Neil Young Quotes

Who wants to be a 40-year-old rock and roller? You cannot live in the past.

In rock music, you have a big success before you turn 30, then there is sort of a decay. Then there is the reunion, and everyone is waiting to hear what you were doing when you were 20, and nobody cares what you are doing at 50 or 60. But the more I continue, the more I produce, the more I play every year in bigger places.

People will always have the desire to make rock and roll records, and they'll always have the desire to sell rock and roll records. Most of the people making these records do it because it is a business, and if someone says, "You can't do this", they won't complain. They'll just keep making records, but they'll get blander and blander. There'll still be rock and roll, but compared to what it really could be or ought to be, I don't think it'll be all that terrific.

Every time you read something about Rolling Stones it always mentions their age and how long can they go on? I think there are certain genres of music where people are allowed to go on, but there is something about rock and roll, I guess because it originally started out to be a teenage rebellion.

I left rock and roll professionally at about 49. That's too long as far as I'm concerned. Some people can do it; it depends on what you were.

I refuse to age disgracefully in rock 'n' roll.

I've spent a lot of time in a rock n' roll band trying to fight off the fact that I was old enough to rent a car. And it's all sort of rushed in at once now. And I like it.

One day, Travi$ is going to be moving like The Beatles.

Some guy said to me: Don't you think you're too old to sing rock n' roll? I said: You'd better check with Mick Jagger.

It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ’n’ Roll)

I might even end up a rock and roll god, it might turn into a steady job.

When I was a kid, the people of my generation didn't want to be writers, they wanted to be rock stars. Rock and roll was not just entertainment, it was the center of people's lives. When I was young, it was exciting and interesting.

The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame was a great idea when it started, but I think they ought to close it, I think it's full.

It's really hard to make records and concentrate and have a free mind, because I have this whole other life. If you don't have kids it's a whole other thing. I think you can be fifty and still have a rock and roll lifestyle; you can still perpetuate that.

Drugs and sex go hand in hand when you're a rock and roll musician. Whereas if I were a violinist, it might be a little different.

I had no ambition when I was a kid other than to play guitar and get in a rock 'n' roll band. I don't really like to be the guy in the white suit at the front. Like in the Beatles, I was the one who kept quiet at the back and let the other egos be at the front.

I think my chances of ever making it into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame are about as good as Milli Vanilli’s.

That's the gamble that you make when you decide to become a rock musician. It's totally unpredictable.

I think in the world of rock music or whatever it's called - anything outside of Nashville - there's a lot more freedom within that industry to do whatever you want to do.

When people think of Aerosmith, I want them to think of the music we've made and nothing else. I don't want the responsibility of some young kid trying to live his life like I did back in the '70's.

Rock and roll never sleeps. It just passes out.

The Pumpkins love rock-and-roll, we absolutely love it, but we also think it's a flatulent, ego-serving kiddie playground. You can have your cake and eat it too.

All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire

I tried to stick with what I knew best, which is writing rock n' roll songs and melodies. I am as passionate as I was when I was 20.

The King is dead, rock is done. You might be through, but I've just begun.