Loudon Wainwright III Quotes

I would be a huge hypocrite if I didn't tell you that at one time in my life I thought the way that you made music was you got on a major label and you got famous.

After putting out songs with 26 million views on YouTube, your life changes a little bit. Suddenly everyone's like, 'Where's the album?'

I want to sell out arenas and sell millions of records.

Before, I was more concerned with getting on the radio, like many young artists.

I just want to make music, I don't want people to talk about me. All I've ever wanted to do was sing. I don't want to be a celebrity. I don't want to be in people's faces, you know, constantly on covers of magazine that I haven't even known I'm on.

It's such a cycle. You'll see a rapper drop a song, and next thing you know, he's gone.

I never dreamt of being a musician for my livelihood. I certainly never would have wanted to be in the business that I'm in, meaning the fame and the glory, the glitter, the rock star, the famous part.

YouTube was really good for building a kind of core, loyal fanbase. I didn't want to be a YouTube artist as such. I mean, there are people who are able to release albums and live off YouTube, but I felt - and not in an arrogant way - that I could be commercial and credible if I really put my mind to it.

I have seen more bad songs make it because of MTV than good ones that haven't.

But I never had that commercial opportunity to be played on the radio, so how could I be popular?

My life was really interesting before 'Chic.'

It was amazing to me that, all of a sudden, I was hearing my music on the radio and coming out of cars.

It was hard to work and work and work and not get your music played on the radio.

I had a hit single on the radio for 30 days before I graduated from high school.

I don't have a problem being on 'MTV,' and I don't have a problem being on the radio. I actually like it. So there. And anyone that calls me a sell out is just jealous.

I've been blessed because there are a lot of great singers out there that didn't make it past their first album.

If 'Life in Marvelous Times' can't get on the radio, then I don't need to be on the radio.

I made a dollar a day sweeping a laundry out. Then we made a record that was number two in Los Angeles. We got so excited hearing it on the radio that Carl threw up.

The fact that 'Honey, I'm Good' made such a splash and that people were catching it on radio, on Spotify, on Pandora, it's driving everybody to go hear the album.

As I started to consider a career in music, I hoped for success, truthfully. I didn't imagine anything that would amass the level of the first record, but I hoped that I would be able to sustain a career.

We've always existed regardless of how popular our band is. We've been around for a while, and we can tour regardless of whether there's a single on the radio or not.

Pony' was one of the biggest songs of my career. It was really hard to follow that up.

I didn't even think my music was good enough to get on the radio in Australia.

Jimmy Iovine signed me personally to a million-dollar contract, and I lost my identity for a long time. That system is so predicated on making a hit, or you're out of here.

It's very, very exciting for me to hear my songs on the radio and to play shows and have people know the words.