Iconic Artists Quotes

Rock 'n Roll: The most brutal, ugly, desperate, vicious form of expression it has been my misfortune to hear.

If there's one thing that I love as an entertainer, it's a spectacle. We all have looked up to either Michael Jackson or Madonna or Janet Jackson or anyone of those things. When I was in *N SYNC, I would watch any concert video ever and really drink it all in.

I've interviewed everyone from Joe Strummer to Iggy Pop.

Snoop Dogg and T-Pain, to me, are like legends so it's like, any time you get to work with a legend like that, it's cool.

If they were starting their careers today, Rockwell and Picasso would probably both be painting on black velvet.

You think about the artists I look at as icons, and you assume they were instantly embraced. That's usually not the case. In reality, they had to overcome a lot of noes to get where they wanted to be.

If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been the Beatles.

The first people I ever saw were probably Little Richard and Gene Vincent.

My heroes: Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Nina Simone.

If I was to meet Lou Reed or Bob Dylan, I would be totally helpless. Writers and musicians make me feel completely starstruck.

I'd like to go for people I admire - I always gravitate towards the people I idolized when I was a teenager: Cher, Diana Ross, and David Bowie.

We're really excited to be even talked about in the same breath as Foo Fighters or Metallica.

I worked with Dionne Warwick, did shows with Bette Midler, and then I did the 25th anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Springsteen at the Garden. It was all important stuff because you want people to know you can work, you can sing, and you can still look good!

Over the years, I've come to realize that writing 'I Ain't Living Long Like This' was an exercise in combined musical influence, mostly that of Hank Williams, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Beatles, and Bob Dylan - artists no one has ever heard of.

I listen to music - Lady Gaga, Kanye, Jay-Z, the Beatles, Robert Plant - while I'm walking down Fifth Avenue to my office in the Trump Tower early each morning.

I think that for the five-year-old watching MTV right now, Lady Gaga is going to be an iconic person. In 20 years, the people who are here and talking to journalists will be like, 'Oh Lady Gaga changed my life, Nicki Minaj changed my life.' They'll be saying who influenced them and it will be Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, artists like that.

You look back at people like Elvis and The Beatles and still get their music because it's timeless. That's what I want.

Wu-Tang is looked at like the Rolling Stones of hip-hop.

I love Aretha Franklin, Edith Piaf, Blondie.

R.E.M.'s 'Automatic for the People' - that's probably one of my favourite records - Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' - that's some record - Crowded House's 'Together Alone' - that's brilliant, fantastic record.

It would be horrible if there was no competition. It's what people want to see - they either like you or they don't. Not everybody likes Van Gogh. Or Bob Dylan! So you have Neil Young...or Ozzy Osbourne.

We've been waiting for a format like triple-A where you can hear Crowded House, Joni Mitchell and R.E.M.

When you're with somebody as iconic as Mick Jagger or John Fogerty, I'm really aware that, in asking these guys to collaborate with me, I don't want to add a footnote to their career that's like, 'Shouldn't' have done that.' It's important to make sure that they're well represented.

If Frank and The Beach Boys got together and did a Super Session album, it would be a gas.

I like to listen to the Police, Sting, Queen, Pet Shop Boys.