I also started writing songs because I had this burning activity in my heart and had to express myself.
There are so many things that we could do to change the world in so many aspects. There are people working in nonprofit organizations, tackling the issues that we so desperately need to face, while governments fail so appallingly.
If one woman is suffering, then we are all suffering, and we need to put a voice to that.
The general population still thinks HIV is something that came in the 80s and went away, or that it only affects the gay population or intravenous drug users.
Fame for fame's sake is toxic - some people want that, with no boundaries. It's unhealthy.
Success breeds the excitement to continue going.
I think the whole experience of being a human being on the planet is such a mystery, to be honest. Trying to figure out one's purpose and [asking] "What is it all about?"
I enjoy multi-tasking, so I want to do a lot of different things. I want to keep all the plates spinning.
I think life on the road really suits very egotistical men. It's set up for kings.
I think music is the most phenomenal platform for intellectual thought.
In a sense, the music business and I haven't always been the best of bedfellows. Artists often have to fight their corner. Your music goes through these filters of record labels and media, and you're hoping you'll find someone who'll help you get your work into the world.
I stand on the shoulders of giants that have gone before me, in terms of affording people like myself, women, the access to democracy, the vote, medical treatment, education, everything that I've been given. It's all been earned. Therefore I feel it's incumbent on me personally to just contribute something, to add to a collective voice that needs to be here right now, to build it up to a tipping point, to make the world aware that women's rights still have to be addressed and that the word 'feminism' has been devalued and needs to be reclaimed.
When you get to be nearly 60, you do take stock. You don't know what's around the corner.
I like where I live here, in London.
Whatever you do, you do out of a passion.
I love to make music and stay grounded.
When you go to Africa, and you see children, they're usually barefoot, dirty and in rags, and they'd love to go to school.
I was perceiving myself as good as a man or equal to a man and as powerful and I wanted to look ambiguous because I thought that was a very interesting statement to make through the media. And it certainly did cause quite a few ripples and interest and shock waves.
Although I have lived in London, I have never really considered London my home because it was always going to be a stopping-off point for me, and it has been too.
Over the years, I was never really driven to become a solo artist, but I was curious to find out who I was as an individual creative person. It's taken some time, but now I feel I've truly paid my dues. I guess I'm at a point now where I'm more comfortable in my own skin.
It's a very telling thing when you have children. You have to be there for them, you've got to set an example, when you're not sure what your example is, and anyway the world is changing so fast you don't know what is appropriate anymore.
Feminism is a word that I identify with. The term has become synonymous with vitriolic man-hating but it needs to come back to a place where both men and women can embrace it. It is particularly important for women in developing countries.
I don't think feminism is about the exclusion of men but their inclusion... we must face and address those issues, especially to include younger men and boys.
It's hard to tell how far women's individuality has come in the past twenty years.
There is a big difference between what I do onstage and what I do in my private life. I don't put my living room on magazine pages.
