Suzi Quatro

“I am flattered to have been the woman to have opened the door for female rockers to be accepted into the mainly male industry.”

“I miss America because it's where I grew up. I miss the size of the roads, the size of cars, the malls, the choices of radio.”

“Age isn't a barrier to playing the bass, and I've definitely improved over the years, although maybe I'm not as flash as I once was. But looking back, I can't imagine a life without a guitar.”

“I refused to wear make-up on TV. I wanted my music to be heard.”

“I joined an all-girl band in Detroit and, although I was a pianist and drummer, I was asked to play bass because no one else wanted to. When I strapped it on, it fit me as good as my leathers. At the first gig we played, I looked out at the audience and thought, 'This is what I'm going to be doing for the rest of my life.'”

“Inside, I feel 30ish - I'm childish and optimistic.”

“There are things you're supposed to learn in life. My biggest regret was terminating a pregnancy when I was about 18. Every day, I think about who that baby would be now; it still makes me sad.”

“I got my first real bass guitar in my hands when I was 14 - a 1957 Fender Precision, which is still hanging on the wall in my front room. I loved the heaviness of it and the feel of the wood. I still do.”

“Anyone who has had their heart broken learns to keep a little safety area. Even now in my relationship, I have something I can call my own in case something goes wrong. You need a place to retreat to.”

“Len and I had parted musical ways and this was one of the problems.”

“You're all right, as long as you don't believe your own hype.”

“I'm totally active. I am just this side of hyper. I jog and go to the gym every day. When I'm on the computer, I'm reading, I'm writing, I'm never quiet. My brain is very rarely not engaged. Every now and again I will fall asleep under the parasol in the sun, but that's a rarity.”

“I think like a man but have the emotions of a woman, and that's really dangerous.”

“There comes a crossroads in every marriage where you grow together or grow apart. I outgrew Len. He wanted me to be in that leather jumpsuit for the rest of my life and do nothing else. He constrained me. It got to a point where the marriage died or I did.”

“I just couldn't get into the high school scene at all. I was fat, ugly and weird. I just couldn't do the makeup and the hairdos.”

“I also have a big love of classical music played on piano because this is the environment I grew up in my brother being one of the great masters in this world.”

“I'm not a great flyer. It's ironic, since I'm in showbiz and have to fly at least twice a week. I try to sleep and blot it out.”

“I was a me-ist. I believed in the right to do whatever I wanted to do regardless of gender. Still do.”

“I don't really think about male and female; if something's right for me, it's right for me, and it doesn't matter what it is - maybe that's what it took for me, a woman, to break down the doors.”

“Reality shows have a lot to answer for. They applaud mediocrity.”