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I worshipped Ethel Merman and I worshipped Ethel Merman a lot. It's incredible - Ethel Merman was a conventional singer. Her naming her child Ethel Merman, Jr., was, to me, one of the coolest feminist things.

The ones the listeners loved most of all in those early years were the four Lennon girls who became the whole nation's little sisters.

I trained as a ballet dancer and fell in love with Rudolf Nureyev; I thought him the most beautiful creature. My mum had to break it to me that not only was he gay, but he was dead.

As a little girl growing up in a small farming town in Michigan, my idols were women like Marlene Dietrich and Rita Hayworth.

Growing up, my ideals were Barbra Streisand, Cher, and my mom.

I respected Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. Those were my heroes, and they were 10 years older than I was.

My inspirations include the Beatles - love, love, love them - Elton John, Carole King, and Stevie Wonder.

I was on Kanye's Yeezus tour as a dancer, but really, I was a Vanessa Beecroft model. I was one of the three 'dancers' who couldn't dance and was more of an accessory than an individual. Vanessa was pretty involved. Her style is about a lot of standing. It's very simple but haunting.