What would Mojo be without the musicians who have inspired and enthralled us? A leaflet maybe. Our most treasured heroes also have debts to acknowledge. In celebration of our 100th issue, we asked 100 of our favourite icons to name their hero and tell of the effect they've had on their life. No two of these stories are alike: funny, affecting, profound, ridiculous, they tell us about creativity and inspiration in tales that take us from Mississippi rent parties to Glastonbury floods. Read on and discover how 100 people got their mojo working - and ours, as well
Nicky Wire
Hero: Paul Robeson
I've got millions, but at the moment it's probably Paul Robeson. I think it's important to scratch beneath the icons we get fed today, the usuals like the Madonnas and the John Lennons. Richey did it with Kevin Carter on Everything Must Go. I think there are a lot more people to discover.
Robeson was a wonderful man who was not only a great artist, he stood up for what he believed in. Human rights, race rights, artistic rights. It's in the psyche of a lost Welsh generation, the older one of our fathers and grandfathers. He did a film in Wales called The Proud Valley and he was due to come to over, but McCarthy withdrew his passport because of the Communist witch hunt. He ended up singing the Welsh national anthem over a telephone line, which you can hear on our record.
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