"I'm singing the hardest song you could possibly sing at this hour of the morning . when I was sixteen months old, although I didn't become a citizen until I was actually about 9 or 10 years old . I had to leave the country to become a citizen, because we had to go to Canada -- and I'll never forget that trip as long as I live. But it was very important for me then, and for them today, What more special day can you have: July 4th in the American Mecca. It doesn't get better than that for them. Well, I'll tell you this -- and I can base it on my own feelings. The beauty of this country is that you can become a citizen of this wonderful nation, and still keep who you are: your culture, your lifestyle. It's a melting pot that allows you not to melt if you don't want to. And it's a wonderful place. I love this country. I really admire it: its ideals, the freedom, the things it stands for. As an immigrant that came from a country that doesn't have those freedoms and still doesn't have them -- which is Cuba -- it's much more special to me: To be able to live here and to be able to have the life that I do in this country."

“The last thing I wanted to do was put politics into my music . . . because music was my escape.”

“When I did "Unwrapped" -- that's one of my favorite albums I've ever done in my life -- I love it when someone listens to the whole album. But I would rather them be able to buy some songs that they like, than not buy the album at all . . . . You can't fight technology. You can't fight, you know, the consumer.”

“I could not feel my legs, and I knew that I was paralysed. For me, this was a premonition of my worst fate proved right. When I was a child, I always ran up the stairs two at a time, and when I reached the top I would say to myself, one day I won't be able to do this because like my father I will lose the use of my body. Now I knew it had happened. For months afterwards I was locked back in myself, just as I had been when I was a child. But also part of my premonition had always been, strangely, that I would lose my body but in the end it would be all right.”

“It is so important for me to keep authentic Cuban sounds alive. All of these great artists have changed the landscape of Latin music and it's an honor to have them on this album . I believe this album will expose a new generation to the richness of Cuban music.”

“I only used my whole life one perfume: and it's Cartier's Le Must.”

“Now my life is pretty much bliss. I have two healthy children and a great marriage . I still have one ambition: to do a concert in Cuba. It's the beginning of the end for Castro and, well, I've performed for every audience of practically every nationality except my own. Performing there would be one ot the highlights of my life.”