If you noticed, I wear high-water pants and white socks, which is inspired by the mod '60s, like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, what have you. That style of dress during that time is really, really dope to me.
I'm really into, like, characters - music characters like Sid Vicious and Kurt Cobain - just, like, how they are and stuff. Like Lil Wayne.
Those folks at Death Row were the Rolling Stones of their time.
I was heavily influenced by big voices when I was younger. People like Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, and Patti Labelle really spoke to me. When I got older, I was into Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and Lauryn Hill, but it wasn't until I started working with a voice coach that I really dove into jazz music.
When it comes to the stage, I can't help but be inspired by people like George Clinton, Elton John and Alice Cooper.
Two of my biggest musical inspirations are Kurt Cobain and Chris Cornell.
I didn't really have a mentor, but I have always definitely been inspired by the '70s - the Stones, Patti Smith, Anita Pallenberg.
I was a huge Beatles fan. The Stones, Dylan. Later on, I got into Stevie Wonder, and Bill Withers - he's one of my heroes. Al Green, too.
When I grew up, I had influences as diverse as Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix.
My favourite singers are people like R. Kelly and people like that.
Madonna, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe - they were myths of greatness.
I didn't even respect singers until I heard Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong.
My favorite artists are Kanye West, Jay Z, the Fugees, Lauryn Hill, Destiny's Child.
Lauryn Hill's always been a hero of mine. And Bruno Mars, Janelle Monae and Adele, those are the current artists I would reference in terms of who's been able to do really amazing pop records with really cool, organic throwback elements of soul in there as well.
More and more, there are things in my life that I find hard to say. Like, 'David Bowie and Lorde were at my birthday party.' She's a phenomenal spirit.
I grew up in the sixties watching B.B. King and Tito Puente and Miles Davis and Coltrane, everybody, Marvin Gaye, Jimi. And at the same time, with my left eye I was watching Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Mother Teresa.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame traditionally has had a management style that is very supportive of American talent, first and foremost, over everything else. And I think that's right and proper.
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.
So I wouldn't see Wings as a band that would go into the Hall of Fame, to be honest.
I've interviewed everyone from Joe Strummer to Iggy Pop.
Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. They're my biggest heroes. I love everything about Leonard Cohen: his lyrics and his voice. He seems like a really clever man, and Bob Dylan does as well. He's just really cool.
I love the Beatles, and when I was very young, I had young parents, so Led Zeppelin and Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles constantly were big influences on my life.
The only difference between The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, and Chubby Checker is that they get their music played on the radio.
Being around people like Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and Roberta Flack, all these greats, I was taught to listen and observe.
I think Lady Gaga is talented. Madonna is talented, and the flair that Michael Jackson had. He was talented! Whatever it is that they do, they must be doing something right. They do have an audience out there, so I respect that.
