Quotes from Mick Hucknall

Composing is what drives me; it's not the pursuit of fame. My songs are like pages in a diary.

Family puts things in perspective.

Whatever I do winds people up. I've been tattooed with every one of those criticisms.

Wine is my passion. I'm not keen on the snobbery or elitism of wine, that's not what it's about - I just really enjoy it.

I love quality drinks - a really good beer, or a great wine.

I think my music ran parallel to a lot of people's lives. We were always chugging along in the background.

I like good food and I've always had a very natural empathy with women.

I feel enormously privileged to be part of the generation that witnessed the magic of the Beatles first hand, and I think 'A Hard Day's Night' connected with my four-year-old self because it was the whole package: an album and a movie.

It took me years to learn to deal with the realities of fame and success. It's hard work sometimes but clearly the pluses outweigh the negatives.

I have great memories of my time at Manchester Poly. I still enjoy DJing from time to time.

As a teenager you bounce off your mum, they give you guidance.

For a frontman of a band, good hair is a requisite.

Being abandoned by my mother gives me a sense of insecurity that I will never recover from. I have to try and recreate that balance by trying to create a sense of self-worth. And yes, being on stage is a part of that.

People are racist about redheads in a way they'd never dare to be about black or Asian people.

I feel a bit like the antichrist as I had the bulk of my success in the 80s and I hate 80s music.

I've got one of those heart-shaped faces and I take weight on my cheeks and jowls and gut, so in pictures I look much heavier than I actually am.

My dad knew I was mad about music. While he worked as a barber he would hear songs on the radio and we'd have endless discussions about them. So I got my first record player when I was 11 years old.

Tom Jones told me only a few singers have got the pipes, and he's right. He has. Sinatra did. I have.

Tony Blair's a friend.

I've read some amazingly derogatory things about me over the years and I've sat there and thought: if you replaced 'ginger' with 'black' or even 'Asian,' you'd be up in front of a judge.

You live the life of a gipsy when you are on tour, and that's not ideal for family life.

Copyright promotes artistic creativity and the free circulation of ideas.

I am grateful I have been blessed with a family that I never imagined I would ever even understand what that is, let alone have my own family.

My dad was one of the reasons I kept Simply Red going so long. I was brought up to stick at things. I was the only songwriter in Simply Red, so I could have toured under my own banner. But I'd developed the name, so I stuck with it.