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from celebrities about marriage. >> the end of the series "the closer." was it emotional? >> oh, very. very boo hooey. >> and how she stays so impossibly youthful. >> you have the high cheekbones everything hangs on. >> i can getty a g you a guy to that. >> i'm sure you can. >> this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening. we'll get to my interview with ll cool j in a moment, but first, listen to what kyra sedgwick, the gorgeous star of "the closer" told me about the biggest villain in her life, bernie madoff. >> i see him as a sick man. i see us as adults who made a choice, and i see a lot of people that are so much worse off than we are. and i think that, you know, [ bleep ] happens. can you say that? >> well, you just did, kyra. a lively conversation. hear more coming up. we begin with ll cool j, the hip-hop legend. more than 15 million americans watched ll cool j in the third season finale of "ncis l.a." he joins me, primetime exclusive. welcome back. >> thank you, piers. >> i feel like we now know each other so well, i can call you todd. >> yes you can. >> which is the name your friends call you. >> yes, it is. >> your real friends do not call you ll cool j. can i call you todd? >> absolutely. >> the last time we met, it was a strange experience for me. we had a great time, great interview, you were excited, the grammys were a couple of days away and then whitney houston died. you had to host an event which was completely overtaken by the drama of losing one of the greatest entertainers in the world. after you heard what happened, what was your reaction? >> my first reaction was horrified. you know, you hear rumors about things that people are going through, and that's always tough, you know, to listen to, but i didn't expect to get that news. and the timing of it was just, you know it was horrible. >> did you know whitney well? >> yes, i knew whitney. she was a very sweet girl. very sweet girl. so funny, i used to walk around, for many years i wore my pants leg rolled up, something i was known for, having one pants leg rolled up. >> i did the same thing. >> yeah. and, you know, whitney used to tease me, i remember one time she told me backstage, oh, ll, you got that from my husband. i said, no, whitney, your husband got that from me. that was a fun moment. she was really cool, like, when i worked in miami, a couple of times, they came by the studio and, you know, she was a really nice girl. >> you came up with this really special idea, which was to say a prayer. >> yeah. >> which everyone remembers. the audience went for the roof for this event because suddenly the grammy was going to be this tribute to whitney. let's look at the prayer you said on stage. >> okay. >> heavenly father, we thank you for sharing our sister whitney with us. today our thoughts are with her mother, her daughter, and all of her loved ones. and although she's gone too soon, we remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit and to have her lasting legacy of music to cherish and share forever. amen. >> that was a really powerful thing to do. what gave you the idea to do that? >> you know, i was thinking about it and it was the only way that i felt -- i would feel comfortable proceeding with the show and celebrating all of these other musicians because it was about trying to find that fine balance between celebrating her legacy, giving love to this wonderful, amazing entertainer and at the same time, respecting all of these young artists and all of these established artists who were either nominated for grammys or performing on the show, and not putting them in a position where they have to perform at a memorial. it is a delicate balance. and, you know, as human beings, it is very difficult, you know, you never want to -- we never want to feel like we're, like, partying through the roof, you know in the midst of a tragedy. it is tough. it is tough. because you have to remember that there are so many artists, so many fantastic musicians, we have paul mccartney in the audience, we have bruce springsteen, we have bruno mars, we have all of these great artists, lady gaga, you have adele making a comeback, and you -- they deserve an opportunity to be celebrated as musicians, but at the same time, we can't be, i guess the word is crass or insensitive to what is going on. it was just finding that balance. >> ultimately the show goes on, doesn't it? in show business. whitney would have understood that. >> of course she would have. and she would have wanted it to go on. i think any true artist or entertainer would want other artists to have their moment. no one wants to deny someone their moment. but at the same time, we recognize and i recognize that there are a lot of people in the country and a lot of people around the world who were going to have this weight on their shoulders and this -- this 100 pound elephant in the room that had to be addressed. and i could not see going out on stage and having a party without first at least, you know, having some sort of -- find something sort of peace with what took place. >> i thought you got the term completely right and set the mood correctly for the evening. i thought it was a very moving night. the interesting thing to me, with you, in particular, talking about this, is you, last time you came on, talked about a very tough upbringing. you could have gone down the way a lot of people you hung out with. you could have ended up with gan gangs or dead or in prison or whatever but you made something of yourself. mark wahlberg, similar kind of story. i'm really impressed by the way he's done what he's done as i am with you. when you look at whitney and michael jackson, both died around the same age, both died from pretty severe drug abuse, different types of drugs, but still drug abuse, in the end, and yet their upbringings weren't that tormented. they were relatively okay. but they got sucked in to that kind of world. you've got four kids now who are coming out of teens and into their 20s. what do you say to them? you have been through this experience, and have come out well, you've seen others, big, big stars die through substance abuse and so on. what do you say to your children? >> you know, i think it starts with trying to set an example. if your kids see you reading, they're more likely to read. if your kids see you downstairs on the treadmill, trying to exercise, if they see their mom downstairs, you know, down there fighting the good fight and working out to be the best that she can be, they want to do that. i think that that's all we can do, you know. i think it is a fantasy to think that we're going to be able to go out and single-handedly stop all of the -- or prevent all of the influences in society from affecting our kids. but what we do is set an example and try to instill the right values. >> do you understand why someone like whitney, who had lost her magical powers as a singer, unquestionably, she wasn't the singer she had been, she couldn't hit the big notes anymore, that made her so hugely famous, do you understand the particular pressure as a former that led her into that spiral of self-abuse, towards the end? >> of course i do. i think, you know, it is -- it is not easy for everyone to handle the pressures of fame, the pressures