A biography for Gilbert O'Sullivanhasn’t been written yet.
“When it comes to my songs I'm confident. Back in 1967, I would go to a publisher's office, and tell them they just had to listen to my music.”
“I see myself in competition with Blur and Oasis. But everyone else just sees me as this guy with a history.”
“Some artists say 'Don't categorize me.' I'm saying 'You can't categorize me.'”
“I bought my mum a new house when the money started to come in; it's that old cliche.”
“There are two types of session guitar players. One reads and only plays what the 'dots' say. The other adds that something special and plays notes and solos you dream of. Big Jim Sullivan was such a player.”
“I know I can cut it with any songwriters in the world.”
“I couldn't live without tea. I have two cups in the morning, one at lunch, two in the afternoon and one in the evening - Assam with milk and sugar. It has to be leaf tea - no bags - and drunk from a china cup.”
“Nothing Rhymed,' my first single in England, was a nice ballad, which I thought would sound like a songwriter typical of the day - denim, jeans, long hair, early 20s.”
“I quite like the idea of performing in front of people that don't like me.”
“I was a big fan of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.”
“It's all very well making records, but the joy of performing is that you get to meet people who give you instant feedback.”
“Lennon and McCartney became great songwriters because they were prepared to listen to and learn from all types of music.”
“I have learned to avoid the coverage, good or bad - and it's mostly bad.”
“I've only recorded my own songs. I don't consider myself a great singer, so I wouldn't be comfortable interpreting other people's songs.”
“When the magazines talk about artists they talk about the Paul McCartneys, the Paul Simons, they never talk about me. So their readers and contemporary artists are never going to check me out because they're not reading about me.”
“The quality of my songs will get through to people. They are good songs. Lyrically, some of them are interesting: there's stories, a bit of humour. I'm very confident about the music I play, you know.”
“The writing is everything of course but you can't be making records and not be willing to go out there and perform.”
“Song writing is very serious; it is hard.”
“As you get older you lose interest in what you hear on the radio. But you can't be like that, you have to enjoy what's going on.”
“The music is the thing. I am not writing for critics; I don't want to become a personality.”