I'm so sad to hear the horrible news of Amy Winehouse's death. I'm so happy I knew you Amy...Rest Well. Gone Too Soon...we'll miss you!!

Appearance is something you should definitely consider when you're going out. Have your girlfriend clip your nails or something like that.

I guess I had it made. My mother gave me advice - she taught me that women like to be looked in the eye - and my grandmother gave me condoms.

The beauty about living in Atlanta is that there aren't too many paparazzi here; you can just relax. And that really works for me and my children.

Artists who are relevant today won't be tomorrow unless someone does the right thing by their character and preserves it in the dialogue of a movie.

As you go down the rabbit hole of reading into our history, you realize that there are so many things that history books didn't teach us about ourselves.

Artistic development made me who I am. Somebody took the time to help me find what it is that works for me as an entertainer and who I am as a music maker.

Every time you come out with an album or a song, you want to feel like you're growing a bit in what you are and giving people something that they can feel.

The unique essence of being an artist is dying. Eveything looks the same. Now there’s a formula. And it works. - But it takes away from the reason we do it.

As a kid, looking at Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, New Edition, the Temptations, Motown, people who I felt were huge artists, they made me wanna do something.

Marketing is more important than it has ever been. But I'm trying to tear the layers back and make it not so contrived. I think people just want entertainment.

I have this bodyguard so if I get tired of signing Autographs I ask him to step in. It's hard because people get angry at you, but I've got a life to live too.

If [after one role] you believe that you've mastered acting and you don't have to study the craft or get a deeper perspective, then you're not going to succeed.

In time we grow older, we grow wiser, we grow smarter, and we're better. And I feel like I'm becoming more seasoned, although I don't have my salt-and-pepper hair.

I wouldn't call myself a coward, no way. But being buried alive is something I could never handle. The only way you'd see me being buried alive is if I was dead, man.

I never hated my father. I would have named my child Usher regardless. I never hated myself because I carried his name, because I made it mean what I wanted it to mean.

I want England to understand - the rest of the world to understand - what is going on in America. And I want America to understand what is going on in the rest of the world.

Music is not free to make. Studios are going under because people now work at laptops. Quantity over quality is what begins to happen; the idea of what quality is has changed.

I'm a sponge, the more I absorb, the more I am able to articulate my vision, as artists do, like Picasso. I'm an artist in that light. I went from being an artist to an artiste.

I create from a place of passion. It's like a pregnancy, where you create from a place of passion, and then it grows, and then before you know it, you want to push that baby out.

In life, you have to go through something to get to something. From that, the inspiration comes having something of substance to talk about; otherwise you're just considered to be fluff.

If somebody steps on your shoes and ruins them, don't freak out.. get a new pair of shoes. If you miss something, don't freak out.. there's nothing you can do to change it.. just move on

I think anybody, not just children, is a product of a great environment. If you put them in a better environment from a sad situation, nine times out of 10, they'll go in the right direction.

It can never be bad to have a foundation as a man - a black man - in a time when women are dying for men. Women have started to become lovers of each other as a result of not having enough men.

My music is about where I am at the time. In 'Raymond vs. Raymond,' I was going through a lot of things, and it came out in my music. My marriage fell apart, and I was suddenly a single father.

I guess we're all kinda searching for a connection with something that's relevant to our past and speaks to who we are, and maybe helps us make a connection to what we are, and where we come from.

When I reflect on the issues that black Hollywood has had with the lack of representation at the Oscars, I realized that we have a responsibility to tell stories that are meaningful for our history.

Breaking up is a natural evolution when you try to figure out what you want in life. If you're with an individual who isn't moving in the same direction and at the same rate that you are, it ain't going to work.

Success is about dedication. You may not be where you want to be or do what you want to do when you're on the journey. But you've got to be willing to have vision and foresight that leads you to an incredible end.

For a woman to be able to dominate and also be feminine and soft, that's a talent. And its not all about appearance. A woman who has a brain, who is street-smart and book-smart, that woman is very, very sexy to me.

I'm a go-hard type. It's in my DNA. I physically prepare my body as if I'm a trained athlete. After the shows, I sit in an ice tub and do a hot dip, cold dip, and sometimes I sit in a hyperbaric chamber to rejuvenate my energy.

How do I define who Usher is? I'm still doing it - every day, every new opportunity, every stage, every interview, every other thing that I've done, every time that I've invested in anything that is all the definition of who I am.

It's a mission for me to make sure that philanthropy doesn't feel like a vintage hand-me-down from mom or dad. I want people to feel compelled to do something positive because they just love it, they're excited about it, and it's cool.

Normally you don't have the benefit of preparing someone to pay homage to you and what you've done in your life. Usually, you pass away and someone does a tribute to your character and who you were during a specific period of your life.

I think it's important for us to believe in one another's capabilities. If I didn't have someone to believe in me, I wouldn't be the individual I am today. Neither would I strive for new territory or new direction or to believe in myself.

I went through a soul-searching period. I went to a place that was a little bit more reflective and dark. I began to look at who I am, who I was, where I come from, what my culture is, and who I am as an African-American person in America.

When I was 14 years old, I was talking about much more mature things because of the writers that I had at the time. My first album was tied into what the culture was at that moment, which was Jodeci, Al B. Sure, Puff, The Hitmen. I reaped the benefits of being part of Bad Boy's movement. That was my introduction.

I learned how music works dealing with Jermaine Dupri, and I learned how image works dealing with Puff Daddy. ... Singing is an acting role within itself...I've gone through a lot of trial and error to find what works and what doesn't. With that comes an understanding of how to offer the same opportunities to other artists. ... In my opinion the world is in need of real soul music. ... I'm a flamboyant type of guy, a cooler version of Liberace. ... I'm a younger Morgan Freeman. ... I've been working so hard, I'm about to have a Mariah Carey.

The first time I got a chance to meet Michael was onstage at Madison Square Garden. There were tons of people on the stage, and I just remember losing my mind. Like, Oh my God, that's Michael Jackson right there. I was just over his right shoulder. And then when I finally got a chance to get on the stage with him, I was just shut down. He had the type of magic that you just bowed to. I just said, "I love you, and I know you've heard it a million and one times from fans all over the world, but you've meant so much to me as an entertainer, and I love you, and I've admired you all these years.

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