of fortune, the pressures of having a huge business, a huge company. running a huge paper, whatever it is. it is not easy. and we, you know, there is an old saying, pressure can either bust pipes or can create diamonds. and, you know, you know, sometimes we land on one side or the other. why? i can't tell you specifically because i don't know what was going on in her mind and what was going on in her heart, but i do understand how tough it can get. you have a lot of people through the in the world who are dealing with a lot of tough situations. and we as human beings always try our best to escape pain and seek some sort of pleasure. hopefully your pleasure can be something that is go to be productive in your life, you put your -- you seek pleasure by maybe diving into your work, some people dive into their exercise, some people, you know, make it about their kids. people have different ways they do it. but for others, it can turn into gambling, it can turn into drugs, it can turn into alcoholism. that's, you know, that's the price tag, you know? it all comes with a price tag. and it is about what price are you willing to pay. if you want a lot, you got to sacrifice a lot. >> the reason i no he thknow th are successful is because you are blinding me with diamonds. >> can i just say something, this watch is so old. this is a really old watch. >> that watch could probably sustain the national debt of lithuania for ten years. >> you're very, very funny. but this watch is really -- i did work hard for it, but i'm not going to make excuses, but this watch is super old. one thing about me, i'm not, you know, money, money, money, i'm not one of those guys. i'm actually, you know, my friends used to tease me because there was a point when i had -- you're going to laugh, really successful albums out and i had a honda accord and my friends were killing me about that. they were killing me. >> that is brand damaging. let's take a break. you are back, rapping. >> yeah. >> i want to know about this. >> let's do it. >> i'll rap with you. >> all right. >> ll morgan. >> love it. 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"ncis l.a." i think i asked you the last time to try and decide if i could let you do one thing the rest of your life, the more you do of tv, the more you maybe do movies or that kind of thing, do you drift away from music? was music always your first love? >> well, yeah, you drift away. but, you know, at the same time, you know, you always return to your roots. i'm currently, you know, working on an album and i'm popping, you know, my laptop out and i'm working on music and i've been in the studio every day and just really working, trying to create something great. there are different audiences. there is an audience out there that grew up with ll cool j as a musician, as a rapper, as an artist. i'm going to give them an album. that audience who grew up on me as a musician may not necessarily be -- some of them do, but everybody who watches my show isn't aware of my music. >> i interviewed billy kogen from the smashing pumpkins, very smart, but he's adamant, he's not just going to do a tour where he plays all the hits. he's going to play his new album from start to finish. >> yeah. >> he says, actually, he wants the audience to come with him. >> but you have to do that. you have to -- you can't, like, you don't want your music or your products to become a commodity. it has to be some sort of -- >> a greatest hits thing. >> some sort of thing that makes this thing special. when i come out with a new album it will be authentic hip-hop, it will be special. i did a thing with sony. i put my connect on the laptop. it is special. but it is also -- it has a convenient thing, it is convenient if you're mugssician but it is special. you have to make things special. when i go to a u2 concert, it is special. nobody wants to hear you just do your shtick, you know, at least not the really -- not the audience that really cares about you. >> what is different about you, special in many ways, is my producer prepared this interview for me with you, said that his hairdresser said to him yesterday, the thing i love about ll cool j is his twitter feed. he's so inspiring. every day he says -- we went and checked it. i follow you anyway. you have 100,000 more followers than me, but i'm going to get you. but it was interesting what they meant. >> follow me on twitter. @llcoolj. >> he conquers who endures, perseus. either you're winning or you're not. the constant theme of your tweets, you've got to keep going. even when people write you off. >> absolutely. >> you can't just be a cliche. you got to reinvent, be creative and in the end, you've got to win. >> absolutely. and, you know, winning -- you have to define what winning is. you know. >> what is it to you? >> whatever goal i'm going after, i want to achieve it. >> if i could write your tombstone heading now. >> oh, no. >> here lies todd. >> here lies todd. >> here lies todd, he -- what would you like it to say? what would you want to be remembered for? >> you know, god, i don't even want to think about that, right. >> i'm not saying it is going to happen imminently. >> you know, he maximized his potential. because that ultimately is the -- all that we can do as human beings, right? you know, the last thing you want to do is be sitting on your death bed, look, with all your dreams standing around you saying why are you taking us with you. so many people do that. so many people believe that dreams have deadlines, but they don't. it is just a matter of you taking your life to the next level. it is like you were, you know, across the pond, doing something different, you took your show on the road, stepped into another arena, you do your thing. that's what it is about. it is about maximizing your potential. >> i always say to my sons, just give it your best. >> that's it. >> never regret the fact you didn't quite try hard enough for something. that's the biggest regret you'll ever have, if you didn't give it everything you had. >> it is what you didn't try to do that you regret. >> right. >> you don't want to go out and purposefully make mistakes, but, you know, all being relative and everything being even, it is what you don't do that you'll ultimately regret. >> you're doing a lot. the ncis los angeles returns for season four this fall. >> yeah. and i want people to know that the my connect studio is available in a sony vios laptop. it is preloaded. if you go to sony.com, you can actually get a laptop and it is preloaded. it is cool. >> i'll get it as a matter of urgency to continue my hip-hop career. when is the new album out? >> i'm working on it. i'm almost finished with it. it is authentic hip-hop. and it is coming. and, you know -- >> whether it is out, come back and talk about it. you're basically hanging on to get me on the album in some capacity. mc morgan is available. >> i like it. cool piers morgan. i love it. i love it. >> rap fans all over america dying a horrible death right now at the thought of this. good to see you. thank you. ll cool j. come up, the star of the hit show "the closer," kyra sedgwick on her long running marriage to kevin bacon, how much they lost to bernie madoff and what she really thinks about president obama. 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