Hi guys! "Artists are supposed to reflect the questions of the time, not answer them," said John Lennon. Do you think that a rock star's job is to make music and provide entertainment, all the while giving something (political, social, etc.) to think about, or do you think that he has to go beyond that and become the Conscience of Rock like Bono? (someone who makes more in six months of touring than an African nation does in a year) Love, Talia

NICK & SIMON BOTH HAD A GO AT THIS ONE: "I think being an artist is about being individual and being able to channel your ideas through your chosen medium. I do not believe that anyone has a responsibility to represent anything other than what they choose.NR"

"Hi Talia, you've touched on a big one........indeed. For one thing I don't like to intellectualise about 'rock' (yeuch I hate the term as it is) as such discourse tends to end quite decidedly up it's own jacksie. I definitely have no intention of divulging what I think 'my job' is quite simply because having a vague or better still no job description makes it easier to do whatever I like. John Lennon was very good at soundbites but inevitably people have taken such statements as gospel pearls, as seminal rather than observational. And in the mouths of others these words often become unthinking and glib. Bono, god love him is just great at being.............well, Bono. yours s"