I've reached the stage of my life where learning is so important to me. I go through the past enough when I play my old songs on stage. And I don't mind doing that. But I want to think about the future.

I don't want to spend the rest of my life talking about when I used to drink or when I used to take drugs. I'm more interested in the future.

I wasn't involved in anything. I wasn't out - you know, I know I wasn't in ACT UP. I wasn't with Larry Kramer. I wasn't by his side. I wasn't saying what I should do, because, by all accounts, I was a drug addict and an alcoholic. And I was living in a complete bubble of self-absorption.

Shock waves to a tired brain, sends that hungry lady to my door again. She's my shelter from the storm when I feel the rain, entertaining white powder.

I’ve never had a writer’s block, but still I think: Is it going to happen this time? You never know what you’re going to get; you just put your fingers on the keys and hope.

I find that so many of my peers of my age don't listen to anything new. But I love the new. I love the energy of the new, the energy of the new act. The young are so important. The young give you the energy, and if you don't notice the young, and you don't give them credit and you don't listen to all sorts of music, then you're missing out on something.

But we came for the Kennedy Center Awards, which was an incredible honor. Being a British person, I was bestowed this honor. And my partner and I, David, came. And we were so pleasantly surprised by George Bush and his knowledge of AIDS. He really - he treated David and I - and Laura - treated us like - they were so friendly and so courteous.