Paul Rodgers

“I was 17, and it was my first summer in London as a professional singer. One hot, humid evening, I heard that the Jimi Hendrix Experience was playing in a blues club above a pub in Finsbury Park. I was flat broke and couldn't afford a ticket, so I went along just to stand outside and listen.”

“I still love 'All Right Now,' strangely enough. But then that's probably because I didn't play it for some twenty years.”

“I always think the audience should be part of the show.”

“'When I'm Sixty-Four' hasn't worn well, but George Harrison's 'Within You Without You' is awesome.”

“I am proud to be a Canuck.”

“The first record I bought was actually Booker T and the MG's 'Red Beans and Rice.'”

“Once I'd become a songwriter, it just stays with you. You always want to write more songs because it's such a great feeling.”

“I didn't really like the '80s, to be honest with you. There was some good music that came out, but it went a bit disco for me.”

“I didn't 'join' Queen. We played together and found a strong connection, did a TV show, and carried on - then I suddenly realised I'd been with these guys for four years. If I'd been called up and asked to join, I would have said no.”

“I loved the 'Free Spirit' tour and the guys who helped create the magic: Pete Bullick, Rich Newman, Ian Rowley and Gerard 'G' Louis.”

“Soul and blues were a definite influence on me. It was raw and naked emotion which you didn't get much where I come from.”

“Ann Wilson has an amazing voice and is a brilliant songwriter.”

“A lot of those early blues records and soul records were pretty much live. It was what it was, and they had goofs and mistakes, but it still kept its charm. We have to remember to keep the feel. It's so important.”

“Life is so mundane, isn't it? It's great to hear a guitarist getting into it and the rhythmic section blasting, even if it's all meaningless.”

“I had a band when I was 14, and we would play around in my hometown of Middlesbrough, and we'd go to the club afterwards, which was the Purple Onion then. There would be live bands playing, and in between that, the DJ would be playing records.”

“With Free, we had phased out all of the blues material and wanted to phase in all original material, and the only song that stayed from our blues past was 'The Hunter' by Albert King. People just loved that. And I said, 'We have to write a song that will top that - otherwise, what are we doing here?' That was the birth of 'All Right Now.'”

“I look at John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters, guys who had a fantastic longevity, and I learned something from them. They didn't try to sell records. They weren't saying, 'Ok, what can I write, what can I do in the studio that will sell?' They were just doing their thing, and people picked up on it. I like the idea of that.”

“When I went down to London in '67, I had three things in mind: To survive, to find peace of mind, and to make music doing it.”

“Live music is where you get the inspiration and the creativity.”