My mom and I have always been very close. She is my best friend. She had to make a lot of sacrifices early on in my life to make sure I got to do what I wanted to do.

My mom brought me up to believe that my talent is a gift and a blessing.

Thankfully, I have my mom and a small group of close friends who are there for me 24/7 and whom I can trust and depend on.

I remember watching the Grammys and looking at the performances and crying to my mom, saying how much I wanted to be there.

I always wanted to be a mom.

When I was younger, I had a perm, and it was really big. My mom was a hairdresser, so even my dad had a perm! I looked like a poodle, but it was cool at the time.

I'm a lioness. I have four cubs. I'm a mom. I want to take care of my kids and protect them.

My mom is at my house every day, and she nags me about everything, especially hygiene.

I remember driving to North Carolina when I was a little girl in a snowstorm to get down to my mom's family in the Carolinas. There were chains on the car - it was the late sixties - and we were just singing in the car. Christmas carols.

When I was little, my mom tells me, I used to say things like, 'Mom do you hear the string section? Do you hear the string section?' And she would look at me and say, 'No honey, I don't know what you're talking about.'