Stevie Nicks Quotes

I wouldn't be as comfortable with who I am if it had not been for Prince. I mean, my label 'Wondaland' would not exist without 'Paisley Park' coming before us.

The thing about influence is that any composer worth anything will give you the same names.

Growing up, I was always around adult musicians who played for their entire lives. So that's what I wanted to do, and I always had that in mind.

Music is changing. I'm just doing what I'm doing, and hopefully in the next 20, 30 years, some kids can take what I'm doing and change it again. If the music doesn't move, then it's dead.

People like Prince don't have to care about anything, but they care because they want music for the future to be great.

In other words, musicians know that going back to the Spoonful, what we were doing was not copying.

There's a lot of music at my fingertips that I can be influenced by. And just because I play a horn, I don't need to sound, or try to capture, what was happening before me. I can just respect it and learn from it.

If you listen to a lot of music, it gradually seeps into your consciousness or your unconsciousness and comes out in your music.

As I've matured as a songwriter, I realize that if it's out there, it's mine.

We don't need another Woody. Even Bob Dylan knew he couldn't be Woody Guthrie... I like Woody Guthrie fine, but I don't need the 50th generation version of it.

For a while, I felt a little self-impelled to write Lou Reed Kind of songs. I should have understood that a Lou Reed song was anything I wanted to write about.

I went through a pretty big David Bowie period when I was younger, and that has affected me profoundly in my life and my work.

It's too easy to unconsciously echo another novelist's voice while reading fiction, a habit of mimicry I probably picked up as a musician.

I've been ripping the Rolling Stones off with every song I write in some form or another.

I'm just inspired by music.

I did not want to go onstage and play Led Zeppelin songs; there has to be more than that. I wanted to create a complete experience of what Led Zeppelin means to me, growing up around them and being part of it all my life.

I leave everyone to have their own opinions of my music and my influence - or not - on others.

Inspiration and stealing are two completely different things. If somebody wants to make a song like "Stairway to Heaven" and writes a song on acoustic guitar, Led Zeppelin does not own every song that's on acoustic guitar for the rest of time.

I remember Prince gave me a cassette of Purple Rain. It was like 20 minutes long and he asked me to write something on it. I tried for a month and then he came to L.A. I went to see him and said, "I can't do it. It's too perfect. It's like 'Stairway to Heaven.'" He said OK and then I go, "I can keep the cassette, right?" He said, "Of course and thank you for trying."

In the physical universe, there are objects that include suns, planets, all life, and all matter in all dimensions. And then there is the space where all these things exist. That space is the vital element. For virtually every kid since 1968 who picked up a guitar to find his voice on the instrument, Jimmy Page has been the space that enables all our notes to be played.

I always wanted to do music that influences and inspires each generation.

We all grew up idolizing another musician. That's how this works. That's how music is created.

I always use the Jeff Beck model. Jeff Beck is just a genius, and he keeps getting better ... If there's anybody in your field you want to aspire to be like, it is a guy who does what he wants to do. Every record at least he comes out with one thing that makes everybodys' jaw drop ... I would hope that Jimi Hendrix would have done that, although, man, the odds are against him because he did so much in such a short amount of time.

Growing up playing jazz and improvising has had a big impact on me, and it translates into my music.

When you hear his music, mine will all of a sudden make sense.