Q&A: Nicky Wire

Lyricist/bass player with Manic Street Preachers The Manic Street Preachers formed  in 1986 as a post-punk quartet with a repertoire soaked in cultural and political references. In February 1995, lyricist  and guitarist Richey Edwards disappeared and, in November...

Frank Skinner – Comic timing

Back on tour again, comedian FRANK SKINNER is having the time of his life. He puts his 27-year career down to a Protestant work ethic and a Catholic fear of regret  As a boy, I used to dress up in a full cowboy outfit and strum a plastic guitar in front of  my family....

Mick Rock – Shooting stars

Legendary photographer MICK ROCK on why the Seventies was an exceptional time for music – as proved by his seminal photography of the decade’s talent I first met Bowie on 18 March 1972, before  his Birmingham Town Hall gig. He was a few months into...

Sublime passions

The subject of both his latest film and an upcoming Tate Britain exhibition, JMW Turner was a flawed, eccentric character with whom film director MIKE LEIGH finds great empathy When I was about 14, I had art posters pinned to my bedroom wall. Picasso, the...

A cut above

A landmark Matisse exhibition at Tate Modern offers a rare opportunity to view his final – and most radical – work, says the curator Nicholas Cullinan, exploring the artist’s legacy The idea for curating this exhibition – the most comprehensive...