I was impossible. I don't know how anyone could have lived with me. For the first time in my life, I was on the scrap heap, an unemployed worker.

When I sit down to write a song, it's a kind of improvisation, but I formalize it a bit to get it into the studio, and when I step up to a microphone, I have a vague idea of what I'm about to do.

I meet so many people that just sort of say, "I want to thank you for your music. It really helped me" or "It changed my life."

I'm not religious, but I'm very spiritual.

My stepmother sold my birth certificate and someone asked why I didn't buy it back. I don't know, really. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It was mine. It cost me nothing and suddenly I had to buy it back.

When we were kids growing up in Liverpool, all we ever wanted to be was Elvis Presley.

When two great saints meet, it's a humbling experience.