I always loved Sam Cooke, because he seemed very versatile. He sang gospel, soul, blues, pop music.
I grew up singing Ray Charles and Jimmy Reed.
I remember going up and doing 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' with Paul Simon, Santana playing up there with us.
When I was growing in the Callope project, we had an oval parkway. Pavement ran around this whole thing. We'd skate or ride bicycles. There were benches and trees out there. It was paradise to us. They finished building it the same year I was born.
Through the years, I found we had Native American blood in us. My great-grandmother came from the island of Martinique, and they hooked up with the Native Americans of Louisiana.
My dad and my mom were big Nat King Cole fans, so they had everything he did.
