Cancer's like the ultimate excuse. Who's gonna say, 'Oh, no, you have to show up for this one?' 'Hey, I got cancer. I can't be there.' It's the ultimate eraser.

[The 44-year-old singer, who was diagnosed more than a year ago, is now cancer-free.] Instead of taking five or six of the prescriptions, I decided to go a natural route and smoke marijuana, ... Dateline NBC.

I've been a rock star since you were very young. But I've never encountered anything as powerful as cancer.

I've worked since I was 11 years old, playing music and following the dream, and shaking and moving and doing it. And then, you have cancer and it was like 'Ooooohh.' It was like a big eraser. It was the only thing in my life that had ever made me just stop.

I can be a rock star with a television show and still have a self-esteem problem. So it's nice to have your dad go, 'Hey Melissa, I'm proud of you - you're doing good.'

Once I overcame breast cancer, I wasn't afraid of anything anymore.