I thought up the name Queen early on. It couldn't have been King; it doesn't have the same ring or aura as Queen.

I feel that the name Queen actually fitted that time. It lent itself to a lot of things, like the theatre, and it was grand. It was very pompous, with all kinds of connotations. It meant so much. It wasn't just one precise label. I was certainly aware of the gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it.

A lot of people wanted to try to make me the white Nicki Minaj. That's not what I'm trying to do. I love 'hood' music, but my talent is as a singer. My 13-year-old self would have beaten up my 17-year-old self because she would be like, 'You're a sellout!'

Yes, I am a pirate two hundred years too late.

One of the challenges we set up for 'Puscifer' was to come up with a core identity and see how far we can push it.

I had no idea how to do that, because I was either above or below everybody. I was either towering above as Clapton the guitar virtuoso, or cringing on the floor, because if you took away my guitar and my musical career, then I was nothing.