Stephen Hough Quotes

When facing symphonic orchestras which have played some works five thousands times, you have nothing to do.

With Lady Antebellum, there's always pressure. It's hard for commerce not to rear its ugly head when you're making decisions.

My record company certainly wants me to play live, badly, but I have no such plans. My only motivation to do such a thing would be money, and I don't think that's a good reason to play live.

The music business is a crazy game, especially for somebody like me who is really a purist about the art. Trying to balance the pressures of commercialism, it's a tightrope. It's a fine line between sticking to your guns and insanity.

Age about 30, I stopped looking up my books in bookstores. Paying attention to the marketplace isn't a healthy thing for me.

The intensity of being in front of all these incredible musicians and tremendous conductors in these elaborate halls can be overwhelming.

My goal was never to sell many records.

Most of the music you hear on the radio today is developed for making money. It doesn't feel true or honest. You can feel it in the music.

Commercialism isn't challenging creatively; it's only challenging in a stamina way.

Touring is hard. It's really hard on the singer, especially, because your body is your instrument and you have to be so good, it's like boot camp out there; I can't do anything - just sleep, sing and be very healthy.

There's always been an ongoing struggle between commerce and art.

The biggest difference between me and other artists out there is that they'll put anything out to sell a record or sell a ticket.

A lot of pop music is based on trying to make people remember it so that they'll buy it. To me, it was not about that.

Symphonic orchestras have almost become a glut in the market.

Wynton told us that Miles sold out, just wanted to make more money, just wanted to sell more records. I don't believe that Miles sold out but I'm not in a position to say.

I'm just a musical prostitute, my dear.

Humans are imperfect. That's one of the reasons that classical and jazz are in trouble. We're on the quest for the perfect performance and every note has to be right. Man, every note is not right in life.

Movie makers now choose profit over vision.

I would urge all bands that say they only care about credibility and don't care about money to send Gene Simmons every dollar that they don't want. I'd be happy to take it off them.

I now believe that major labels can only work with people who care more about fame and money than the quality of the art they produce.

I would love to be one of the few artists that hits a point of success and can go back into the studio and make another album that matters and relates to people and not go back in and be super tainted by this whole thing.

I learned from Jimi Hendrix. They all wanted him to do the tricks, and at the end of his career, he just wanted to play. I lived longer than he did, and I can see how those pressures can really play with your head.

Even if you see a great performance, it's not always great getting there. There are injuries... Intrinsically or unconsciously, people understand that - people see those performances, and they know there are stories behind that.

My aunts and uncles were like, 'You've got such a great voice - why don't you try out for 'American Idol?'' I'd say, 'Because I'm a songwriter, not a puppet.' Even if I won and became really successful off a show like that, I'd be miserable.

When you're a touring musician, you're always turning over new rocks, and there's always a certain level of tension in your life. The music business, and the travel that comes with it, is stressful, challenging, redundant, exhausting, exciting, and often very depressing.