I was still 15 when I met John Lennon at a village fete in Woolton, in Liverpool.

When we were kids we always used to say, ‘Okay, whoever dies first, get a message through.’ When John died, I thought, ‘Well, maybe we’ll get a message,’ because I know he knew the deal. I haven’t had a message from John.

I definitely did look up to John. We all looked up to John. He was older and he was very much the leader; he was the quickest wit and the smartest.

In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

You see, my mother was a district nurse until she died when I was 14, and we used to move from time to time because of her work.

Painting is similar to music. You get a couple or words or notes or chords that excite you, and you just follow them and add a bit more and see where it takes you. That's the thrill for me. It still is a thrill, which is amazing after all this time.

I do like Eddie Van Halen as a player. He gets it right quite often.