"I'm the luckiest guy I know..."

Jethro Tull's venerable bandleader Ian Anderson is no stranger to interviews, but he's never done one quite like this before. We've lined up an all-star cast of friends, collaborators and admirers to give him a grilling he won't forget! We get his thoughts on all manner of topics, from the serious to the candid, in one of the most revealing Q&As he's ever given.

- Dave Everley

Ian Anderson is a hale-looking 78, and Jethro Tull, the band he formed in London in 1967, are fast approaching their diamond anniversary, but neither show any signs of slowing down. Tull are on a late-career hot streak, having released three new studio albums in the last four years, not to mention their ongoing reissues campaign, which has just reached 1984's divisive but vivid Under Wraps.

When we speak via Zoom in early May, Anderson is on a day off from the band's latest tour. He's in good spirits, despite recently fracturing a rib going up some stone steps a week previously.

"I'm struggling a little to do two hours onstage with this," he says. "So please don't try to make me laugh with these questions."

No promises there, given that this is a slightly different interview from the ones Anderson is used to. Rather than the standard journalistic interrogation, we've thrown the floor open to a host of friends, collaborators and admirers who have known him or followed his long and illustrious career, including current and former members of Yes, ELP, Gentle Giant, Genesis, Opeth, The Stranglers and the odd TV presenter.

"I'm curious to know if the Prime Minister or Donald Trump is on the list," he says.

Sadly not, but there's plenty of other stuff to chew on. Starting with a question from one of Anderson's longtime contemporaries.

RICK WAKEMAN

What instrument do you tend to use when composing, and does it ever start with flute ideas?