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I've always strived to be successful, not famous.

I wanted to be successful, not famous.

My story of success and failure is not just about music and being famous. It's about living and loving and trying to find purpose in this crazy world.

It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous.

I never set out to become 'famous.' I mean, when you're 14 you think 'I'm gonna become a writer and people will want my autograph and that'll be cool,' but you grow up and you learn that's just not how the world works. I resigned myself to the fact that I would probably never be published and if I did it probably wouldn't be a big deal.

I've never been overwhelmed with a desire to become famous. It's not that I didn't want to have my work appreciated, but for some reason - maybe it's because my father disapproved of almost everything I did - in some secret place in my being was a desire to avoid success.

I became famous, I think, really because of the interpretation of other people's songs, way back when, and that's what I enjoy the most. And I'm a lazy bugger.

Being famous is not something that would make me feel successful - unless one was striving for mediocrity.

I've always been successful. Now I'm famous and successful.

For me, it's never been about being famous. I just want to be a successful singer. I wanna work hard... If I'm in the papers, grace, but I want to be there for the right reasons - for my music.