Yolanda Adams

Gospel is just the truth of the word of God. Anybody can sing it, anybody; anybody can perform it.

I'm very involved with kids because after being a teacher for seven years, I just can't stop loving the kids. I am a teacher forever.

I started out in a professional choir at 13 years old. We traveled to different places, and I had a close relationship with the leaders of our choir. We were recording when I was 15, so it wasn't like I had to wait until 25 to find out certain things.

Nobody talks about how Puffy went to Howard University or about Lil Wayne attending the University of Houston. All the young kids know is what they see on the videos. They don't realize that these guys have taken managerial and business courses, and know how to brand and how to market themselves. They're very smart.

I didn't grow up in one of those restrictive Christian households where you couldn't do this or that. We were brought up with a great collection of good morals and good values, but we also had fun. We'd go to church on Sunday, but then have ice cream, roller skate or play in the park afterwards.

Those of us who are blessed, we owe it to our fellow citizens and folks who we are around to do something special for them.

When you win a Grammy... you're thinking about you winning. It is amazing. Your peers and folks in the record business are saying, 'This is what we think of you.' And that's why the Grammy will always be, to me, the ultimate in what you get as far as a music trophy, because it is the one.

You have to take criticism with a grain of salt because you're never going to please everybody.

I do a medley of hymns in all of my sets, whether I'm in an arena, in a theater, in an amusement park.

The great thing about Gospel is that you don't have to have an album every year in order to keep working.

The more I grow, and the older I get, the more I am enjoying my life and know how precious it really is.

You can live a wonderful life, you can love God with all your heart, and you can love your husband or wife very passionately and have a balance in your life. I live by balance.

I cook everything from Italian to Cajun food. I have now mastered the roux for gumbo. I love cooking.

The only time I really eat out is when I'm on the road. Then, I make the same choices that I would make at home - salmon and lots of oily fish and veggies.

It's not just about getting a song on the radio or appearing on television. It really is about helping people change their lives one day at a time.

I truly do have the most amazing child on the face of the earth. I know all parents say that about their child, but Taylor truly is special.

I'm very respectful in everything I wear. I think about it.

Luckily, I don't have to be anybody but Yolanda, because people don't expect me to be anything other than who I am. For an artist, it's a great place to be.

I truly believe that my songs bring the answers and the solutions, as opposed to just talking about the problems. My music at its core is joyful.

God is love. He loves everybody. He loves you.

I was brought up by great parents and great grandparents who told me, 'Never, ever think that you're better than anyone else or that what you do is so important that the world won't miss you once you're gone,' and I kind of translate that into the stardom thing.

Of course, my faith has a lot to do with being able to be public without being a public nuisance.

You don't just become number one because you sing like everybody else. There is something different you bring to the table. Make sure you are constantly getting into the newest technologies. Learn the history of what you do, and always respect the ones who came before you.

I think more people in the mainstream, folks like Nancy Wilson and Luther Vandross, they have openly expressed their love for God, and when mainstream artists start expressing their love for God openly in their concerts and including gospel songs in their concert, and, you know, people started embracing it.

Tramaine Hawkins has been a mentor, a confidante and an example of greatness. She has been through a lot in her life, and her career has spanned over 50 years. To me, that's what you call a legend.