People have been rumouring that Queen are going to split up for the last eight years at least. I've got some great cuttings at home from people saying 'One thing is certain, Queen will no longer exist in a year's time.' And that was in 1973.

From the beginning of Queen there was such momentum that I never had any time to do anything else. My energy was 95% focused on the band

I like a big neck – thick, flat and wide. I lacquered the fingerboard with Rustin's Plastic Coating. The tremolo is interesting in that the arm's made from an old bicycle saddle bag carrier, the knob at the end's off a knitting needle and the springs are valve springs from an old motorbike.

The potential audience seems to be dwindling in the states. I was kind of embarrassed for the band because of the size of the audience.

I don't think anybody comes close to The Beatles, including Oasis

Sanctions always hurt the poor, the weak, the children.

Queen songs tend to be about very personal things: personal dreams and personal ambitions.