Michael Wagener Veteran Record Producer
"I have now been active in the music business for over 50 years and I think it’s time to retire and get out and catch up on some vacations."
Gene Simmons Kiss Bassist
"Before a show, you might have aches or pains, or it's a bad rainy day, or it's too humid. We all complain about stuff. But... how do I put this poetically? Once it's the roar of the crowd and the smell of the greasepaint, forget it. Once the adrenaline kicks in and your chest expands, you forget about all that."
Sharon Osbourne Manager for Ozzy Osbourne
"Have you seen U2's live show? It's boring as hell. It's like watching CNN."
Dee Snider Twisted Sister Vocalist
"Most of my songs were about believing in yourself, standing up for yourself and fighting for what you believe in."
Steve Harris Iron Maiden Bassist
"People get into metal and they don't drift away from it. They might have families and move away a little, but they certainly don't forget about it.
Tommy Lee Motley Crue Drummer
"On our first record, man, I didn't know what I was doing. I was just playing. I was over playing. You're as green as you can be with no experience in recording or knowing how sometimes a song can work: when it's too much, when it's not enough, when it's not right."
Zakk Wylde Black Label Society Guitarist
"Great musicians, you don't just hear them, you feel them. When I listen to Randy Rhoads, I feel every note. I learned a lot from him."
Bret Michaels Poison Vocalist
"You can't have self-pity. At some point, you have to say, these are the cards I've been dealt, and I'm going to play them."
Ritchie Blackmore Deep Purple Guitarist
"When you're around someone good, your own standards are raised."
Ronnie James Dio Late Metal Vocalist
"I've never taken vocal lessons. My early trumpet training and a fortunate talent for singing has always been enough for me. In the case of rock singing, I've always felt it was better to remain a bit untrained to maintain your individuality."
Axl Rose Guns N' Roses Vocalist
"Regarding social media, I really don't understand what appears to be the general population's lack of concern over privacy issues in publicizing their entire lives on the Internet for others to see to such an extent... but hey it's them, not me, so whatever."
Nikki Sixx Motley Crue Bassist
"We all fall off the wagon. It's only one day; it's not the rest of your life. Pick yourself up and go again."
Alex Lifeson Rush Guitarist
"People are getting away from the whole album experience, it's true. I think that's sad. Maybe I'm just saying that because I'm an old fart. But I can't help it - albums are what I grew up with, and I still love them."
Myles Kennedy Alter Bridge Vocalist & Guitarist
"Though rock is not the force that it once was in America, it still has a loyal fan base that always seems to continue regardless of what popular culture deems as the 'cool thing.'"
Vince Neil Motley Crue Vocalist
"With technology now, you can go in and sing a song, and for $100,000, you will sound flawless."
Bruce Dickinson Iron Maiden Vocalist
"I find that fencing and training give me more stamina and help me deal with the craziness of being on the road so much."
Merel Bechtold Dear Mother Guitarist
“(In 2019) I decided to leave several projects to focus on what’s really important to me. I had to make some incredibly hard decisions, but this was the only way for me to focus on my own dreams."
Noora Louhimo Battle Beast Vocalist
"I started listening to heavy metal and rock when I was a little girl. My father used to play LED ZEPPELIN, AC/DC and all the best. When I was around 15 or 16 years old, I started listening to DIO and such. That was the first time I heard IRON MAIDEN, which is my favorite to this day. Actually, I didn't think when I was 15 or 16 that I would ever be a heavy metal singer."
Floor Jansen Nightwish Vocalist
"If you are waiting for this thing that might happen tomorrow, it probably will never happen. You need to activate it now! No one else is going to do it for you, and ten years are going to go by before you even know it."
Ozzy Osbourne Veteran Metal Singer
"I have a genuine love affair with my audience. When I'm on stage they're not privileged to see me. It's a privilege for me to see them."
Alice Cooper Veteran Singer / Songwriter
"What most people don't understand is that UFOs are on a cosmic tourist route. That's why they're always seen in Arizona, Scotland, and New Mexico. Another thing to consider is that all three of those destinations are good places to play golf. So there's possibly some connection between aliens and golf."
Ace Frehley ex-Kiss Guitarist
Alice Cooper Veteran Singer / Songwriter
Paul Stanley Kiss
Vocalist & Guitarist
James Durbin Vocalist for Durbin
"I appreciate what others have done in the past especially for my genre, and my style of singing. And they sure put a footprint - you know, they got the foot in the door, but I'm going to put my foot straight through the door."
David Draiman Disturbed Vocalist
"I despise lackadaisical behavior when it comes to our music. I mean, this is heavy metal music. You must be involved. You're required to be involved."
