Born in Salford, Shaun Ryder, 54, left school at the age of 15. As lead singer of the Happy Mondays, he was a key figure in Manchester’s rave scene. The band released four albums before splitting in 1993. Ryder went on to form Black Grape, whose new album, Pop Voodoo, is out next month. He has six children and lives in Salford.

When were you happiest?

When I was 15 and starting my first job as a messenger boy at the post office, delivering telegrams.

What is your greatest fear?

My little ones are eight and nine, and I have turned into one of those dads who worries. We were almost going to the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena. We had tickets on the door, but it was a hot night and the girls carried on playing.

What is your earliest memory?

When I was six, I remember the police coming into our school and warning us about heroin. I can remember thinking, “I’ll never be involved in that stuff.”

What was your most embarrassing moment?

I’ve had loads, but luckily, like the 1990s, I can’t remember them.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?

My muscles have caved in. I go to bed at night, and next day I’ve got this pot belly where all my muscles have collapsed; so I look fat, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I am a pescatarian and I eat healthily, but it’s all thyroid bullshit.

Who would play you in the film of your life?

I know who they’ve asked, but I can’t tell – I’d get murdered.

What is your most unappealing habit?

I pick my toenails. I really enjoy it.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

In 1975, I watched the film Stardust, and Adam Faith said, “I supply the birds, the pills and the pot.” And I thought, “I want that.”

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

My missus, Joanne. She used to be a hairdresser and a butcher. I have to be very careful, because she’ll wait until I’m asleep and chop me up into little bits.

What was the best kiss of your life?

The wife, she’s my best everything. She’s actually my best shag.

Have you ever said ‘I love you’ and not meant it?

I don’t have a problem with saying, “I love you.” I probably said it to the whole of the red-light district in Amsterdam when I was about 21.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

I have discovered vegan ice-cream; that’s replaced the whisky.

If you could edit your past, what would you change?

The 12 years I spent in receivership. That was me being a dick. I lost the court case when I wanted to sack my management and had to pay them £120,000. I said, “I am not paying you, because I should have won.”

If you could go back in time, where would you go?

I would like to wander around Salford in the mid-1800s.

What is the closest you’ve come to death?

I had a gun shoved in my eyeball in New York by a crack dealer in the 1980s. I have also watched somebody next to me get shot in the head in a gun battle – that was in Jamaica in the early 1990s.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

One Nation Under a Groove, by Funkadelic.