'The Tube' was the first time the plebs had gone on the television. The lunatics taking over the asylum.

Without the piano my life would be a disaster - nobody would hold me in any regard. It's the thing that saved me.

I learned from Van Morrison and BB King that the first take is the best. It's about capturing a moment. It's the same as love's first kiss. If you try to do it again, it doesn't work so well.

As a bandleader, I try to pass on the same family values that I grew up with: help people, hang on to your sense of humour, be tolerant and keep your judgments to yourself.

It would be great to have Bach in one corner, Bessie Smith in another, John Lennon in another. That's what I'd ideally like. A studio of the dead.

Due to my work, I tend to stay in hotels a lot of the time, and I generally prefer smaller hotels, as you tend to get better service than in the larger hotels.

Amy Winehouse and Paul Weller are examples of poets, I think.

A good example of the modern world is the Eurotunnel. And mobile phones - I like them.

I do so much travelling in my work that my suitcase is always packed, with my passport ready. I rarely unpack, as I am constantly on the move.

Naggers always know what they are doing. They weigh up the risks, then they go on and on and on until they get what they want or until they get punched.

I guess it's the same way trees grow around the very vines that are killing them, so they're strangled and sustained all at once. After a long time, even pain can be a comfort.

Success is a lifestyle.

Only with calmness can you control your emotions.

I believe that architecture is fundamentally a public space where people can gather and communicate, think about the history, think about the lives of human beings, or the world.

When I was a chain smoker, I used to wake up and the first thing I'd do was reach for a cigarette, basically. And now I do the same thing for a smartphone, basically.

Making art is about accepting what’s going on around you and turning it into

choice in any sphere is a peril, the basic division of peoples is of those who believe in choice and those who mistrust it.

This next presenter is so lovely you could eat her up with a spoon

I'm always trying out new stuff onstage. That's where I do all my writing.

If you want real, significant, sustainable change, you need talented, committed local line leaders. If the line manager is not innovating, then innovation is not going to occur.