Aretha Franklin

You cannot define a person on just one thing. You can't just forget all these wonderful and good things that a person has done because one thing didn't come off the way you thought it should come off.

We've come a long way, but there is still a lot of discrimination.

Sam Cooke had a huge influence on me. He left the gospel field at one point and went into the secular, and he had this huge hit, 'You Send Me'. Irma, my older sister, and I heard 'You Send Me' on the radio while we were driving through the South one night. We had to stop the car. We got out and danced around the car out on the highway.

It really is an honor if I can be inspirational to a younger singer or person. It means I've done my job.

Yes, I've always been fashion conscious.

Music changes, and I'm gonna change right along with it.

Gospel goes with me wherever I go. Gospel is a constant with me.

Be your own artist, and always be confident in what you're doing. If you're not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it.

We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It's our basic human right.

Being the Queen is not all about singing, and being a diva is not all about singing. It has much to do with your service to people. And your social contributions to your community and your civic contributions as well.

Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It's transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It's uplifting, it's encouraging, it's strengthening.

Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift.