Quotes from Joe Walsh

In the Eagles, you have specific assignments. You have vocal parts and musical parts that need to be exactly in place at the right time. And if all of us do our job, it becomes something bigger than any of us.

I've been able to meet a lot of vets at different functions and events, and it just hit me that I should step it up a notch, and I have a lot of peers who feel the same way.

What matters is voting for where you live: Who's your mayor, who's your police chief, who represents you, your city council, your judges. That matters that you vote.

The one that achieved the greatest amount of success is the Eagles. And because it was really successful, it was a lot more fun. It still is. We get a chance to play music that a lot of people really relate to, and to play places all over the world. That's fun.

There's a lot of politics in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There's a lot us artists would change about the induction ceremony and who they pick.

I wouldn't say rock & roll is dead but the current music made by young people isn't really rock & roll.

Now I'm running against a woman who, my God, that's all she talks about. Our true heroes, it's the last thing in the world they talk about.

I can't complain, but sometimes I still do.

Ricky Washington is from a Baptist church in Miami, Florida, and he can pretty much sing anything. We just started working it up at soundcheck, and holy smokes, it's just great! The audience gets to singing. So there's that stuff to do - find some old obscure R&B stuff - because we can do it justice.

People often ask me if I believe in God, and I kinda have to, because I'm still here. I had not planned on living this long, and here I am.

The best part of success is that it got me past the basic survival level of existence so that I was comfortable. I didn't have to worry about stuff pertaining to survival. Once that was taken care of, I got the chance sit down and create and work at what I do.

The shackles and the chains, the violence and aggression, the pettiness and scorn, the jealousy and hatred, the tempest and discord.

I had seen my buddies crash and burn. Keith Moon died, and I always thought that was the way he wanted to go. John Belushi was a dear friend. A lot of the guys that I ran with were ending up dead, and I saw myself right on schedule to do that. I had some moments of clarity - once in a while.

People try to function in the real world - the analog world - while they're texting in the digital world, and they run into the car in front of them. It doesn't work to be in both.

There's a total separation between the federal government and the people. So running for president was an attempt on my part to get people to care enough to go vote. But people just don't bother. And that's why it's not working.

I play like I always used to, with no agenda. And, every once in a while, I will play something I really hadn't thought about or even intended to play. And I'll go, 'Whoa! What was that?'

With any level of success you get some non-musical things that come along - money, ego - and it's easy to lose your perspective and get off doing what you did to get there.

I can't complain, but sometimes I still do.

'Band Played On' is a good one. Barbara Orbison, who was Roy's wife, was involved in publishing in Nashville because she oversaw Roy's publishing, and she had a company in Nashville. She had a whole bunch of writers assembled, and they got together every day and wrote, and they write for everybody in Nashville.

You can work on an album forever, but finishing it is a whole different deal.

I looked at Willie Nelson and Farm Aid as a role model; they do it every year, and it draws people together, and drawing people together where they realize they're not alone, to me, is strategic in healing.

I used to throw stuff out of the window and trash hotel rooms - and superglue all the drawers shut and superglue the toilet seat down and superglue the phone to the nightstand - and all kinds of stuff. I had a chain saw for a while. I didn't really use it but once or twice.

It was pretty radical to go from the Eagles to being the only melodic instrument. You have to play a certain way. It's like the Who. It was a great kick in the pants for me to get my chops up and to improvise a little more.

I enjoy my solo career because I get to play smaller places like clubs and theaters, and the interaction with the audience is much higher quality. It also sounds better than a baseball stadium. Everybody has a good seat, and I don't have to play a specific part like I do in the Eagles.