Suzi Quatro revealed she kept grounded after nearly 60 years of stardom by keeping a collection of awards and memorabilia in one room, and making occasional visits to it.

In a new interview with the Guardian, the 71-year-old looked back on what had changed in her life since she started out as a teenage sensation in the ‘60s.

“Having an Ego Room has kept me normal after 57 years in this business,” Quatro said. “It’s on the third floor of my house and it’s filled with awards, posters, stage clothes, and the red book from This is Your Life.” She added: “When I’m in the mood, I go in and enjoy it. Then I come out and shut the door. That’s how I exist in this business.”

She went on to reflect that her recurring role in Happy Days had given her “good, lasting friendships,” explaining: “I email Henry [Winkler] and Ron [Howard] quite a bit, and it was a wonderful experience to be a new actress in such a family of fine actors.” Of her career in general, she said: “I didn’t think of myself as a pioneer. I was just being who I was, sticking stubbornly to my character, not caring that nobody had done it before me. I didn’t realise I was breaking down doors everywhere I went. Looking back, I see what I did do, and I’m very proud of it.”

Quatro regarded her biggest regret as not visiting her mother just before her death. “She had stomach cancer, and I went to see her six or seven times during the process, flying over, flying back – then she got close to it, and I just couldn’t see her that way,” she said. She also reported that she didn’t plan to board an airplane again. “Flying from Miami to London once, we came into a big storm. They made seven attempts to land – touching down and going back up again – then we had to go to Amsterdam. That was the last time I flew. Maybe I’m being dramatic, but I really did feel my number was up.”

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