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Suddenly, I was in a category with Barbara Striesand, Olivia Newton John, Donna Summer, Carley Simon - it was kind of neat for me.
A lot of people want to put you in a slot. They want to categorize you. So I fought that, because I liked all different kinds of music.
I learned all I have to do is sing the best music I know how and put on the best show I know how and just relax with it and people enjoy it.
I've never been overexposed or in people's faces, although there are some who argue that in the late '70s and early '80s, I was played a lot!
I'm a little more interested in smelling the roses, playing more golf and tennis and more cross-country skiiing and doing stuff with my kids.
I knew it was time to pack it in. I was in my 60s... I could still sing but I didn't want to get to that point where people feel sorry for me.
People are going to a place like Pugwash and that whole area to escape from industry, to have the serenity of the surroundings and the beauty.
You know what I find truly amazing? I haven't had a hit record since the mid-'80s, and still people show up to pack up the places I'm playing.
As far as k. d. lang is concerned, she grew up devouring my music. She sent me a song when she was 8 years old, and she says I never wrote back.
There's an age group that's just not being entertained - the boomers. There's a void out there. It's nice to be one of those who can fill that void.
TV ads let people know you're still around. Not only do they sell albums, they give you a high profile. They let people know you're out there and working.
I had to sing. I couldn't not sing. If it was singing to a living room full of people or an auditorium, it didn't matter. I had to sing. I was meant to sing.
The first hit record is easy compared to the second one. You've got to have two for momentum. If you have three, you're pretty much made. But one isn't enough.
There was a time when I never would have considered, ever, doing television commercials for records. I would never do that. That was something that you did for K-Mart.
I've been playing Sunrise for years. I love it there. It's so loosey-goosey. I was up at the Kravis Center and it was, like, 'Oh my God!' All the minkdraggers, you know?
No. I'm not. Nor have I ever been, although I know there are people who thought I was. I do have a lot of women friends, but none of them is gay, nor have they ever been.
When I sing a pop song, I'm a pop singer. When I sing a country song, I'm a country singer. I've been very lucky to cross over, because by doing that, you can't be pigeonholed.
I worked all the time and when I say that, I mean I would work for three weeks, come home for a month, and work again, but it would have been nice to take long chunks of time off.
Retirement isn't what it used to be. It used to be you retired and you disappeared off the face of the Earth. Now you have social media. I keep in touch with all my fans. It's great.
You have to be real sharp when you're touring. I'm dull normal at home. So when I come off the road, my kids have to put up with Mom making cracks every five minutes for a couple of days.
You have to understand that I never thought I would have a career in music. That kind of thing didn't happen. Not for women, not in Canada, not in the 1960s. It was something I did for fun.
When I was going through all the divorce things, that was really hard to discuss, because nobody wants to talk about their failures. Nobody wants to talk about how painful those kinds of things are.
I was at home, pregnant, and everybody was telling me, 'You're on a roll, don't have another baby, wait a while.' Looking back, I realize my career was peaking when I was having babies, for God's sake!
I think people who don't go away to university are missing out on one of the great life experiences. You meet people from so many different places and it's the shared life experience that helps you grow.
My parents were into The Mills Brothers, Perry Como, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Sarah Vaughn, and all those people sung the most wonderful songs - and even when I got into rock 'n' roll, that stayed with me.
Baseball was popular in the summer, but hockey was big most of the time. With five brothers, you never escaped it. We had an indoor rink in our town, and all the boys would play on it right through high school.
When my son was in his teens, he was a really fine drummer. He was asked in an interview if he would consider going into the business. And he said, 'Why would I ever go into the business that took my mother from me?'
When I was a kid, it was just a wild dream to think that I would've had a career like this, and I really didn't think that was possible. But things just kind of started to roll, and I was caught up in it, and I went with it.
When you play in smaller places with a smaller symphony, sometimes there's a difference in quality. Sometimes it's murderous. Sometimes it's real torture. Other times, you get a wonderful surprise. But there's never a dull moment.
Once, I was up north with friends and, after dinner, one lady who was at the table said, 'Would you sing for me?' and I went 'Well, sure.' And the other women are looking and going, 'You never sing for us.' Well, you never ask me.
Our television set was in the bedroom. I can picture my mother fast asleep, exhausted from driving my brothers around. I can picture the Maple Leafs playing the Canadiens. One or the other would always be on the CBC on Saturday night.
I remember when I was doing my first Christmas album, I thought, 'Wouldn't it be nice to find new Christmas songs?' Then I went, 'Are you crazy?' When I decorate my tree I don't want new Christmas songs, I want to hear all the familiar songs!
There are a lot of middle of the road artists of the '70s, who aren't being played anyplace. I think it's unfortunate in a way, because it stifles you sort of, you don't get to as many people but I've had a long and wonderful career, I have no complaints.
That worried me early on in my career - that I would change. If I went to New York or Los Angeles that I would become somebody I wouldn't like. That person that gets a big head and starts thinking they're more special than anyone else. I never wanted to be that person.
What's the first thing I remember about the University of New Brunswick? That's easy. The year before I had gone to Mount St. Vincent in Halifax, which was an all girls' school. That didn't really work out for me. But at UNB, there were six or seven men for every woman, which suited me just fine.