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" I actually started as a concert pianist. I had a scholarship to the Julliard School of Music. "

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" I have written for, very fortunately, some great singers from Frank Sinatra to Elvis Presley. "

" I was one of the first American rock n' rollers in the '50s to go to many foreign countries. It's a wonderful thing to go out and spread joy and love rather than hate. "

" I love America, and parts of New Jersey remind me of Newfoundland - rolling hills and gardens - it's great! I guess that's why they call it the Garden State. "

" I was driving my 1959 Chevy Impala down King's Highway in Brooklyn with the top down, and I heard 'Oh! Carol' on three stations at the same time while I was channel surfing. I knew then that I made it. "

" I did have my beginnings in doo-wop music; I had a group called the Tokens in Brooklyn. They went on, of course, to do 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and a lot of other great things. I went on as a soloist. But I still love doo-wop music. "

" I take care of my voice. I don't go to loud discos where I have to shout; I don't have iced drinks. "

" I like Maroon 5, Cold Play. Snow Patrol from Ireland is very good. Adele is wonderful. I enjoy a new singer named Rumer. I don't care for rap or hip-hop. "

" I didn't want to be a rock and roller. I wanted to be a Bobby Darin because he was the epitome of the performer, the sophisticated. "

" My songs lie somewhere in between the evergreen standards, rock n' roll and pop. "

" You have to learn how to sing from your diaphragm, and you don't become a great performer overnight. It takes a while. The more you do it, the better you are. "

" The Apollo Theatre was a difficult audience, and if they didn't like you, they would let you know. Luckily, they liked me. "

" I think I was put on earth to sing and play music. "

" I used to think the whole world was Jewish. "

" I was a teenage idol, but not the one that the girls would put up on their walls, like Fabian and Frankie Avalon. I was more cerebral, like a Roy Orbison or a Buddy Holly. I was one of the few who could write songs. "

" I could have been bigger, but I wasn't controversial enough. I didn't do drugs or wreck rooms. There were no dramas in my private life. "

" Much of my music is inspired by what I heard at picnics and weddings and bar mitzvahs. "

" I'm not afraid of poking fun at myself. "

" Family has always been very important to my life. Even though I make my living as an artist, my creativity is merely a fantasy world. Having a close family has been a stabilizing rock for me. "

" I admire Gaga. She's very talented and wise, that girl. "

" Andy Warhol was a good friend of mine. We used to go to the Studio 54 nightclub together with the likes of Liza Minnelli, and we'd dance through the night. "

" I have inner peace; I have accomplished a great deal. "

" I knew I had a remarkable voice, but I was embarrassed because it was so high. But when I sang at my bar mitzvah, the rabbi was in tears. He said to my parents, 'He must become a cantor in the synagogue,' but my mother said, 'No, he's going to be a concert pianist.' "

" Music is so much a part of me: my parents told me that when I was an infant, I wouldn't eat unless the radio was playing music. "

" When the Beatles came to America and took me off the map, I thought I would return the favor, and I moved the family to England! "

" I worked at Mar-a-Lago for Trump, for some parties, and he seemed nice enough - but I don't think he's presidential. I think he's incompetent; I disagree with his policies, and I'm nervous as an American. "

" My teachers said, 'Always keep a Beethoven sonata under your fingers.' I always have. I still play chamber music, and I always play classical. "

" America has a tendency to chip away at you if you've been a success for a long time, whereas in Europe, they put you on a pedestal. "

" I tend to be on the quiet side. I think I would have been bigger if I had a big mouth. "

" I rode on a plane a couple years ago with Snow Patrol and didn't know who the hell they were. They said they were big fans of mine and were playing Madison Square Garden. And they let me listen to one of their records on their iPod. I started to weep. "

" These are some of my awards - an Ivor Novello, a Variety Club Silver Heart, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. I also have a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and a street named after me in Brooklyn where I used to live. "