The electronic pop legend on good love, bad whisky and crying like a baby
Musician Gary Numan’s childhood dream was to be a fighter pilot
Guilty pleasure? Farrow’s tinned marrowfat peas, although it’s not easy to get them living in America.
Where is home? An incredible three-storey house in Los Angeles with secret staircases and hidden panels. It looks like an old castle, but it was built in 1992.
Career plan B? An airline pilot or a racing driver would have appealed to me.
Who would play you in a movie of your life? Dane DeHaan, who was in a film called A Cure for Wellness.
Biggest bugbear? Variable speed limits on UK motorways.
As a child you wanted to be… A fighter pilot.
Secret to a happy relationship? There are lots of answers, but one is to find someone who is everything you are not, which is what my wife Gemma is for me.
Your best quality? Gemma says I’m too modest, but I’ve always felt lucky rather than particularly talented.
And your worst? I get angry quickly.
Most romantic thing you’ve ever done? Arrange a surprise trip to Venice for our tenth wedding anniversary.
Last meal on earth? A roast turkey dinner made by my wife.
Dream dinner-party guests? King Leonidas of Sparta, the legless Second World War fighter pilot Douglas Bader, Julius Caesar, Jesus Christ and Gemma, who’s very good at talking and would keep the conversation flowing.
Advice to teenage self? There’s no need to worry.
Cat or dog? We have three dogs and nine cats.
What do you see when you look in the mirror? The rapid approach of death.
On a day off we’d find you… With Gemma and our three daughters, Raven, 14, Persia, 12, and Echo, ten.
Starstruck moment? Seeing my biggest Second World War hero, a fighter pilot called Robert Stanford Tuck, at an airshow in Kent. I felt so unworthy that I couldn’t bring myself to say hello.
Big break? Being on Top of the Pops in 1979 performing ‘Are “Friends” Electric?’
Career highlight? My most recent album, Savage: Songs from a Broken World, getting to number two in the charts. Considering that my career was pretty much dead by the early 90s, I cried like a baby when I heard the news.
Favourite tipple? I don’t really drink, although before I go on stage I have a drop of something called Fireball Cinnamon Whisky. It tastes disgusting, but it loosens me up.
Top of your bucket list? To go into space.
Secret skill? I make candles.
Philosophy? If you enjoy something, do it, as long as it doesn’t hurt other people, animals or the planet.
Where would you time travel to? The ancient days of Sparta.
First record you bought? A greatest hits album by Hank Williams Jr for my mum.
Most extravagant purchase? Over the years I’ve bought four planes, but sold the last one when the children came along.
Biggest regret? Not marrying my wife sooner – all the years I wasn’t with her seem like a waste.
Biggest fear? Deep water at night.
Celebrity crush? Raquel Welch.
Happiness is…? Hearing my children’s laughter.
Gary begins a UK tour in Portsmouth on 12 March; details at garynuman.com. Savage: Songs from a Broken World is out now on BMG