In those days, between the ages of 12 and 18 you meant nothing. You were the extra place at the side table if someone came to dinner. You were of no interest to anyone.
There's a character that I play onstage, and I can't let him loose in the supermarket when I'm buying my beans on toast.
It's impossible to make a record when you're ill because it affects how you listen to things. You can't make decisions. It all sounds terrible.
Nelson Mandela is awe inspiring - a person who really sacrificed for what he believed in. I feel truly humbled by him.
I was brought up in a tenement house in a working district. We didn't even have a bathroom! We had a gaslight in the hallway and a black-and-white TV.
When you're that successful, things have a momentum, and at a certain point you can't really tell whether you have created the momentum or it's creating you.
I sang a lot as a little girl and entered competitions. I loved singing in choirs, but it was as I got older that I really found my voice.
I am a communicator; that seems to be my natural place. And I'll always be passionate about the world, because it's so bonkers.
The person who inspired me the most was a friend of mine, Anita Roddick. I know that Anita wasn't known to be an ardent feminist, but she truly was.
I'm from a working-class background, and I've experienced that worry of not having a job next week because the unions are going on strike.
I would like to see the gay population get on board with feminism. It's a beautiful organisation and they've done so much. It seems to me a no-brainer.
The thing with me is, I'm both untidy and I hate mess. But I'm not untidy in communal spaces, like living rooms. My bedroom is havoc.
My idea of hell is a girlfriend ringing up and saying, 'Let's go shopping and have cocktails.' I'd rather play cards.
My soul desires a pre-industrial world, and since I can't have that, I don't really care for anything material.
One of the things I wanted to do with 'The Turn' was write a production of songs that could be stripped down to one or two instruments if you chose to do it.
When you find yourself on stage singing and you are embarrassed about what you are singing in front of your peers, then you have to think about your priorities.
I grew up in London. My parents and I lived in West Norwood, then we moved to Norbury, and I went to the Brit School. I'm a South London girl at heart.
I think, being from east Tennessee, you're kinda born with a little lonesome in your soul, in your blood. You know you've got that Appalachian soul.
When you're singing before 15,000 people at a summer concert outside, you need to look beautiful, because that's what people want.
For me, St. Petersburg is the city that I can never escape because it has this special energy, even a dark energy. It keeps pulling me back.
When I am not on the stage, it is always very difficult for the public to find me! I am a private person who does not always want to be in the spotlight!
