Brenda Lee

“I always loved reading. I always was the spelling bee champion. I always loved words. I always wanted to know what they meant, why you used them, who first said them. I was always interested in that.”

“When 'I'm Sorry' came out and became such a huge hit, that made 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree' start selling. Then that became a huge, huge hit.”

“I wasn't aware of it at the time, but I was a big favorite with the Mafia.”

“'I'm Sorry' was one of the first songs to come out of Nashville using strings.”

“John Lennon was very irreverent and very intelligent.”

“The amazing thing is that I'm sane. I'm not bitter. I'm not drugged out. I'm not broke. I'm still married to the same guy. My children don't hate me.”

“I'm not used to introspection. I've never lingered on my feelings. The show must go on.”

“I gave up my childhood for a career.”

“I believe I became one of the first singers to be launched via television exposure. I guess I was a new kind of musical stylist for a new kind of media.”

“I've always gone to see all kinds of shows and stole what I could, as we all do. We see an artist and hear a song and think, 'I bet I could sing that song. I'll put that in my show.'”

“The Beatles were raw musically, but I think they really had something.”

“I had been singing since I was 3 years old, so my love of singing was always there.”

“I still don't look at myself as a star. I've always had a thankful heart.”

“I've spent an awful lot of my time in the air. I've had everything happen to me in a plane that could happen. Except a crash.”

“I don't think you ever get tired of the well-written, well-crafted songs.”

“I only wish Chet Atkins could be here for this joyous occasion.”

“A lot of people thought I'd died, because of your coverage, they know I'm still around.”

“I always felt that I was one of the women who helped lay the foundation for rock and roll. But I'd always been overlooked by the Hall of Fame.”

“The word matters in country music, and it always has. And everybody had lived those words in country songs.”

“Whatever happened to the tomboy I used to be, the slightly rebellious rocker?”