Richard Ashcroft's most outrageous quotes

11 September 2020, 13:58 | Updated: 11 September 2020, 14:05

Richard Ashcroft in 2006. Picture: Mark Terry-Lush/Photoshot/Getty Images

Let’s recall some of the most jaw-dropping, applause-worthy statements to come out of Mr. Ashcroft's mouth.

“I’ve seen a lot of people crying at my gigs. Grown men. Crying and letting off steam and it’s a good thing.”

Richard Ashcroft at Finsbury Park. Picture: Jon Mo Photography

To Radio X, August 2020
“A classic song is timeless. You'll never outlive a classic song.”

Richard Ashcroft performing at Barrowland, Glasgow, 2018. Picture: Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns/Getty Images

The Daily Telegraph, 2010
“Legend is an overused term, but in my case it's totally appropriate.”

Richard Ashcroft performs at Barrowland, Glasgow in 2018. Picture: Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns/Getty Images

Onstage in Dubai, 2013
“I can’t stand nostalgia. I find it very empty.”

Richard Ashcroft performs at The O2 Institute Birmingham, 2019. Picture: Katja Ogrin/Redferns/Getty Images

Shortlist, 2010.
“Bittersweet Symphony is one of the greatest pieces of modern art created by anyone.”

Richard Ashcroft at the Electric Picnic Music Festival 2019. Picture: Debbie Hickey/Getty Images

The Daily Telegraph, 2010
“The Rolling Stones are not worth talking about. Keith Richards should be playing in a blues band."

Richard Ashcroft performs Gallagher at Emirates Old Trafford on August 18, 2018. Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage/Getty Images

San Francisco Chronicle, 1998
“I suffered from an urgent need to be known. The fear of being another tombstone outside Wigan"

Richard Ashcroft performs at Barclaycard present British Summer Time Hyde Park. Picture: Jo Hale/Redferns/Getty Images

The Telegraph, 2006
“A lot of stadium rock now looks like the lighting guy wrote the song.”

Richard Ashcroft performs on stage at the Brixton Academy on July 1, 2017. Picture: C Brandon/Redferns/Getty Images

NME, February 2016
“If this world hasn’t made you semi-mad then you ain’t living in it.”

Richard Ashcroft performs In Melbourne, 2010. Picture: Martin Philbey/Redferns/Getty Images

NME, February 2016
“Someone in the next century will get God through a number code that unites the whole universe.”

Richard Ashcroft performs onstage during A Concert For Killing Cancer at Hammersmith Apollo on January 13, 2011. Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Uncut, 2007
“While the other kids played with Action Man, I was questioning life.”

Richard Ashcroft in 2017. Picture: PYMCA/Avalon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The Guardian, 2007
“I’ve still got a lot of heaviness, a lot of psychedelia, a lot of soul.”

Richard Ashcroft performs at Manchester Academy on June 15, 2010 i. Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage/Getty Images

The Scotsman, 2010
“I’m a blessed man. I’ve written songs that have this timeless quality.”

Richard Ashcroft performs during the final day of the Hop Farm music festival in Paddock Wood, Kent, on July 1, 2012. Picture: BEN STANSALL/AFP/GettyImages

The Telegraph, 2010
“People don't understand that there's bigger things than charts. There's more at stake.”

Richard Ashcroft performs on stage at the Northside Festival on June 10, 2017. Picture: Yuliya Christensen/Redferns/Getty Images

NME, 1992