A biography for Dennis DeYounghasn’t been written yet.
“Music was everything. But what the digital revolution has done, with streaming services and downloads, is take the value out of music. When things lose value they lose their meaning.”
“I lived at the greatest time in the history of mankind to be a musician.”
“Sometimes your limitations become your strengths. It forces you to create your own niche.”
“Radio stations provided a service. They weeded out the stuff that no one should ever have to even think about. Now, they made mistakes and they made mistakes with me even but, by and large, they provided a service. They were an editor.”
“Many musicals you can take and throw in the garbage can because no one took the time to write a song you can care about.”
“Our music did not sound like the Beatles in any way, shape or form. I could never find it in myself to use those Beatles tricks in Styx records because they were sacred to me. But what they did always influenced my thinking.”
“Nobody can figure out why it does what it does to human beings. But there is no other art form greater than music.”
“I've lived a charmed life.”
“It was a song I wrote for my wife as a present, never intending for it to be a Styx song. 'Babe' was a demo. The demo became the hit record, including all the background vocals, which were done by me.”
“It's always best when everyone in the group is on the same page.”
“Anyone in showbiz rock 'n' roll who says they're so tired of playing their hit songs, I want to smack them. I think it's an act. Because, look, you work your tail off to get people to validate you.”
“I like being on a team and that's what a band is like. It's us against them, strength in numbers, and sharing the success and failure.”
“I was ill in '98. By the end of '99 I was recording and recovering.”
“There are all kinds of pretensions about art, but I'm just a guy who sings for his supper.”
“There is one thing in this world that I'm better that than anyone else and that is being me.”
“I don't see how 'Hunchback' could ever appeal to children. It's a very adult story that deals with repressed sexuality.”
“Heck, I feel guilty getting my senior discounts.”
“I really believed it was important to explain to our young audience that expectations based on people who are trying to sell them things are unattainable.”
“When we started, there were no other distractions like the Internet and video games, so music was central to young people's lives.”
“When I'm not on the road I'm in the studio every day.”