Joe Walsh from The Eagles Has a Priceless Secret to Longevity: "Don’t Get Too..."
Here's how The Voice's new Mega Mentor has navigated his decades-long career.
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As a member of the Eagles, James Gang, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band and a solo musician, Joe Walsh certainly knows what it takes to stay in the music game despite the always-changing nature of the industry.
Talent and hard work are important, of course, but how many rock stars can claim to have played at Walsh's level across as many decades as he has? There's a reason that everyone from 70-year-old Coach Reba McEntire to the 20-something Artists on The Voice were excited to see him join Season 28 as a Mega Mentor. In a candid backstage conversation with fellow rocker Sammy Hagar, Walsh revealed what he believes to be the key to staying relevant, and it's a surprisingly grounded, humble take.
"If you can break through so that more than one generation is aware of your music, you can stick around for a while," said Walsh, adding honestly, "And the other thing is, don’t get too famous. You don’t wanna be famous for 15 minutes. Just get famous a little bit." It's called playing the long game. Makes sense to us.
How old is Joe Walsh?
Born in Wichita, Kansas on November 20, 1947, Walsh is 77, about to turn 78. According to his Kent State bio, he grew up in Ohio, New York City, Chicago and New Jersey.
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Joe Walsh's approach to music has changed over the years
In a 2012 conversation with Interview magazine, Walsh opened up about how sobriety forced him to learn a new approach to music, recording, and touring. "I’ve been sober for 18 years now...You have to learn how to do everything all over again...What I didn’t know at the time was how to write music and do rock-‘n’-roll and live rock-‘n’-roll and record sober. I didn’t try to do that at first. I learned how to take care of myself and then play in front of people," he said.
He also revealed that, despite his claim that one shouldn't get too famous, success does have its perks. Asked which of his bands was the most enjoyable, he replied, "Well, they all were enjoyable. The one that achieved the greatest amount of success is the Eagles. And because it was really successful, it was a lot more fun. It still is. We get a chance to play music that a lot of people really relate to, and to play places all over the world. That’s fun."
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"I enjoy my solo career because I get to play smaller places like clubs and theaters, and the interaction with the audience is much higher quality. It also sounds better than a baseball stadium," he added, explaining, "Everybody has a good seat...I have the best of both worlds. I’m in a really big, popular band, and that’s really good for my ego, but I also get to play my solo stuff and a lot of fans come out. It really makes me feel good."
See Walsh and his fellow Mega Mentor Zac Brown on Season 28 of The Voice Monday nights on NBC. (Walsh is mentoring Team Reba and Team Niall, while Brown helps Team Snoop and Team Bublé.)
Catch Voice episodes the day after they air on Peacock.
