I think I had a lot of bad hair moments. In the early 80's just sometimes I wore purple lipstick or green lipstick.
Gay men are perfect men for girls who are tough. They're not threatened by strong women, and they're usually very in touch with their feelings and pay attention to details. I've always had an affinity with gay men.
The definition of S & M is letting someone hurt you that you know would never hurt you.
I'll stop doing everything that I do when I don't want to do it anymore.
One thing I've learned is that I'm not the owner of my talent; I'm the manager of it.
Everyone went out and bought Sex, it was sold out in two seconds. And then everybody slagged me off. That, to me is a statement of the hypocrisy of the world that we live in. The fact that everybody is so interested in sex but won't admit it.
I don't even remember why I called myself an idiot. I can be very harshly critical of myself. It depends on my mood, and obviously it depends on where I am in my life. Yes, embracing myself - I'm working on that.
I panic every time I put out a record. I think every artist does.
People have this idea that if you're sexual and beautiful and provocative, then there's nothing else you could possibly offer.
I have the same goal I've had ever since I was a girl: I want to rule the world.
I don't give a damn if I go to hell. I love you Satan. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
I feel like I've survived so much, and been through so much. And sometimes I miss the innocence of those times. Life was different. New York was different. The music business was different. I miss the simplicity of it, the naivete of everyone around me.
I wouldn't have turned out the way I was if I didn't have all those old-fashioned values to rebel against.
I was a buffoon and an idiot until the age of forty
Sometimes I was in a mood to write a song as if I was writing in my journal and reveal certain parts of me that I was ready to reveal.
It would be so helpful for the straight community to see men in powerful positions coming out and saying "I'm gay" so they don't have these preconceived notions that all gay men are smarmy idiots living on the street or whatever it is people think of gay men. I think it would be really helpful and productive.
Part of the reason I sort of shot out like a cannon out of Michigan and left home at such an early age is because I had to feel independent.
The only way I've been able to survive the betrayal of lovers, family members, and society is to be able to create as an artist.
The idea of service to humanity, putting yourself in situations where people have much less than you do, puts life in perspective.
Once you start turning over rocks and reaching out to help people, there's a whole avalanche coming right behind it. And it seems never-ending. But when you see the fruits of your labor, you feel like it's possible.
I grew up in a high school where it was very conservative, and I felt like people disapproved of me, and I felt like an outsider.
I became an overachiever to get approval from the world.
I think they were scared of me because I was different.
All the criticism is ultimately a blessing in disguise. Because now people know about Malawi [due to the child adoption]. And now people know about the orphans there. And hopefully it's gonna turn around. And a positive is gonna come out of the negative.
My goal from the very beginning was just to write good songs that don't require any production to be felt or understood. I wanted to be able to sit in a room with a guitar and play the song from beginning to end and have it be as impactful as if you heard the studio version with all the bells and whistles.
