JOAN ARMATRADING 

"I will never retire. Songwriting is in my blood. I’m at my happiest when I’m writing.
 I started to write songs at the age of 14. Before that I used to write limericks, funny short stories and jokes. My mother bought a piano for the front room because she thought it was a great piece of furniture. As soon as the piano arrived in the house, that’s when I started to write songs.

I’m self-taught on the piano and the guitar. I got my first guitar when I saw it in a pawnshop costing £3 and asked my mother if I could have it. She said she had no money but if they would swap it for two old prams then I could have it. I still have that guitar. The neck is wide and as a young girl my hands would have been smaller than they are now. I actually don’t know how I was able to play that guitar but I guess it was determination.

Music and my songwriting, has given me a lot of pleasure and good fortune. I meet people I would never meet if I was doing something else, I get to travel all over the world and I get invited to interesting events and places, all because of the songs I write. I love all that comes with songwriting and I very much enjoy the many concerts that I have performed in over the years but even if none of these things happened I would still be a songwriter. I write because I love it."