Quotes from Dennis DeYoung

I still see myself as the kid who plays accordion and tries to keep people happy for 45 minutes. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Yeah, if anyone tries to tell you 60 is the new 40... don't believe them.

I never imagined that I would have a successful solo career, let alone one in musical theater.

I never wanted to be a solo artist.

Essentially I'm a melody person in a rhythm age, and that's what Broadway is really about, the songs.

I really believed it was important to explain to our young audience that expectations based on people who are trying to sell them things are unattainable.

I think the music business is as crass and as unrewarding as it has ever been.

People go to musicals because they want to hear some really good songs.

Many musicals you can take and throw in the garbage can because no one took the time to write a song you can care about.

My voice doesn't sound like anyone else's. I wanted to sound like my favorite singers when I was young because when you're young you don't put much value on uniqueness. But later I realized I had something special to offer.

Radio stations provided a service. They weeded out the stuff that no one should ever have to even think about. Now, they made mistakes and they made mistakes with me even but, by and large, they provided a service. They were an editor.

When I'm onstage the joy is to try to be the best I can be, I'm there because I want it to be perfect.

If you are going to take me a to a musical, you'd better give me three songs that I'm gonna like. Nobody goes to the opera for the recitative. They go for the aria.

I want to see the '70s guys, if they're gonna do something, stay valid in the '90s. Then they belong. If they're trapped in the '70s, then it's nostalgia. You're not getting me in those platform shoes again.

Every artist wants to feel like they're still valid in a contemporary way. But you can't be so arrogant not to think that people who have thrown down their hard-earned money don't want to see and hear the things they want.

Music was everything. But what the digital revolution has done, with streaming services and downloads, is take the value out of music. When things lose value they lose their meaning.

Sometimes your limitations become your strengths. It forces you to create your own niche.

Back in 2000, I had come to a crossroads in my life, unsure about what career path I should pursue. Shepherd, bouncer, philosopher king, ventriloquist or perhaps man on the flying trapeze. Fortunately, I was guided back onto the path of the magical world of music.

If you pretend to be somebody that you're not when you write songs - and I did that on some of the early Styx albums - nobody cares about what you have to say.

I gave my life for Styx and I'm really very proud of it and I didn't want to perform that music and screw it up.

I can do anything onstage. Here's the misconception: You could record an album called 'The Best of Styx.' And all you would have to do is pay the individual songwriters a mechanical royalty.

I love Styx as much as I could love anything in my life. I started playing in the band when I was 14 years old. You become so involved in something when you start in it that young; you're doing it purely out of love of what you're doing and a belief in it.

We were together; we were a group; we were a team; we wanted people to love Styx.

The Beatles are here, and if you could see me my hand is on the ceiling. Styx is here, and my hand is in the basement.