To get to record and to do things with the legends, and with the people that are your musical heroes, that's the biggest honor as an artist.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
It is always an honor to work with those that share your passion for music and just enjoy making great music.
I think that when you're making your way up in the music industry, you have all these heroes and the reasons why they are your heroes. As soon as you get into the industry, your guidelines change a little bit. For me, my heroes now are great people first and great artists second.
There's a tremendous amount to be gained from being a performer, and being an artist, and being an actor.
I've had the honor to be in sessions with great artists.
It really is an honor if I can be inspirational to a younger singer or person. It means I've done my job.
The biggest honor of my career was when I won R&B Artist of the Year back in the 1970s. I look at that as a major honor.
Anytime someone uses one of my songs for anything - a ceremony or a sacred moment - that, to me, is a high honor. I'm proud of the song at that point because I'm trying to write something for humans - whichever humans want to get on board and put this in their soundtrack to their soul's development or spiritual lives.
To have someone to relate to and hopefully enjoy the music and get a positive message out of it, to make the best music that we possibly could, those were the goals.
Being called a 'music legend' is a very funny thing. It's nice to know that my work has been appreciated and that people have given me that status. On a personal level, however, I can't think about it too much. It means a lot... but then it doesn't.
Music is my life, professionally, for nearly 60 years. To be recognized by the academy is still the highest honor.