As an artist, you know as a person in the public eye, period, you kind of have a responsibility to the younger kids that are watching and emulating what you do.
In public, when my kids have not been behaving great - because that's life, my kids are not perfect, okay - I've noticed other people watching me. And I felt judged, because I'm obviously in the public eye. So that's been hard.
I have a responsibility to not look crazy in public. I don't want to be the person where later in life when I have kids, to say, 'Don't do this' and my kids go, 'But Mom, you did it.'
It's a strange kind of responsibility being in the public eye and having people who follow you and admire you.
I try not to label myself anything, really, but you know, I'm definitely an indoorsy person, and I definitely kind of just try to, you know, stay away from life in the public eye, at least.
A work of art does not need an explanation. The work has to speak for itself. The work may be subject to many interpretations, but only one was in the mind of the artist. Some artists say to make the work readable for the public is an artist’s responsibility, but I don’t agree with that. The only responsibility to be absolutely truthful to the self. My work disturbs people and nobody wants to be disturbed They are not fully aware of the effect my work has on them, but they know it is disturbing.
Fame is a kind of death because it arrests life around the person in the public eye.
Ask any rapper or singer what artist they are an expert on. What artist are they looking to emulate, and really, what artist is the one person they are an expert on? You see, if you want any kind of longevity, if you want any kind of legacy, you need to know what ancestral line you are from.
As an artist, I used to think that my responsibility was to do good work. But I had to learn from the 70s on that being a public figure presents another aspect of responsibility.
As an artist, I used to think that my responsibility was to do good work. But I had to learn from the '70s on that being a public figure presents another aspect of responsibility.
As an artist it's exciting to know that you've made someone's life decision after them listening to your song. To get married or un-married, when you realize that people are listening it brings a feel of responsibility that can't be ignored or denied. There's someone watching us. Whether an artist wants to admit that or not.
If kids can have some sort of social responsibility, that's cool. But if they're not actually having social responsibility, and they're kind of hiding behind it, that's kind of useless, or even worse.
As an artist I write about the world I want to live in. And as a musician and someone who is in the public eye, I think you have this responsibility to influence people. So I try influence people to live from their heart and make conscious decisions , and I try just inspire people to make positive change. That's purely the reason I do it. I want to see the world get better, you know?
I'm in the public eye. I know I'm not going to be treated like a normal person walking down the street.
I think when you're in the public eye, you feel a pressure to stay younger looking.
There was a generation of kids who were just kind of emulating distant heroes and wearing peace symbols, and parents who were thinking of themselves as liberal and removed from barbarity, but it also was the era of Vietnam. I very much was influenced - and I think the whole country was kind of in a state of shock - for the first time seeing the horror and cruelty of war.
As an artist, you're used to being in the public eye.