A biography for Mick Hucknallhasn’t been written yet.
“Music was my only outlet as a teenager. I always had the gift of music; I was singing at the age of four.”
“I always used to listen to quite a bit of classical music because my dad liked it, and if you've got any ear for music at all you have to enjoy Mozart.”
“I'm from the punk generation, but I make romantic, soft soul music. I like the bizarre disconnect of that but, clearly, some people don't.”
“As I've gotten older I've got more bass in my voice but also because I don't talk very much during the day I've managed to keep my voice in good condition.”
“I'm one of the people that's managed to rise above my class, that's the working- class dream, the whole Lennon-esque, John Osborne kind of thing, you know - jump out - if you get the opportunity to better yourself that's fantastic, and I've done it.”
“Allowing valuable sound recordings to pass into the public domain does not create a public asset: it represents a massive destruction of U.K. wealth and a significant loss to the U.K. taxpayer.”
“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 like good food and I've always had a very natural empathy with women.”
“Strong copyright protection is not only compatible with future digital business models: it is an essential pre-condition of their success.”
“What helped a lot was becoming a dad at 47. I can't begin to imagine how I would have coped when I was just starting out with Simply Red. Gabriella and I would have been another one of those divorce statistics.”
“Around 1988 I started to 'dread' my hair; because it's curly, it would go into dreads naturally if I stopped combing it. But the dreads went down only one side, so I had to have extensions put in.”
“I am one of the best singer-songwriters this country has produced. Ever.”
“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.”
“All the best British groups were inspired by black American music. With The Beatles, it was Motown and the blues. With me, it was a mixture of British styles and the more sophisticated Seventies soul of Barry White and Marvin Gaye.”
“I have sensitive skin, so if I shave every day, I go blotchy. I tend to shave and leave it a couple of days. Then a couple of days becomes a week, I look up and I've grown a beard.”
“I'm going to write music that's appropriate to my age. And if younger people want to come along with me, they're welcome to.”
“I feel a bit like the antichrist as I had the bulk of my success in the 80s and I hate 80s music.”
“I am a 'champagne socialist,' and I'm proud of it.”
“Otis Redding was the ultimate 60s soul singer. We only get an indication of what he might have become, but he had the best soul pipes a lad could wish for.”
“A red-headed man is not generally considered to be a sexual icon.”