Courtney Pine
British jazz musician
I would have spent more time practising and got a proper lawyer to sort out my first album contract.
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Question
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Death & what remains
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Repeated verbatim in The Guardian's long-running Saturday Q&A; two publisher-hosted examples establish recurrence.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
A bilious green suit springs to mind.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 October 2016 source ↗
Others on this question
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Helen George
English actress
Going through a divorce.
A few haircuts.
Desmond Tutu
Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town; chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Nobel Peace Prize, 1984
I sent off the letter. I probably made a technical mistake by giving it to a journalist before hearing from the Prime Minister because this journalist was working for a Sunday newspaper and gave it enormous press, and I think quite rightly the Prime Minister was annoyed that I had not given him the opportunity but never mind.
More from Bill Bailey
View profile →Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads. When I first heard it at 15, it was different to all the punk I was listening to. When I was starting out in my career, it was all about: ‘How is this possible? How am I doing this?’ Now it’s: ‘Is this my life? How did I get here?’ The lyrics are all about returning full to nature. That’s how I imagine death to be. So that’s what I want at my funeral. And they’ll play Combine Harvester by the Wurzels as people are leaving the church.
Not being chosen as the next Bond.
Aung San Suu Kyi, for her resilience and determination.
Telesales. I refused to wear a tie, but my argument that “They can’t see what we’re wearing” didn’t wash with the manager and I lasted a week.
Slightly longer arms.
My parents, for not pursuing an academic career.
More on failure & regret
- What has been your biggest disappointment? 368 answers
- Who most deserves an apology from you, and why? 209 answers
- What is the worst thing anyone has said to you? 124 answers
- Which moment embarrassed you most? 124 answers
- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 74 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 38 answers
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Beverley Knight, Kim Wilde, Adam Lambert, Yusuf Islam, David Hasselhoff, Shaznay Lewis
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