63 Quotes by Joe Elliott

I saw the Stones three years ago at the Wiltern Theater in L.A. and that was mind blowing.

Our only rule was that everything had to come from before we signed our first record deal. The Blondie song ('Hanging on the Telephone') is the most modern one on there. Most of it ended up being from between 1970 and 1973.

We are just fans of music, we are not fans of a specific kind of music. We just happen to be a rock band. Until we explain ourselves, sometimes people don't understand why we limit ourselves to just being a rock band. It's because that is what we like doing.

We wanted to show people, absolutely and as a matter of fact, where we came from. We wanted to put to bed the idea that we were weaned on Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. Those were the bands our older brothers listened to. Our true love was always the three-minute pop song.

Same thing with 'Long Long Way to Go' . We like to think we can tell a good song from a so-so song whether it be rock, pop, blues, rap, whatever... Again, for no reason other than curiosity, it was sent to us and we really dug it, so we recorded it. Apparently so did Lionel Ritchie ! Let's not forget here that we DID write the other eleven songs on 'X' !

A fan would get an autograph and that was that. If we didn't tour again for five years, we wouldn't remember them.

So why are we here in Ottawa? ... I'll tell you why. Twenty-five years, that's why.

That's what this tour is, a celebration of our 25 years. We concentrate on the hits, the first time we've done that on tour. We have to drop some of them (for time), but that's a great position to be in. It's like a football coach who has a team where everyone is fit and ready to play.

That's why 60,000 people go ape when the Stones play 'Satisfaction.' The songs are part of their legacy, and you fall back in love with them over the years.