Rick Nielsen Quotes

I learned my phrasing from Frank. I loved him so much.

Raphael Saadiq said to me, quite often, that Chuck D was his history teacher. And so he got a lot from the music, things that he wasn't getting maybe in school. And I feel the same way with regards to Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder.

What I used to play was rhythm guitar before I saw Jack Bruce. I said, That's what I want to do in life. He was definitely the main influence.

When I started studying tenor saxophone as a kid in Belfast, I did so with a guy named George Cassidy, who was also a big inspiration.

About 13-14 years ago, I went back to my alma mater, Fairfax High School, and ran into the music teacher. She invited me to come speak to the kids about the viability of a music career. When I went into the room where I used to play every day in a big orchestra, they had nothing!

My father, obviously, and my mother were inspirations. My uncle, Frank Harper, he was an absolute mentor for me.

Why is it that English, drama and music teachers are most often recalled as our mentors and inspirations? Maybe because artists are rarely members of the popular crowd.

All the really good guitar players - Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, or even Bert Jansch or John Martin - I love all those people. But I didn't start out thinking that I would be a guitar player. In the beginning, I played the guitar so I could sing. I mainly concentrated on my voice.

It's been a joy to be a part of other people's journey, to be able to inspire and be a part of new singers coming up in this business.

If drummers are 'anti-solo,' that's up to them. They're musicians, and they can play whatever they want. But my inspirations early on were people like Buddy Rich, seeing him on 'The Tonight Show', or Gene Krupa.

I considered Nat King Cole to be a friend and, in many ways, a mentor. He always had words of profound advice.

I think at one time every drummer wanted to play like Krupa or wanted to win a Gene Krupa drum contest. This is the big inspiration for drummers and naturally it has to be the same way for me.

But, I would be naive not to recognize the number of musicians who tell me they have been influenced by me and sight me - as well as Alex and Neil - as a musician who has been a positive influence on their playing.

When I was a kid, I went through a lot of musical phases, and one was when I'd learn everything that The Beatles ever recorded. After I started drums, I fell in love with their music so much that I just wanted to learn everything.

Ironically, for a few million people in the Far East, I did become an English teacher through my music.

Hopefully, I can stay around a lot of young musicians and feed off of them.

Prince Paul's one of my teachers. He's always been one of my main inspirations as far as interludes go and getting a little quirky at times.

My junior high school teacher, Bennie Williams, was really more than a music teacher. She taught us poetry. She helped us put on school shows. She did all these kinds of things to help us stand in each other's shoes, and it was a really powerful time. That's when I discovered that I could sing.

When you have kids coming up to you saying, 'You're the reason I started playing drums,' it's the best feeling in the world.

My music teacher who I was really close with, she helped me out a lot being away from home and going to school in Rhode Island. She was like a mother to me on campus. But she was the theater teacher and she didn't have anyone to play Aladdin, so she asked me if I would.

My old man Shorty was a huge figure in my musical life.

Debbie Allen and Regina King inspire me.

I never thought, 'Oh God, I'm in Prince's shadow.' He'd been performing for years, and he was my teacher.

Because my home life was nuts, I didn't look to my parents for help. I looked to my teachers. They made me who I am. They took on a parental role. They're like celebrities or heroes to me.

I don't think I've ever met a drummer who didn't tell me that my dad was an influence. He's a tough act to follow.