Jake Shears: Excluding property, what is the most expensive thing you have ever bought?

The question

Excluding property, what is the most expensive thing you have ever bought?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

The Guardian's weekly The Q&A repeatedly uses this standing prompt, with minor contractions and word-order variation.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Jake Shears

Singer and songwriter; co-lead vocalist of Scissor Sisters

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

A Henry Darger painting. Sadly, I lost it in the divorce, but it was a great parting gift.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 July 2021 source ↗

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Tim Rice English lyricist and author

A painting by Tamara de Lempicka.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 March 2017 source ↗

Marina Abramović Performance artist

A cashmere shawl.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 October 2024 source ↗

Daniel Mays British actor

A designer green jacket from Selfridges I bought in my 20s for £700, a ridiculous amount of money. My family and friends said I looked like a peace activist and I never wore it again.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 April 2020 source ↗

Anna Paquin New Zealand actress

My husband and I own some art, but we are not huge spenders.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 July 2019 source ↗

More from Jake Shears

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Question What disappointment has stayed with you longest? Failure & regret

The realisation that I am no longer young.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 July 2021 source ↗

Question What thought won't let you sleep? Daily life

Getting older and dying.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 July 2021 source ↗

Question How close have you come to dying? Death & what remains

Five years ago, a concrete plug, a little bigger than a baseball, fell off a building on Hollywood Boulevard when I was riding in an open convertible. It shattered the windshield. It really shook me. I still have it on my mantel.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 July 2021 source ↗

Question Who deserves an apology from you, and for what? Failure & regret

To the Scissor Sisters. Back in the day, I could be an absolute monster; I was a real asshole.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 July 2021 source ↗

Question If you had only one day left, how would you spend it — and what would you deliberately avoid? Death & what remains

It would definitely involve lots of sex. I would spend the afternoon having some crazy passionate declarative sex with my husband.

Recorded Clash, Last Day On Earth, 29 June 2012 source ↗

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