Dennis DeYoung Quotes

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Dennis DeYoung

Profession : Musician

Birth : February 18, 1947

I made 'Desert Moon' and when I made those solo albums, I was trying not to be Styx, because I thought, 'That belongs to us.' So, I made different kinds of solo albums that were not dipping my hand back into the magic Styx jar and pulling out all the tricks - because bands, they have tricks, don't they? That's what makes them different.

Dennis DeYoung

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

Dennis DeYoung

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.

Dennis DeYoung

I had worked so hard on three projects 1997 that it knocked the gas out of me. It was a mystery to the medical profession, but you can test positive for Epstein-Barr and not have it. When you get a post-viral syndrome, for some people it causes chronic fatigue or hearing loss. For me it became light sensitivity.

Dennis DeYoung

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.

Dennis DeYoung

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.

Dennis DeYoung

If there's a goal, you can't stop me. I'll put my head down. I'll have tunnel vision and I'll go until I get it.

Dennis DeYoung

If you're in rock 'n' roll, you're not supposed to admit to liking theatre stuff, but I'm a big theatregoer.

Dennis DeYoung

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

Dennis DeYoung

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

Dennis DeYoung

All I ever thought about was music and being a musician.

Dennis DeYoung

Over the years, I thought many times about how my life would have changed if I had been drafted and Styx never had happened. Even if I hadn't been wounded or emotionally scarred, it would have changed my whole timetable.

Dennis DeYoung

My brother-in-law, Chuck, whom I have known since we were teenagers, is a disabled veteran who was wounded while fighting with the marines in Vietnam. I've been around to observe how the war affected his life and the problems that veterans have, and I knew for a long time that I wanted to write a song about Vietnam.

Dennis DeYoung

If you say 'Domo arigato' to people, they're apt to go, 'Mr. Roboto.'

Dennis DeYoung

I lived at the greatest time in the history of mankind to be a musician.

Dennis DeYoung

I feel like the luckiest guy on the planet.

Dennis DeYoung

To be successful in your life, you have to be convinced in your own mind that you have the ability to accomplish your goals.

Dennis DeYoung

I never wanted to be a solo artist.

Dennis DeYoung

I like being on a team and that's what a band is like. It's us against them, strength in numbers, and sharing the success and failure.

Dennis DeYoung

After being replaced in Styx, everyone around me encouraged me to try and stop them legally. I just couldn't. It would have been like suing myself and I held out hope they'd ask me back. They toured under the STYX name for a year and a half before I initiated legal action. I didn't sue for money or use of the name. I simply wanted back in the band.

Dennis DeYoung