Speaking to BBC 5live in 2011: 'I don't think the so-called royal family speak for England now and I don't think England needs them. I do seriously believe that they are benefit scroungers and nothing else. I don't believe they serve any purpose whatsoever.'

Mozzer takes on music today: 'In England, pop music seems now to be exclusively for children. If an artist is no good, why is it necessary to have that artist repeatedly rammed in our face?'

'Music is like a drug, but there are no rehabilitation centres.' Select, 1991.

On his cheery disposition: 'I am capable of looking on the bright side - I just don’t do it very often.' Melody Maker, 1987.

On Band Aid: 'Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Band Aid was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music.'

'I always thought my genitals were the result of some crude practical joke.' NME, 1986.

On The Brit Awards: 'The Brits are ghastly. I never would accept a Brit. It would be like Laurence Olivier being happy getting a TV Times award.'

On Lady Gaga: 'I like the idea of women who are in full control, but I am tired of seeing singers who cannot deliver a song without the aide of seven hundred and fifty frenzied dancers assuming the erotic.' Billboard, 2011.

In a controversial interview in The Guardian, 2010: 'Did you see the thing on the news about their treatment of animals and animal welfare? Absolutely horrific. You can't help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies.'

Lambasting David Walliams, Jonathon Ross and Russell Brand for invading his stage in 2008. 'You assume that all audiences are the same, you can master one audience, you can master anybody's. My dear friends in the seats are often very aggressive.'

'The press only write about me in terms of the Smiths story, and the fact that I've had three solo number one albums - or even 25 years of eventful solo activity - is never mentioned anywhere. Odd.' Pitchfork, 2011.

Words of wisdom: 'Artists aren't really people. I'm actually 40 per cent papier mache.'

Oasis in the firing line: 'They are very tame to me. God bless Noel, I'm sure he'll always have a spot on 'Bob's Full House', but I search for something with more bite and rage.'

'Yes I have had a tan, actually. I went to Los Angeles and got one there, but it didn't make it back to Britain. You're not allowed to come through customs with a tan.' i-D, 1987.

On Sigmund Freud: 'He just made people feel so neurotic about their lives. I mean, if you dreamt about a lampshade, it meant you wanted to be whipped by the local vicar or something.' NME, 1984.

Poly Styrene Vs. Kate Middleton: 'During the week of the royal dreading, Poly Styrene died. Having made an enormous contribution to British art and sound – at a desperate time when so many of us needed her, Poly Styrene's death was all but ignored by the British television news media, who instead rained hours and hours of blubbering praise onto Kate Middleton – a woman about whom nothing is known on a personal level.'

On Madonna: 'Edith Piaf was seven inches high, always wore a modest black dress, and sang without stage sets or lights, and her voice roared above the wind, with the most incredible powers of communication. I'd like to see McDonna attempt that.' Billboard, 2011.

On life: 'Nothing is important, so people, realising that, should get on with their lives, go mad, take their clothes off, jump in the canal, jump into one of those supermarket trolleys, race around the supermarket and steal Mars bars and kiss kittens.' NME, 1985.

An 'apology' to Dermot O Leary: 'I'm sorry I made the Detergent O Leary radio interview so difficult but I was in a foul mood, having spent a full week surrounded by the royal dreading. England may very well be a Windsor dictatorship, but - PR Weddings aside, it is usually quite bearable.'

On Richard Madeley: 'He referred to me as an 'insufferable puffed-up prat'. This is a bit rich coming from a man who actually married his own mother.'

In a sarcastic congratulations to Kylie Minogue during Wireless Festival 2008: 'I'm absolutely thrilled to death. I’m sure you’ll agree, it was completely deserved.'

While smelling burning meat at Cochella Festival 2011: 'I smell burning flesh. And I hope to God it’s human.'

Comparing The Queen to Colonel Gaddafi: 'For a broad historical view of what The Queen is and how she "rules", examine Gaddafi or Mubarak, and see if you can spot any difference. You won’t be able to.' Irish Hot Press, 2011.

'Long hair is an unpardonable offense which should be punishable by death.' Star Hits, 1986.

'If met Vic Reeves, I'd have no desire other than to smack him in the face.' Q, 1994.

On growing old: 'Age shouldn't affect you. It's just like the size of your shoes - they don't determine how you live your life! You're either marvelous or you're boring, regardless of your age.'

On communication convenience: 'That's why I do this music business thing, it's communication with people without having the extreme inconvenience of actually phoning anybody up.'

On death: 'When they bury me in a church and chuck earth on my grave, I’d like the words ‘Well, at least he tried’ engraved on my tombstone.'

On alcohol: 'Life would be so colourful if only I had a drink problem.' Vox, 1990.

On being controversial: 'I've never intended to be controversial but it's very easy to be controversial in pop music because nobody ever is.'