My parents were both opera singers, and they also were both heavily into religious and church music.
I think I've probably had one of my guitars on display at every Hard Rock Cafe in the world.
I could have moved anywhere I wanted to. But for family reasons, I stayed in the Midwest.
The Sex Pistols had it all - they had the snarl, they had the I-don't-give-a-crap attitude - plus, they could play.
The Ramones were American, and I knew about them, and I thought they were interesting. But they were like a pop band to me.
I was never going to be very cute. I always looked for the best people to play with and, 'cause, to make myself look better.
If you're going to be ridiculous, be over-the-top ridiculous.
I actually did try to emigrate to Australia a long time ago.
Every person I've ever met always thinks their parents are weird.
I'd rather be musical than technical.
I can't stand it when groups come back for an encore, and they play some slow thing. Oh, brother! It's like, 'Had I known that, I would've left.'
Our band is rock n' roll. We were never just a studio band trying to make everything perfect. It was never supposed to be perfect. It was supposed to be cool.
We played with AC/DC. There are actual recordings of us doing 'Johnny B Good' together.
I have too many options when it comes to guitars.
I've taken all the mirrors out of my house because when I'm playing onstage, I feel like I'm still in high school. I feel like that kid that wanted to play in his first band, and then I look in a mirror, and it's like, 'Uh-oh!' It ain't pretty.
People are like, 'Why are you playing that five-neck guitar?' I want to hurt. I want to play.
Some people collect this or that. I'm a musician; I collect guitars.
It's an honor that people give a crap about us. We're in a rock band; we're not supposed to be treated with any respect.
I have four warehouses full of stuff. I have every boarding pass of every flight I've ever been on. I have all the old contracts that we had from all the clubs and concerts we played, every one of them, up from 1980. Guitar picks and amps - it goes on and on.
My parents were opera singers. I didn't want to play opera because I wasn't good enough. I didn't want to play their music; I wanted to play the music that I wanted to play, and I'm so lucky that today I get to play that music, even though I don't like every song I write.
