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

“Laughter is the greatest music in the world and audiences come to my shows to escape the cares of life. They don't want to be embarrassed or insulted. They want to laugh and so do I - which is probably why it works.”

“Music is not a hobby, not even a passion with me; music is me. I feel what people get out of me is this outlook on life, which comes out in my music. My music is the last expression of all that.”

“Neither. I did not bring my crown, and the last thing I would want to do is get into politics.”

“Music is my love. And because it is my love, music has become my religion.”

“My father rarely spoke of life before [he left Cuba]. About prison, he jsut said, "That man is a genius at PR." Castro would come to the jail in the middle of the night and ask the prisoners, "What are you doing here? Don't you see we're trying to do the right thing?" The reason I'm not more political is because I have music. And from a young age, I needed it. After prison, my father came to America, joined the Army, fought in Vietnam -- and was exposed to Agent Orange. He died a slow, horrible death. Music was my escape.”

“When I die, I want people to play my music, go wild and freak out and do anything they want to do.”

“Music is my life, if I am without music or if I can't sing any more, I die, I'm nothing…because music is everything.”

“My voice likes rock music. My problem is, I can do a lot of things, but I have to find my own voice.”

“I think the most important thing about music is the sense of escape.”