A black man singing about a blond girl was potential trouble.

Fans are what make a performer and I've always taken them seriously.

Singing as a full-time job was not something I had given a lot of thought to and I had no clear notion of the money to be made in it.

There is an intimacy about the Opry Theater that gives an entertainer a special charge.

The time I spent thinking about how I was better than somebody else or worrying about somebody else's attitude was time I could put to better use.

I was always a dreamer, in childhood especially. People thought I was a little strange.