George Michael

“I am really not interested or excited by repeating former successes.”

“I used to believe that George Michael was a total actor. It was self-defeating, because it made me also feel fraudulent.”

“I had been obsessed with insects and creepy-crawlies: I used to get up at five o'clock in the morning and go out into this field behind our garden and collect insects before everyone else got up, and suddenly, all I wanted to know about was music. It just seemed a very, very strange thing.”

“I can't bear Catholicism.”

“Your political system is actually too democratic. The fact that Americans vote on every bill and proposition can prolong bigotry indefinitely, especially where it is aimed at minority groups.”

“You can't have a child just to keep a relationship together, can you?”

“With pop stars or film stars, we become the object of people's self-definition, as well as the object of sexual definition.”

“I still believe that music is one of the greatest gifts that God gave to man.”

“Stars are almost always people that want to make up for their own weaknesses by being loved by the public and I'm no exception to that.”

“Deep down, my ego always thought that I would outlast a lot of people that I was competing against.”

“If I can just live further from the spotlight I think that'll be better for all really.”

“I spent years growing up being told what my sexuality was.”

“The '90s were a bit of a disaster for me in so many ways. On a personal level, I don't think I could have toured. Also, I had some physical problems with my back that are now sorted and I just wasn't in the right state of mind.”

“I've written a whole body of work that I'm incredibly proud of.”

“I really have no plans for any kind of career in TV or anything, but if I wanted to become good at it, I could. But I don't really think it's in the cards.”

“You can't imagine what it's like playing to people who have been loyal to you for 25 years and haven't seen you for 15.”

“It's only when the kids are in their late twenties that families really face up to what they are.”

“My American gay audience have continued to dance and sing to the music I make in a way that straight Americans haven't. I am grateful to them for that.”

“Anybody who fights for human rights or to make this world a better place. Nurses, doctors, teachers: these are the people who deserve the credit these days.”

“I think the media is a real demon.”