Billie Joe Armstrong Quotes

I've always written songs, even when I wasn't doing anything with my personal life in music.

I never thought of having platinum albums and winning awards. I just wanted to write songs and sing when I started out in the music business.

I started playing guitar, like, when I was 17 or so, but where I'm from, you just don't hear about people moving to Nashville and making it. It was such a foreign thing to me. I never knew music was an option for me.

I loved music - listening and playing - but of course I could not imagine I would be a professional musician. It really happened step by step.

I've no grand designs to conquer the music industry, but I'd love to be able to tell my mates that I'm playing in a pub in Camden one night.

I was pretty gung-ho about music and pursuing that and figuring that whole thing out, so I was wide-eyed and ready to go when I moved to Nashville. I never looked back.

All I could think about was, 'I just wanna blow him away. I wanna make him proud, because I really wanna sign with Timbaland and spend the rest of my career making music with Tim.'

There are plenty of people in the world who have tried to be rock stars and have not gotten there.

I became a musician because I love music, and that is what has sustained me; it's not because I thought it was a great way to make a living. Music saved my life.

I definitely want to do music for the rest of my life. So I just want to make sure that I'm doing music in the way that I feel is the way I need to.

And I just pray that god gives me longevity in the music industry.

I always wanted to play music and have it be my career and knew this by the age of 12.

I think the first thing you should know is that nobody in country music 'made it' the same way. It's all different. There's no blueprint for success, and sometimes you just have to work at it.

I never believed - or knew for sure - if I would be able to make a professional life in music. But it turned out that way.

I wasn't sure what would happen to me after 'The Voice.' I was just excited to make music.

I was a business major, but the more I played music and the more I got into songwriting, I realized this is what I loved, but I kept asking myself, 'Is this what I'm supposed to do - move to Nashville?'

I stopped chasing the music dream back in '74.

If you think the music business is the be-all and end-all of life, you're in big trouble.

As a musician, I know that it'll take time for me to get to the ranks of an established artiste. Nevertheless, I'm very happy that people are appreciating my music.

I'm just this kid from Toronto who got his start.

I think it's all about the people who listen to your music, and loving playing and writing. Once you've got those two, and they're your main two priorities, then radio and TV and all the other stuff that comes with it will come. But that's not the be-all end-all.

I worked hard all my life as far as this music business. I dreamed of the day when I could go to New York and feel comfortable and they could come out here and be comfortable.

All these interviews I'm doing - this is the kind of stuff that I was dreaming about doing when I was younger. I was praying for people to want to write about me. I wanted people to hear my music. I wanted to perform. I wanted to be on billboards.

From day one when you're singing, you're dreaming about making that first album and making your break into whatever music you want to break into.

I would be a huge hypocrite if I didn't tell you that at one time in my life I thought the way that you made music was you got on a major label and you got famous.