Don Dokken Dokken Vocalist
"If I never sang on a record again I can still look at my walls. They are covered floor to ceiling with gold and platinum records from all over the world."
Angus Young AC/DC Guitarist
"The misunderstanding out there is that we are a 'hard rock' band or a 'heavy metal' band. We've only ever been a rock n' roll band."
Steven Tyler Aerosmith Lead Vocalist
"(The song "Kings and Queens" from Aerosmith's 1977 "Draw the Line" album) was just about how many people died from holy wars because of their beliefs or non-beliefs. With that one, my brain was back with the knights of the round table."
Dave Mustaine Megadeth Vocalist & Guitarist
"Next thing you know, they'll take your thoughts away."
Tuomas Holopainen Nightwish Keyboardist
"All in all, I think that out of all musical genres, the world of metal is the most escapist one. Metal is also music for people who think for themselves. I think metalheads are smart people who possess a healthy dose of self-irony and a good sense of humor, and that appeals to me. I felt a strong affinity with the scene from the first moment on."
Tarja Turunen ex-Nightwish Vocalist
"Music is emotion; it's a beautiful thing that connects people despite their age or differences or cultural differences and anything. We are still the same, and we can love the same things."
Maria Brink Vocalist - In This Moment
"I don't know what genre you would put us into, and I'm always telling people that. When I'm trying to explain In This Moment's sound to them, all I can say is that its diverse-sounding, with influences such as metalcore's breakdowns, metal in general and some melodic rock."
Kevin Cronin - Reo Speedwagon Vocalist
REO Speedwagon has always felt a strong connection to Rochester, NY (my hometown). In 1973, when the Champaign, Illinois-bred band was looking to grow its popularity beyond the Midwest, it opened a concert in Rochester for Canned Heat, “and the response was awesome,” lead singer Kevin Cronin wrote on March 20, 2021 on Facebook. “The people of Rochester took us in, and it became our favorite city to play, outside of the Midwest!”
(from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle on March 22, 2021)
Maria Brink Vocalist - In This Moment
"People think that once a band is 'big' that they make a ton of money, but that's not true. It's hard to make money. It's financially a hard business until you hit gold. However, that only makes you strive toward your goal more and work harder because of it."
Kirk Hammett - Metallica Lead Guitarist
"Deep Purple definitely belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 'Cause they had great songs, great musicianship, they had an impact, and they're a huge influence on the heavy metal community as a whole."
Corey Taylor - Slipknot Lead Vocalist
"I write almost all my songs on an acoustic guitar, even if they turn into rock songs, hard rock songs, metal songs, heavy metal songs, really heavy songs... I love writing on an acoustic because I can hear what every string is doing; the vibrations haven't been combined in a collision of distortion or effects yet."
Lzzy Hale - Halestorm
"There is something in my brain that said if I get Halestorm to a point where people are actually listening to what I have to say, I might as well put out positivity and be that empowering figure that I would have wanted in a rock star."
Eddie
Van Halen -
Van Halen Guitarist
"If you want to be a rock star or just be famous, then run down the street naked, you'll make the news or something. But if you want music to be your livelihood, then play, play, play and play! And eventually you'll get to where you want to be."
Charlotte Wessels -
ex-Delain Lead Vocalist
"(Touring life isn’t always easy.)"
“You become a family of sorts when you spend so much time together on a bus, and everyone develops their own little habits to keep themselves sane."
Comedian Bill Burr at 2021 Grammy Awards
"Shout out to all the rock stars that I wanted to meet tonight who are watching at home instead. I'm talking to you Don Dokken. What? I'm old! That was my first concert."
Floor Jansen of Nightwish
"Making an album is always a puzzle: you start by seeing a lot of different pieces, and they all need to come together into one picture."
Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest
"We love not just Judas Priest music, but we love heavy metal and we love to get out on that stage every night and perform. It's a joy to be able to do it."
Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper - Touring Guitarist)
"There are no apologies for being a female in heavy metal and especially not in 2019."
Rob Halford of Judas Priest
"The great thing about Judas Priest, in all the years that we've been making heavy metal music, is that we've always kind of carried this metal flag, if you will - this beacon of hope that, no matter what you may be going through in life, there's always a sense of overcoming difficulties, a sense of winning, a sense of coming out on top."
David St. Hubbins of Spinal Tap
“Jazz, isn’t that just a series of mistakes diguised as musical composition?”
Don Dokken
"I am not in competition with my peers; I am in competition with myself."
Photo by Frank Schwichtenberg - Own work This file was uploaded with Commonist., CC BY-SA 4.0