Cause when you’re sequencing a record, you want the listener to stick with it from beginning to end, and in order to do that, you really have to map out the journey from the first song to the last.

My music seems to have a bigger mission than I have, which is very soothing but also very strange because people see more in me than I see, which can be terrifying.

‚Jolene‘ has been very popular all of these years, even overseas.

In high school I wanted to be a rock star and was in a lot of bands.

You can write a song about being in love with someone, but you don’t have to be in love with anyone.

Music is well said to be the speech of angels.

For some reason, I’m really comfortable talking about my personal life in songs.

When I did ‚Bird,‘ it was a surprise to some people, first because I wasn’t in it and second because most of the films I’d been doing were cop movies or westerns or adventure films, so to be doing one about Charlie Parker, who was a great influence on American music, was a great thrill for me.

I just wanted to be a composer; I became an actor by default, really. I got a scholarship to a college of music and drama, hoping to take a scholarship in music. But I ended up as an acting student, so I’ve stuck with that for the last 50-odd years.

Sometimes I do need to go to karaoke, sometimes I need to relax.

I just want to keep writing music.

I collect records. And cats. I don’t have any cats right now. But if I’m taking a walk and I see a cat, I’m happy.

‚Trilogy‘ was more of a claustrophobic body of work. Before it was released, I hadn’t left my city for 21 years, and I had never been on a plane, not once. I spent my entire life on one setting; that’s probably why pieces of the album feel like one long track, because that’s what my life felt like. It felt like one long song.

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.

When I heard Little Richard, I mean, it just set my world on fire.

I was doing sold-out shows before I got radio play.

I love Chris Brown. He’s a superstar. He’s one of the best singers out there.

It doesn’t bother me when people try to deconstruct my songs – because at least they’re looking at the lyrics, and paying attention to the way the story is told.

When I was growing up, there were no women in orchestras. Auditioners thought they could tell the difference between a woman playing and a man. Some intelligent person devised a simple solution: Drop a curtain between the auditioners and the people trying out. And, lo and behold, women began to get jobs in symphony orchestras.

I don’t like the name, U2, actually.

Mozart’s music is so pure and beautiful that I see it as a reflection of the inner beauty of the universe.

All of my songs are autobiographical.

Until it’s on the radio or online, it’s not real. With U2, our album isn’t finished until it’s in the stores.

If music be the food of love, play on.

Singing aloud leaves you with a sense of levity and contentedness.

My only scheme was to be a rapper.

I like to combine the dramatic emotional warmth of strings with the grooves and body business of drums and bass.

People haven’t always been there for me, but music always has.

Music is always a commentary on society.

I listen to my old records and I think, ‚How did I ever get on the radio?‘

I love Wiz Khalifa.

Human beings love poetry. They don’t even know it sometimes… whether they’re the songs of Bono, or the songs of Justin Bieber… they’re listening to poetry.

I don’t think of Kurt as ‚Kurt Cobain from Nirvana‘. I think of him as ‚Kurt‘. It’s something that comes back all the time. Almost every day.

Chicago gave me more music than any other city in America.

I love artists like Prince, who hold on to that element of mystery.

Neil Young is my hero, and such a great example. You know what that guy has been doing for the past 40 years? Making music. That’s what that guy does. Sometimes you pay attention, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes he hands it to you, sometimes he keeps it to himself. He’s a good man with a beautiful family and wonderful life.

I love the Sex Pistols. I’m a big Beach Boys fan and a huge Zeppelin and Queen fan.

Without music, life would be a mistake.

I think maybe people see bands and musicians as some sort of superhero unrealistic sport that happens in another dimension where it’s not real people and not real emotions. So, I grew up listening to Beatles records on my floor. That’s how I learned how to play guitar. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be a musician.

I just really want to get music out and tour and go places I’ve never been, and just do more videos. I love photography and videography, and so I really want to direct videos when I can.

As a songwriter, you respect and appreciate the writings of other people, and I often get asked, are there songs out there I wish I’d written? Yes. There’s many of them!

I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window.

I wanted to have the adoration of John Lennon but have the anonymity of Ringo Starr. I didn’t want to be a frontman. I just wanted to be back there and still be a rock and roll star at the same time.

No, I can’t do rap music!

Mick Fleetwood was one of my first interviews. And if you’ve ever talked to that dude, he’s the sweetest guy in the world – he’s just a trip.

We need to try to unite audiences, unite countries, join musical tastes, unite people.

It’s terrifying to play your favorite band’s song in front of your favorite band.

Anybody with a sense of humor is going to put on my album and laugh from beginning to end.

Sometimes you stumble across a few chords that put you in a reflective place.

You gotta make sure the listener is listening to you, so if you put it into a song, often times, if the song is striking enough, then you can really deliver the story most effectively while keeping the ear of the listener the whole time.

I’m not suggesting people abandon musical instruments and start playing their cars and apartments, but I do think the reign of music as a commodity made only by professionals might be winding down.

You listen to the radio and all the songs sound the same, from 8 in the morning to 12.

My whole life, I’ve sung and listened to music, and since the beginning, I’ve had iTunes and used Apple Music for streaming.

I love story songs because I’ve always loved books.

At 57, to have a No. 1 album, I wasn’t expecting it.

It’s about the stories. If I write 14 stories that I love, then the next step is to get the environment of music around it to best envelop the story, and all kinds of sonic goodness – sonic goodies.

My purpose is to make exciting music, and I feel like I’ll be doing that for the rest of my life, so there’s no pressure.

The fame isn’t important to me. It’s a blessing to have. Having so many people that support me, that love me and listen to my music, is beautiful.

I don’t even listen to rap. My apartment is too nice to listen to rap in.

In my songs, I’m not saying something that’s never been said before. The have lyrics aren’t going to blow people away. It’s the emotion and the melody that drive it home.

Environment is very important to me. Sometimes I have to perform during the day for festivals, and my music does not work in the daytime. It is nighttime music.