Patti LaBelle

“So if anybody wants to get me something, get me 60 crabs - one for each year. I don't want no diamonds, I don't want no shoes, I don't want no party. I want some crabs.”

“I truly respect the people who are working. If they want an autograph from Patti LaBelle, they are going to get it. I have never separated myself from them. I never think you are better than the next one.”

“Whenever I go out, so many people who respect me ask me what to do in a certain situation. A lot of times, I didn't know the answers because sometimes I was going through the same sort of thing. But then later on, I would think of things that people told me.”

“I decided to always sing in the back with the chorus and never went up front because I had trouble performing.”

“People with no humor, they're outta my life.”

“So if diva means giving your best, then yes, I guess I am a diva.”

“I'm still standing up there tall and strong every night that I perform.”

“I never wanted to go on stage alone because if you mess up, who can you blame?”

“I've had 60 years of ups and downs, and all of the downs that I've had, I'm happy that I've had them because it's taught me to appreciate all the ups.”

“I love Canadians because I don't see very much racism in Canada.”

“I don't feel as though I have to prove anything to anybody.”

“I'm very shy in a crowd.”

“When I look into the crowd, I see young and old, black and white - it's amazing that I'm able to connect with so many different kinds of people.”

“I'm so grounded, it's sad.”

“I don't tweet, Twitter, email, Facebook, look book, no kind of book. I have a land line phone at my home - that's the only phone I have. If my phone rang every day like everyone else around me, I would lose my mind.”

“I can't do some of the songs that younger girls like Mary J. Blige and Beyonce are doing. They have their own place and I have my own place.”

“A diva is someone who is a perfectionist, who does her best in her craft.”

“I know how to put it on when it comes to interviews and performing because I have to. But I'm pretty laid back.”

“I'm no different than you.”