I started to draw desert islands. They were just rough, shapes in the middle of the page. Then I began drawing shapes within those shapes and I was amazed how quickly the islands got better. It took off from there.

In 1970 the Humblebums broke up with Rafferty going on to record a solo album: Can I Have My Money Back (1971). Connolly and his older sister Florence (named after their maternal grandmother) were cared for by two aunts Margaret and Mona Connolly his father's sisters who resented the children for the fact that they had to sacrifice their young lives in order to look after them. He became a good friend of the host Michael Parkinson and now holds the record for appearances on the programme having been a guest on fifteen occasions.

He is sometimes known especially in his native Scotland by the nickname 'The Big Yin' ('The Big One'). CBE (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish comedian musician presenter and actor. Connolly appears as the King of Lilliput in the 2010 remake of Gulliver's Travels.