Louis Walsh: What did you want to be when you were growing up? — FLAPSS

The question

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Originally asked

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

This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.

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

LW

Louis Walsh

Irish music manager and television personality

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I just wanted to work in music. I didn’t want a real job.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 232 →

Alison Goldfrapp English musician and record producer

I wanted to get into music, I was answering ads in the paper, crazy stuff, really. I met people in a band, [and] ended up going to Antwerp, Belgium.

Recorded Matthew Velasco, Heroes, V Magazine, 23 May 2023 source ↗

A singer. I wanted to live off music ever since I was a child – a wish that came true when I was over 35 years old.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 November 2024 source ↗

A detective. Or a writer. Or a poet.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 June 2026 source ↗

Kevin Pietersen English cricketer

A pilot or a ranger in the bush.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 June 2019 source ↗

More from Louis Walsh

View profile →

Question What single thing would improve the quality of your life? Daily life

More exercise. Maybe I should join a gym, but I’ve never been to one.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

Question What has been your biggest disappointment? Failure & regret

America – there are too many Americans.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

Question What keeps you awake at night? Daily life

The X Factor (wondering about song choices) and watching TV. I’m a night person, and don’t go to sleep until 3am or 4am.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

Question Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought? Money & investment

I have a Maserati. I love pop art and I collect Warhol, Hirst and Hockney.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

Question What song would you like played at your funeral? Death & what remains

Crazy by Patsy Cline.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

Question What would you like to be remembered for? Death & what remains

I’d like people to say, “Well, he was a bit odd, he was a bit funny.”

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

More on identity & self

Also answered this

Rose McGowan, Julia Ormond, Suzanne Vega, Melissa McCarthy, Seann Walsh, Kevin Bacon

Search the directory for somebody in particular.

Explore further

All identity & self questions
The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject

Report this answer