I'm aware of the fact that a lot of talented people out there will never get this chance.

I knew that I was different when I was six years old, but it wasn't until I got to about 10 or 11 that I realised I was a gay man.

My dad was quite an extreme man.

I used to tell my mum to leave my dad when I was, like, nine. I loved my father, don't get me wrong. I really loved him, but he wasn't a good dad, and he wasn't a good husband.

You're in a band with someone, it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to agree with everything they think or do.

I love American positivity.

My dad was very explosive, God rest his soul. He could fly off the handle like no one I've ever known, and I have definitely got that in my personality: that ability to sort of smash the house up and then say, 'Put the kettle on,' to have that kind of attitude of, 'Well, I'm OK now, so everybody else has got to be OK.'

I forgive very easily, and I suppose, in the same way, I expect to be forgiven very easily as well. I grew up with that.

When I got sober, I really felt like there was something that was missing from my life, Buddhism is something that I practice.

At 16, I walked around knowing I'd get chased and attacked for dressing a certain way - I felt I had an undeniable right to be who I wanted to be. My father said to hit them back, but I was never much good at that. So I developed a big mouth instead of a quick right hook.

I was never a wallflower - I put my head on the style chopping block.

I was always good at music.

On the street, on the train - I pull my hat down, and nobody knows it's me. I always wanted the kind of fame that came with an off button.

To me, I think of the '70s as being this glorious decade where I discovered who I was and discovered all these amazing things... punk rock, electro music, fashion, all of that.

I think that's the fascinating thing about the '70s is that it turns out it was quite a dark decade. But, like, who knew?

My appetite for self-destruction and misery is greatly diminished. I'm not interested in being unhappy.

There are lots of things about me that have changed. Some things are a process; some things take time.

Sometimes, having a reputation can be the best thing because people expect you to be really difficult, perhaps a bit caustic, and hard work - and I'm none of those things.

I've got so much to be happy about.

I'd rather they call me a national treasure than a national waste of time. And yes, it does feel good, but I've had to earn it.

Compliments are very un-British, but when someone pays you one, you should take it.

I've sold a lot of records. I've sold, like, 150 million records, and I don't think I've had that many good reviews. It's one of those things that when you're really successful, critics hate you just because you're successful.

When you're successful, people have no sympathy. Nobody wants to catch the tears of a millionaire.

For someone like me, who has grown up with Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, it's hard not to invest a lot of myself in what I do.