[My mother] is much more musical, and by the time I started writing songs - by the time I was about 17 - she started to believe in me, musically.

Still, the music was always there, and the lyrical capability was always threatening to show its head.

I think I'm getting there, but it's very hard to perform at my absolute peak when an awful lot of people come just to make their presence known, when the lights go down and all you can hear is people screaming.

It's quite simple: I managed it by doing away with Wham!'s duo image. Obviously, the way I looked changed and that helped a little, but I still have a very pop image. It's a very video-friendly image. I find it a lot more real. It's a lot closer to who I am than the whole Wham! thing.

I also think I could probably repeat the commercial success; whether I want to or not is a different matter. I think there is still better work inside me.

No fantasies, I don't think. Most of my fantasies have already been realized.

I just hope that I'll stay around musically for as long as I can. I love to think that I will still be satisfying myself and other people as a musician until the day I die.