The public has become my fairy godmother.

I don't carry myself as a black person but as a woman that belongs to everybody. After all, it's the general public that made me - not any one particular group. So I don't think of myself as belonging to any particular group and never have.

I'm an orphan. But the public has adopted me, and that has been my only family. The biggest family in the world is my fans.

Aren't fairy godmothers supposed to be nice and make you feel better about yourself?

...No, you're confusing fairy godmothers with sales clerks.

I never identified with anybody. I have always been very sensitive about my color, because everybody called me 'yellow gal.' I was caught in between both sides - nobody wanted me. I love that my audience is there, but I always feel as though I have to fend for myself.

Don't depend on other people to be responsible for you. Don't make yourself stressed out over nonsensical things like material things.