I'm not trying to overcome my father or fill his shoes or reach any kind of level that he did. We're talking about a Mozart of rock music.
I love rock and roll. Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong decade because I love Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix and... those are my bands.
I really feel fortunate to have been around then because there have been good and bad years in rock but the best years were '55 to early '61. I got to see Buddy Holly and everybody else.
My dad influenced my musical taste. I grew up listening to Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones and a bunch of rock music from the '60s. Now, instead of watching TV, I'll play a record from start to finish.
When I became a 'rock musician,' I assumed pop music was easy to write and that interesting rock music, or alternative music, was hard. It was only later I realised that writing a pop song is the hardest thing musically.
When the Doors became huge, what nascent rock intelligentsia existed at the time adored them.
Why there aren't people out there willing to have fun playing rock 'n' roll. I just don't get it.
The early Billy Joel stuff I fell in love with, like Glass Houses, is a real rock record.
British rock & roll became the gospel for American kids like me.
I think a lot of people came into rock n' roll to try to change the world. I came into rock n' roll to make music.
I've been working on some original songs with the band that does the Led Zeppelin experience. We're going to start writing as an original band and see what comes out of it. It'll be kind of Zeppelin-esque because of the way the guys play - but there's nothing wrong with that.
It's silly to me to not be positive about rock advancing and growing. Really, we just want rock n' roll to be mainstream.
My daughter wasn't into that type of rock music and kind of played it off. But then these teenage boys started coming around, and Led Zeppelin, I don't know, it became reinvented. Now she's very proud of her grandfather.
You find yourself approaching middle age, playing another scuzzy rock club.
When it comes to putting together a new show, we always push the envelope, and that's part of Motley Crue's legacy.
I know it's financially lucrative to go out on my own, but I don't like it. It's really hard work, just the performance aspect. I like people who look like they've been together for too long and sound like they've been together too long. I like rock n' roll bands.
I wanted to be so many different things in the beginning - I wanted to be a rocker, I wanted to be a great songwriter, I wanted to be a great melodic singer.
When I started listening to Paramore, I was in high school, and they were, like, 15. Seeing somebody at such a young age have that ambition, I thought, holy crap, they were so young. They seemed like cool people, and I really liked the music.
I remember one of the first albums I got was an album called 'Thin Lizzy: Live and Dangerous.'
I mean, I haven't been completely lacking in some enjoyment of Chuck Berry or Buddy Holly. But I just didn't pay attention to that period of music, obviously.
Just the other day I pulled out this old cassette of Ragged Glory and I popped it into my cassette player and I was digging it. They were just a great rock and roll band, one that presents the song ahead of everything else - there's no grand idea or concept behind it.
My first tour I did was The Warped Tour, and I was likening myself to the bearded lady at the circus because not only was I an actor touring, doing rock n' roll, but I was also a female front person making really muscular, male-dominated rock music.
When George W. Bush was up for re-election, we took part in Rock Against Bush.
'Ten' by Pearl Jam is still by far one of my favorite albums and is a big part of what inspired me to learn guitar.
Chuck Berry invented rock 'n' roll. He was one of the best songwriters of the 20th century.
