Nate Ruess Quotes

Rock became an incredible commercial success, people just became bored with serious music, and it was forgotten.

Pop music has always been about the mainstream and what appeals to the public.

Generally the whole entertainment business now is bland.

There will always be some kid who's the new Kurt Cobain writing great lyrics and singing from his soul. The problem is they're not marketing that anymore or putting it out there.

The music is going to die if you don't tap into something that people today can relate to.

Pop music will never be low brow.

No surprise here: Pop music is by far the most conservative art form there is.

Rock in the mainstream culture has lost a lot of its mojo.

With Celine Dion, we were selling 25 million records a pop. 'Pop' stands for 'popular.' It means we're plugging into the masses.

I think Lady Gaga is great and is changing pop music and bringing back a certain rock 'n' roll spirit, swagger to the game.

I think pop music is a great place to get new ideas across.

Teen pop will never die as long as there are teens and popular music. It just takes a different head.

What I like about pop music, and why I'm still attracted to it, is that in the end it becomes our folk music.

Superficial pop will always exist - there've always been Fabians - but when people like Dire Straits and Bruce Hornsby start having hits, it suggests that there's a revolution going on in music.

Today, music is great for entertainment, but it is lacking soul; it's lacking substance, and it's difficult to find good stuff. There are too many corporate interests. It's not about the actual music because it's about the corporation, and music just becomes part of a package.

We've been gone five years and the best they could come up with was boy bands?

Pop is in a shocking state at the moment.

Every decade has its ABBA; that's the proof that pop will always be around.

The fun of being in the pop world is you can really play with people's perceptions of what the word pop means.

Pop music has progressed.

I'm wide open and will entertain anything anybody has to say, but if it's MTV and radio, well, they're great things, but can't be the only thing. I don't know that it would work even for the Beatles.

Pop music is a fashion, and fashions come and go. The public retires you as their tastes change.

If you're in pop music, you've got to deal with the changing of the guard every few years. By the time the '70s arrived, I was well aware of the cyclical nature of the game. Pop music is a creature of the moment; it thrives on the mood of its time. Either you hook into that or you're not going to be part of it.

I think celebrity culture and sexuality in pop music is really important, but I want there to be an alternative for people.

I don't think I was ever particularly mean. I can certainly think of some idiotic exchanges I've had. I was accused of destroying pop music, like Wagner destroyed opera - a guy in Germany started ranting that at me.