Morrissey's Unbalanced Ambition

Morrissey's "unbalanced" childhood drove him to be a musician.

The former Smiths singer - real name Steven Morrissey - has revealed his unconventional youth and fascination with music left him determined to write and sing songs.

He said: "I was considered to be unbalanced, which helped me greatly, because it confirmed everything I knew. I didn't want to grow up to be anything I knew.

"As a child, I was completely entranced by the recorded song. I was fascinated by the emotion that came from singing and still am."

However, the 50-year-old star is starting to grow tired of life as a musician.

He explained: "There was not anyone like me in pop music, so there was no blueprint. The music industry has never grabbed me in the way the sea grabs a sailor."

However, the rocker is determined to avoid a conventional life.

He told BBC Radio 4: "I don't want to be any kind of a happy couple with a photograph on the television set. I find it embarrassing. You have to get involved with other people's relatives and great aunt Bessies and all of that and I'd rather not. I'm 50 years old now and a pattern emerges and I accept that and I don't mind at all."