There's a basic rule which runs through all kinds of music, kind of an unwritten rule. I don't know what it is. But I've got it.

They say you can smoke 400 cigs a day and drink 20 cups of coffee, but you can't have a line or a drink again.

I like it when journalists are nice to me, and it's happening more and more.

What can I say, I'm an alcoholic. It's what I do.

All of us can't wait to get out there whatever way.

Mick says, Would you join the band? I say to him, Mick, you know I'd be there in a New York minute.

I go off into Dublin and two days later I'm spotted walking by the Liffey with a whole bunch of new friends.

I just think my body can't handle it any more. I did try a little drink a while back, and I was actually physically ill. I went into an immediate depression, and felt awful, just dreadful. So that's it. I'm over it now.

Jo left me a few months ago for 10 days. I get this note: I'll come back when the real Ronnie comes back.

When I'm left on my own I'm my own worst enemy.

Mick has expressed an interest in coming to the gallery tonight because he's seen me behaving myself lately. He is being much more supportive, which is nice.

I can't be left unsupervised.

Having loved the Stones all the time I was growing up, I wasn't about to see them go and split up. It got very close to it in the 80s, when Mick thought that Keith hated him and vice versa.

In my family, they were all big boozers.

When I first saw Jo, I said boom, that was it, because I'm a one-woman man.

With every gig we have to prove ourselves better than the night before.

I'm terrible with money, absolutely awful. I'm always losing it.

Let's face it: I paint well. I know it, you know it. There's no arguing really, is there?

I love to go to Ireland just to relax.

I'm a Gemini, so I have a great time with the other guy.

People often get the wrong impression of Mick. The clever businessman is just one side of Mick. The other side is the same as the rest of us, a true rocker!

My real self is probably more creative and more frightening than any sort of drink or drug-induced state.

We got touring with the Stones, and people were trying to keep up with Keith. He's like a human machine with a constitution of iron, and they all thought they could do the same.

My dad lived till he was 78, my mum was in her 80s, and I've got two uncles who are in their 90s now.

You don't make solo albums to have hits.

It's taken folk a while to come around, hasn't it? Even the boys in the band weren't too sure about the whole art thing. They just wanted me to concentrate on the music. But they respect it now.

The last show we played, I was straight as a die. It did feel weird not to be hiding behind alcohol or dope, but being focused was... good.

We're great, Jo and me. We're pals, and I guess sex has a lot to do with it. She's also brilliant at clearing a room. So protective, so devoted. I can't believe how much she loves me.

I always want to rock.

When I first started all this, it was mostly music fans that came along, Stones fans. But now, I'm being taken seriously. I've got highfalutin' art collectors and everything!

There's a basic rule which runs through all kinds of music, kind of an unwritten rule. I don't know what it is. But I've got it.

I've got an article where my mum says that I used to run home from school to watch the Stones on TV. Right from when I was at college I wanted to be in that band.

I heard this massive thud. I spun around, and there Keith was, on the ground. He'd cut his gums up on impact, he was very bloody, and clutching his head. I think it was a kind of wake-up call for him.

When you use music to worship you are not attempting to entertain.

Pop music, disco music, and heavy metal music is about shutting out the tensions of life, putting it away.

When I did the record, I was coming off a time when my contract had been sold and the music industry had changed a lot. I didn't understand how to make records for big labels. I was waiting for a new kind of record label to emerge.

You've got to realize. In the western world, regardless of what color you are, what title the music is, it's all played by the same notes.

Don't make music for some vast, unseen audience or market or ratings share or even for something as tangible as money. Though it's crucial to make a living, that shouldn't be your inspiration. Do it for yourself.

Whether I'm doing music or I'm walking down the street or I'm in a record store buying a record or I walk into a comic store and I'm buying comics or having a drink with my friends, it's the same me.

When rock came along the lyrics and melodies became less important and it bothered me to think that perhaps they might not regain the value they have to music - they are music.

I want to promote poetry to the point where you got all the baldhead kids running around doing poetry, getting the music out of the way and having only words, the spoken word, and then see what happens.

There is no music that can't be used politically, but the motives behind the creation of that music can be non-political.

The kind of music or the kind of arrangements that I do, the kind of musicians I choose, is just what I like to hear.

If not for music, I would probably be a very frustrated scientist. It's one way to answer the question, 'What is the meaning of life?' I feel music answers it better.

Since I'm allergic to various things, the army wouldn't accept me during the war, and I got into the Office of War Information, which sent music to Europe.

My singing is my hobby. It's me and my brother. We just enjoy writing music.

I was determined to carve out a music of my own. I didn't want to copy anybody.

I have tried to make the music a bit easier for them to understand.

What makes my approach special is that I do different things. I do jazz, blues, country music and so forth. I do them all, like a good utility man.