John Deacon 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.

I got really noticed by record labels and that's how I got signed.

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.

You don't really need a lot of hype and to be famous to sell songs.

You know, I didn't have enough money to quit my day job... the myth of the major label deal. Nowadays, you have a tour bus and a stylist and all this stuff. But back then, no way.

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.

Some musicians like to decorate their walls with discs saying: '1 million records sold in America.' I prefer to put up discs marking sales in lesser-known countries.

If you want me in the Hall of Fame put me in because of some contributions that I have made to country music.

A Grammy is really nice, but having lots of fans is really nice, too. I think just getting a record out is a success on its own.

I actually don't think that I'm gonna sell a lot of records.

I'm very new to the industry. I'm not on the Billboard 200 and that is alarming to me. But when I sat down with my management they said it's not a big deal and that it happens all the time.

The music sold itself before anybody knew who I was.

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

Actually, we got signed in November of 2000 with Dreamworks which is the most amazing label. We have friends on other labels and though we are not selling millions of records, yet, they treat us with tons of respect and give us some very good guidance.

However, the radio and national media depend much more on the hype from a good record label, and from a ' buzz ' about a band, then from just one or two good shows. There are a lot of artists that have a ton of good press going for them, and still do not make it big in the US.

I made a record album in 1960 and it exploded, and I got all these offers for TV.

You have record companies that sign acts that they think are great, and then they never do anything. Acts that they don't think are really going to do much end up having a career. I don't think anyone really knows what it is that drives somebody to get on their computer and want to download a song.

Metro was really a star-builder, no doubt about that. You were wrapped in cotton wool.

It doesn't matter how good you are as a band or how good your music may be; if the fans aren't supporting it and buying your music, it's hard to make it.

Even an independent label is looking for a hit, they're not looking for a record that's not gonna do well.

Back then I thought if you cut a record, you were automatically a star.

I can say that my big records and my success have been due to the backing which Atlantic have put behind me.

Obviously, for Geffen, if it wasn't for us, it's quite possible that bands like Nirvana or Beck would not be on the label.

When you're a songwriter, you don't have control over which songs get heard and which ones don't.

None of my heroes were big rock stars, and I thought, 'This isn't how it's meant to be.' It wasn't about making music so much as selling it.