I don't know, I've always written songs that are mainly about attitude, not me personally.

I like hard, aggressive music.

Elvis inspired my sideburns, but Little Richard inspired me for vocals.

I always thought we had more in common with punk than with anything else, but we had long hair, so we didn't fit in that box.

I don't know if love exists, not the kind that keeps. I think love's an infatuation that turns into a habit, because you can't keep that passion going. You get used to people, and that's death for me - I like to be surprised.

I can't say I was really that surprised when the doctor told me I needed a defibrillator inserted in my chest. When you've lived the life that I have, you should always expect something like that to crop up. I was not a good boy.

Rock n' roll's had a good time out of me - and I've had a very good time out of rock n' roll.

It's much more fun to be full of hope than pessimism any day of the week.

I've always been alone. I grew up alone. I like it that way. Even when I'm in an arena surrounded by 10,000 people, I'm alone in my head.

I dislike religion quite intensely. It's been the cause of all the grief in the world ever since they discovered the first stone to worship.

Just 'cause something's popular, it can still be good. In fact, if more people are buying it, then you must be doing something right. People look down on stuff that sells. What do you call that? Downward snobbery, I guess.

I always open doors for women. It's just good manners.

As for what other people think of me, I don't care. I don't care and never have.

The more you learn about everything, the more you learn that everything's fixed not in your favour.

I always write about war, love, death, and injustice. There's plenty of that around, so I never run out of ideas.

People don't become better when they're dead; you just talk about them as if they are.

I went to go see the Rolling Stones in the park, and they were awful: completely out of tune. Jagger wore a frock.

I'm against any religion, and Communism and Nazism - they're both equally religions. They're just replacement gods.

I don't want to advise anyone to do anything, apart from try and stay alive. That's my advice - don't die.

I wanted to be a farmer; actually, I wanted to be a horse-breeder. And I had the stallions... but then I heard Little Richard, and that was it.

I saw the Beatles play the Cavern in Liverpool when I was 16. They had attitude: Onstage, they were like a four-headed monster.

In your twenties, you think you are immortal. In your thirties, you hope you are immortal.

Rock n' roll sounded like music from another planet. The first time around, we had people like Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis - all them people.

I don't miss anything by being a bachelor. I don't know any happily married couples, not even my parents.