Music Pioneer Quotes

People don't realize enough how important and influentical John Carpenter has been in electronic music. He did his soundtracks by himself, using mostly electronic and analog synthesizers. He's a cult figure with DJs these days for good reasons.

Michael Jackson carried urban America and eventually American society on his vocal cords for a good 25 to 30 years before even hip-hop became the vox populi of America, and then as an adult he shattered racial barriers.

There were people who incorporated melody before me, but I would deem myself the first person to successfully rap and sing.

The first time I went to New York, I met Alan Freed.

Elvis Presley is the main founding father of rock music. He was an unheralded genius behind a new music that changed western civilization for all time.

Neil Young is the prime example, the grand goal, if you will. He's still shredding, and he never lost his credibility.

Elvis Presley... had nothing to do with excellence, just myth.

Ask anyone. If it hadn't been for Elvis, I don't know where popular music would be. He was the one that started it all off, and he was definitely the start of it for me.

When Chuck Berry came along, what he did was more rock & roll than it was blues. It was more exciting. He was like the next step. I thought his first single, 'Maybellene,' was the greatest song in the world.

Cudi should be a top tier artist... I think he fathered a lot of the style of music. He's a good influence and a good help.

When rap music needed to have a teacher, I became it.

There's every other guitar player and then there's Chet. He transcended musical boundaries for more than fifty years. God only lays Chet Atkins on you once in a lifetime.

Don Cornelius was a genius. He created a show where he was breaking artists' songs. If you were on his show, he made the consumer want to go out and purchase your music. He will be greatly missed. If they ever try to recreate what he did, it has to been done right, authentic and real with soul! That's what Don displayed.

I owe Elvis my career, and the entire music business owes him it's lifeline.

It's been cool to have my name mentioned when people say R&B is on the comeback and I'm the leading person. If you had told me at 16 that I would be that person - you're lying.

Without David Bowie, popular music as we know it pretty much wouldn't exist.

If it wasn't for Kenny Rogers, I don't think I would be in country music. He was that guy when I was a kid - his music and 'Hee Haw' made me perk my ears up and made me say, 'What is this? I want to hear more of that.' He was that catalyst for me to start this whole run in country music.

Jesse Stone did more to develop the basic rock-and-roll sound than anybody else.

Louie Vega was a huge influence on me.

He is irreplaceable. Even in death I have no doubt that Johnny Cash will continue to live on as an inspiration to musicians and songwriters and all of America.

Madonna is the ultimate pop star of all time, hands down. She wrote the playbook for it. There is no female pop star - and probably few men today, for that matter - who are not indebted to her in one way or another for her contributions to the industry.

I love Dilla, and who knows where this beat thing would be without him.

I thank God for Elvis Presley. I thank the Lord for sending Elvis to open the door so I could walk down the road.

If it wasn't for John Peel, there would be no Joy Division and no New Order. He was one of the few people to give bands that played alternative music a chance to get heard, and he continued to be a champion of cutting-edge music throughout his life.

Lemmy is, I think, for anybody in the world of rock n' roll - you don't have to be a bass player - he is a pioneer, and he was true to his music and also the lover of a lot of different styles of music.