I hate that Alex [James] and Damon [Albarn]. I hope they catch AIDS and die.

None of us went to university, none of us went to college, none of us played in a different band before, none of us done anything. We were the last great band to come out of nowhere, on an indie label. We've sold 50 million records. That's still the benchmark. Until someone does what we've done, I'll always consider myself the last big songwriter

You'll find people who rib you about their age are petrified about getting old. It doesn't bother me.

Every album I've ever been involved in, on the day that it came out I believed in it.

There was a euphoria in the music and the way it was delivered, and, as the crowds started to get bigger, it fed off itself until it became less about the band and more about being with all those people, jumping up and down, drunk to the music.

I'm not sure about this Live 8 thing. Correct me if I am wrong, but are they hoping that one of these guys from the G8 is on a quick 15-minute break at Gleneagles and sees Annie Lennox singing "Sweet Dreams" and thinks: "F... me, she might have a point there, you know." It's not going to f... happen, is it? Keane doing "Somewhere Only We Know" and some Japanese businessman going: "Aw, look at him...we should really f... drop that debt, you know." It's not going to happen, is it?

I started off as many fathers do. I enjoyed the good bits, but I was wary of the responsibility. But now I love being a dad.