainly feels like I get recognized the most from that but it could just be because of the nature of how vocal those fans are.

I write the vocals last because I wanted to invent the music first and push the music to the level that I had to compete against it.

Most songs have meager beginnings. You wake up in the morning you throw on your suspenders and you subvocalize and just think. They seem to form like calcium. I can't think of a story right off the bat that was that interesting. I write things on the back of my hand usually and sing into a tape recorder.

If I feel strongly I say it. I know I can do more good by being vocal than by staying quiet. I'd have a whole lot more money if I lied but I wouldn't enjoy spending it.

When I was six years old my friend was auditioning for 'Annie ' and I decided I wanted to audition with her. My mom was worried I would fall flat on my face because I'd never opened my mouth to sing so she sent me to vocal lessons. I did the audition and fell in love with the entire process of a show.

The church's teaching on marriage is unequivocal it is uniquely the union of a man and a woman and it is wrong that governments politicians or parliaments should seek to alter or destroy that reality.

And I loved Fats Waller. I love his instrumental abilities his vocal abilities and his sense of humor.

All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This and not much else is the essence of leadership.

I want to state upfront unequivocally and without doubt: I do not believe that any racial ethnic or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge regardless of their background or life experiences.

What Whitney Houston has accomplished will never be accomplished. She's the most famous person on the planet as far as vocaling and her songs. So I'm very happy that I can sit here and say I had a chance to know her. And I'm still dazed that she's gone. But she lives because her music is so powerful.

Our society needs to recognize the unstoppable momentum toward unequivocal civil equality for every gay lesbian bisexual and transgendered citizen of this country.

The Brown decision promised that every child regardless of the color of his or her skin would have unequivocal access to quality education and an equal opportunity to pursue his/her dreams.

I am fussy about my diet and straining my voice. I know sounds a bit over the top. But I'm not as bad as I used to be. These days I don't drink alcohol for five days before a show - very dehydrating for the vocal cords and all that acid reflux. I used to ban it for a fortnight. Nightmare.

My parents loved each other. I was raised in a house of total love and respect. My dad worked very hard and my mother was incredibly devoted to him. I can unequivocally without any peradventure of doubt tell you that I was raised with the kind of love that we only dream of.

The music I want to hear in my head sounds somewhere between Jimi Hendrix and Massive Attack. It's not really like my dad but there will always be similarities because we have the same vocal cords and I learnt the guitar the way he taught me.