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When I realised that I could be a musician. I was 16.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 September 2022 source ↗
The question
What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
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Others on this question
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Griff Rhys Jones
British actor and comedian
I’ll be at my happiest today, and probably my gloomiest at some point today, too.
In 1993, making love on the beach of a deserted island in the Bahamas.
Terry O'Neill
British photographer
I’ve been happy all my life.
Sadie Frost
English actress, producer, film director and fashion designer
When there’s a big Sunday lunch and all my children are there.
More from Courtney Pine
View profile →I am not studious enough. I get easily distracted.
When my new-born daughter Cleopatra died and I wasn’t there. I was doing a US tour and I remember sitting down in an airport and losing it.
I would have spent more time practising and got a proper lawyer to sort out my first album contract.
A saxophone for £8,000.
We were doing a tour in Japan and as our plane landed, it rose again, out of the blue. About 10 years later there was this programme about 10 of the nearest misses, and it was my flight. There was another plane on the runway and we nearly landed on top of it. I didn’t know until 10 years later.
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