Natalie Cole
I started saying, 'I don't want to be crazy anymore.' I need to make some changes. And the first thing I started doing was just got all the men out of my life, because that was a big problem for me. That was a crutch, if you will. You know, trying to define yourself through other people or men, in particular.
The worst I think that I ever was, when 'Unforgettable' had come out, and not long after that I was on - I was on my way to my second divorce. And that was a crushing, crushing blow.
I'm a born-again Christian. I was raised Episcopalian - I've always been of a Christian faith, but I became much more active in it when I married my first husband, Marvin. I changed from Episcopalian to Baptist.
I still love recording and still love the stage, but like my dad, I have the most fun when I am in front of that glorious orchestra or that kick-butt big band.
Life is such a gift, I just say thank you all day.
The medication I had to take was a form of chemotherapy. You feel like death every day. No appetite. No energy. But the treatment worked. It cured my liver 80 per cent but compromised my kidneys.
Losing people is dark, but some things you just have to accept.
When I sang my father's songs in concert, that was all people wanted to hear. I was always asking myself, 'Can I measure up?'
I've always been an extremist. Some of us have very addictive personalities, and for some of us, that mechanism gets tripped up. Mine certainly did. I'm not cured. You never are. The recovery is a day-to-day process.
Physically, I've seen a change in my life. No, I haven't had a face lift or anything like that. I've grown. That's God's countenance.
I've always adored my father's music, but ever since I'd started singing, whether it was while I was still a student at the University of Massachusetts or professionally, I avoided Dad's material.
I was determined to create my own identity. My first hits, in fact, were straight-up rhythm and blues. My voice was compared to Aretha Franklin's - though, for my money, no one compares to Aretha.
As miserable as I was, once I started singing, I felt better.
I'd sometimes fly for 14 hours, then go straight to dialysis. I spent a little time being tired, but we managed. I'm not a pity-party person.
We are born with two kidneys and only need one to survive. Maybe God gave us the other one so that we could give it away.
Like my father, I don't want to see anyone mistreated, anything like that. I'm very racial-conscious because my father had a lot of, you know, challenges in the area of race. I'm very sensitive to that kind of issue.
I was going to college to be a doctor.
One thing that stays the same is my passion for music. Other than that, I've become more dedicated. I think that I really work much harder than I ever did when I first started at my craft; I'm more dedicated, and I have become a perfectionist.
I don't think anyone can measure up to what my father had achieved. I'm just happy to at least play some of his music, but he is really the one who was the pioneer, the one who started all this. He's really The King.
My father was a pioneer in so many ways. He was fearless, and I think that I kind of picked that up from him as well.
I think that it's going to be interesting to see where Beyonce's career goes.
I like Kelly Rowland, I think that she's great. It's hard to come out of the group of Destiny's Child and still kick some butt.
Being my dad's daughter has allowed me to do a lot of things that maybe another artist might not be able to do or wouldn't be necessarily embraced doing.
I didn't realize I was still grieving for my father at 30-something.
I think it just came to a point where I made a decision to do better with my life and health. And that is only by God's grace because there are no guarantees.
I get hugs all the time from strangers. I do believe that people can feel your persona when you perform live, but it is one of the nicest things if you can translate that on your records.
I think people hear the warmth in my voice and the friendliness, and they think: 'Oh, she must be a very nice person'.
There were so many groups that I had in college, but I was always the solo singer. But what made it so unusual back in the day was that I was a black girl playing with all these white musicians, and I was also singing rock music on top of it.
It's remarkable what a new kidney does to your life. I have no complaints... I'm pretty amazed. I have been working on my stamina.
A lot of people want to donate a kidney, but they're not in a position to because they have health issues of their own, and a lot of people need them. That's why the list is long and it takes a long time.
My friend was on dialysis for six years before he got a new kidney. I was on dialysis for eight months. I'm almost not even the typical person who has kidney failure.
When you reach 50, what you care about is being honest, being accurate, and being an example.
I like to grow and experiment, and as an artist, it's about kicking the bar up a little.
People say I look younger than the music I'm doing just because the songs are older. Hopefully I can keep my youthful look!
When you make your living as a singer, you have to go where the gigs are.
Even when I had no money, I spent everything I had on clothes.
If you don't shop smart, you get a little trendy.
The dialysis is to wash my blood, to keep my kidneys functioning.
I love what I do so much. I just keep going. Not much can bring me down.
I thank my dad for leaving me such a wonderful, wonderful heritage.
There are a lot of great artists with great voices who aren't singing what they should be singing.
I'm the type of person who won't cancel a show even if I don't feel my best.
I felt that if I'm serious about acting, I would like people to see me as an actress. It's less of a stretch if I'm singing, unless I'm playing a character who sings.
It's the subtleties of a ballad that truly make it beautiful - and it's all in the way you present it to the listener.
I like Babyface, but he keeps the good stuff for himself. If he's willing to give his good stuff to me, we'll talk. But it can't be any of his B-grade stuff.
I'll never totally get away from being who I am, which first, to many, is the daughter of Nat King Cole, which became even more intensified with the 'Unforgettable' album.
When I did 'Unforgettable,' it wasn't appropriate for us to take liberties with that music. There had to be kind of a fine line between what had made it so great and the fact that a woman was singing it. We changed some of the arrangements, but not too much.
I would hate to look back on my life and go, 'You know, I wanted to do a rock n' roll album. I should have, and I never did.'
One of these days, I'd like to put together a revue of all my music, which would probably turn into a marathon. There's a couple of hit songs from almost every phase of my career. At the same time, visually, if you don't handle it properly, it could be a cacophony of craziness, because there's just so many different kinds of music.