Jeffrey Osborne

“My father was incredible on trumpet and played with the likes of Duke Ellington and Count Basie.”

“My motto now is eat to live. Not live to eat.”

“I always wanted to be a singer first.”

“I learned how to play the drums... it got me into LTD.”

“With pop, it's pretty much straight up and down. It has to be simple. Everybody has to be able to walk down the street and be able to sing it.”

“I've always been active in working out and taking care of myself. I've been running two miles a day since I was 18.”

“I think if you look back at the lead singers that left groups that didn't make it, you'll see that a lot of them were songwriters like Lionel Richie. I mean, they were able to control their own destiny.”

“The beauty of recording in L.A. is that most of the musicians that are on the record live here, so it was easy to get world class artists like Rick Braun to swing by and play a little trumpet, Everette Harp on sax, guitarist Paul Jackson.”

“Everything has changed since I started recording in 1972. But the very things that have opened this industry, like the digital platforms to reach more people, have also killed things that were happening before in the recording studio. Now, most of the time, there are no real musicians in the studio; it's people with sequencers and things.”

“I'll sing forever.”

“The beauty of all these years of singing the anthem is that I got a chance to meet athletes that I love, and there was a mutual respect.”

“In all the time I was with L.T.D., I was never allowed to do an interview by myself. I wasn't even allowed to talk on stage between songs. I couldn't get a publishing agreement or a production deal because everyone had their own little role to play in the group... and the money, well, anything split 10 ways can't be much.”

“To play the trumpet, you have to use that diaphragm, and it's the same if you want to sing correctly. You really need to push it out from there. And I think that's what has kept me going as a singer.”

“Family is what I've leaned on for years; it's what I cherish the most.”

“If you really love your partner, then the relationship is worth fighting for in the end.”

“People don't realize it, but you've got to take care of it. The vocal cord is the smallest muscle in the body, and it gets more use than any other muscle.”

“If you don't make those vocal chords work, they'll go dormant on you.”

“I always wanted to sing a jazz record.”

“I listened to everything. To the early Motown groups - the Four Tops and the Temptations - to Johnny Mathis, Gloria Lynne - my sisters loved her. Sarah Vaughan. Everything.”

“Watch what you put into your body. It will carry you a long way. No doubt.”