Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.

Mariah and Whitney Houston were my goddesses growing up.

It’s almost schizophrenic who I portray in my music.

I get a thrill meeting kids who are into alternative music.

If you look deep enough you will see music; the heart of nature being everywhere music.

I’ve gotten used to being Frank Ocean.

I’ve been on tour since I was 16, and I always do meet-and-greets before and after shows, so you kind of build these friendships with people. I have girls come up to me and tell me exactly what’s going on in their love lives.

Few are drawn to the person whom others avoid and neglect; people gather around those who have already attracted interest.

I don’t think I’d ever make an album of just covers because I love writing my own music.

My whole life, I’ve sung and listened to music, and since the beginning, I’ve had iTunes and used Apple Music for streaming.

In music the passions enjoy themselves.

I’m no hillbilly singer.

I’ve been a huge fan of Chris Martin forever; it’d be awesome to work with him. He’s really kind, and he’s been really encouraging when we’ve met.

The concept of loneliness and exile and self-sufficiency continually bucks me up.

Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.

Mick Fleetwood was one of my first interviews. And if you’ve ever talked to that dude, he’s the sweetest guy in the world – he’s just a trip.

People are already finding ways to make their music and play it in front of people and have a life in music, I guess, and I think that’s pretty much all you can ask.

I wanted to be in a punk band before I had even heard any punk music.

I really love Linkin Park, and I loved Chester Bennington, and it is horrible what happened to him. I grew up listening to him because my dad would make these mixtapes with a lot of different artists – Linkin Park, Avril Lavigne, The Beatles, Sarah McLachlan, I just really loved Linkin Park, and their production is really sick.

I say, ‚Yeah, Taylor Swift.‘ I think she is a smart, beautiful girl. I think she’s making all the right moves. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’s surrounded with wonderful people. Her songs are great. She keeps herself anchored. She knows who she is, and she’s living and standing by that.

I just hope people don’t get sick of us. I’m sick of us and I’m in Destiny’s Child.

Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.

Being an artist doesn’t just mean you have a song. That doesn’t make you an artist. The word ‚artist‘ means so many different things, and I feel like to be a real one, you really have to do it all. The people that I think of as artists – Tyler the Creator, Childish Gambino, Kanye West – are doing the most.

I really like hip-hop and rap; that’s my main influence. I really wanna be more of a hip-hop artist.

I always use Michael as, first and foremost, a vocal inspiration, and ‚Off the Wall‘ was definitely the one that made me feel like I could sing.

I’ve noticed a lot of younger artists have less fear of doing different sorts of things, whether it’s various types of music, or gallery artists moving between video and sculpture and drawing.

I’ve always been a singer. I never really decided I was gonna be a singer. It just kind of – I just sung a lot.

When I won the first Grammy, there was no other feeling like that feeling. It just made me feel like I came so far, like that was just a dream a few years before that, and then it was happening right then.

I love movement. I love moshing.

In Puerto Rico we dance to everything.

Five or six songs leaked from the original version of ‚Encore.‘ So I had to go in and make new songs to replace them.

I think if I did something in the pop world right now, it would be for Rihanna. I’d love to do something production wise for her.

My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.

There are only 3 colors, 10 digits, and 7 notes; its what we do with them that’s important.

I don’t have time to stand around and listen to an 11-minute song.

I was arrested for lip-syncing karaoke.

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.

Rhythm is something you either have or don’t have, but when you have it, you have it all over.

I knew the second I finished the first record – ‚House Of Balloons‘ – and had all this material leftover that a trilogy would be best.

Music in itself carries a whole set of messages which are very, very rich and complex, and the words either serve to exclude certain ones or point up certain others.

I’m pretty sure in my older years, I’ll be doing old-time flavored folk-mountain music.

My experience with songwriting is usually so confessional, it’s so drawn from my own life and my own stories.

Latin music is universal.

My fans don’t feel like I hold anything back from them. They know whatever I’m going through now, they’ll hear about it on a record someday. They’ll hear the real story. There’s a little bit of lag time. It’s not as instant as going on a gossip blog. But it’s much more accurate.

I believe in singing.

We are all so much together, but we are all dying of loneliness.

I listen to music that is of our time and I just get angry.

I couldn’t have written things like ‚Low‘ and ‚Heroes,‘ those particular albums, if it hadn’t have been for Berlin and the kind of atmosphere I felt there.

I love the song ‚I Hope You Dance‘ by Lee Ann Womack. I was going to write that song, but someone beat me to it.

I’m an iPod person.

I don’t like the name, U2, actually.

My grandfather once ventured upon publishing a volume of hymns. I never heard anyone speak in their favour or argue that they ought to have been sung in the congregation. In that volume, he promised a second if the first should prove acceptable. We forgive him the first collection because he did not inflict another.

I used to love Kurt Cobain, when he was telling people we’re a pop band. People would laugh, they thought of it as good old ironic Kurt. But he wasn’t being ironic.

The thing about hip-hop today is it’s smart, it’s insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable.

Hip-hop is ever changing but you’ll always have the pack. And you’ll always have those people who are separated from the pack.

What inspires me about rap is that it’s written in an almost poetic way. I just think it’s so cool.

I made an album I’m very proud of, and that’s about it.

When you have nobody you can make a cup of tea for, when nobody needs you, that’s when I think life is over.

I respect Drake not only as a creative person but as a business mind as well. I think Drake’s important.

I’m not claiming divinity. I’ve never claimed purity of soul. I’ve never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can… But I still believe in peace, love and understanding.

My songs are the door to every dream I’ve ever had and every success I’ve ever achieved.