I did it to myself. It wasn't society... it wasn't a pusher, it wasn't being blind or being black or being poor. It was all my doing.

I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great.

I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great.

I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me - like food or water.

My music had roots which I'd dug up from my own childhood, musical roots buried in the darkest soil.

Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory.