- People often ask me how would I like to be remembered and I answer that I would simply like to be remembered.
- Whether I'm in London, Sydney or Hong Kong, it makes no difference. There is always someone who knows me. I must be one of the most unloneliest people in the world!
- I thought maybe in 1964 I could have been swamped by The Beatles. But it turned out the other way round and I was voted Number One vocalist in 1965.
- There was a lot of loneliness in West Texas where I grew up. We used to say it was the center of everything, five hundred miles away from anything.
- I may be a living legend, but that sure don't help when I've got to change a flat tyre.
- I was frustrated as a singer for a long time, particularly when some friendly rivalry broke out between me and a young guy in Texas named Buddy Holly, who, within a couple of months, had a couple of Number One singles and soon had stardom that reached to the Moon. I tried not to take it too hard, but when "Only the Lonely" happened in 1960, I reckoned it was about time too. I was an avid follower of the charts. I lived by them until "Only the Lonely" - and then I didn't look at them anymore.
- Once I started singing, it was sort of a wonder. It was a great feeling, and it didn't hurt anybody, and it made me feel good, and some people even said, "Roy, that's nice".
- [After seeing his song "In Dreams" being used in Blue Velvet (1986)] I was mortified because they were talking about the "candy colored clown" in relation to a dope deal... I thought, "What in the world...?". But later, when I was touring, we got the video out and I really got to appreciate what David gave to the song, and what the song gave to the movie - how it achieved this otherworldly quality that added a whole new dimension to "In Dreams".
- I don't have a pure statement but I believe in Jesus Christ and try to live by the rules of morality and conduct and a certain faithfulness in all things. That helps a great deal - so does common sense. It's very important to me. Your mind is created by a higher power and common sense will often tell you what to do.
- They were against dancing at my church, and I was trying to play at dances. I wasn't old enough to figure out anything for myself. So I just didn't go to church. I didn't want to attend and feel uncomfortable. I went and played the dances.
- Ever seen a real medicine show? I played at one when I was ten years old, in Vernon, Texas. They just set up a bunch of benches in the dirt and strung up lights. And they told jokes and did skits and had a talent contest and sold this magic elixir. I was co-winner in the talent contest. Won $7.50, but my buddy went with me and carried my guitar and rooted for me, so he figured he ought to have half. That was my first taste of a manager.
- Some people said Daddy was a cad and a bounder. I remember him as a Baptist minister.
- I've always been in love with my voice. It was fascinating, I liked the sound of it, I liked making it sing, making a voice ring, and I just kept doing it. And I think somewhere between the time of "Ooby Dooby" and "Only the Lonely" it kinda turned into a good voice. Though it was always nice to me.
- Because I toured in the Sun days with just one hit record. I'd go onstage, and I'd play everybody else's stuff - Chuck Berry's stuff, Little Richard's stuff - then I'd sing my one hit record and get off. And I really did want to have a few to play. And when I got the few, I cared for them enough that I never minded performing them.
- I wasn't trying to be weird, you know? I didn't have a manager who told me how to dress or how to present myself or anything. But the image developed of a man of mystery and a quiet man in black and somewhat of a recluse, although I never was, really.
- The tragic life ... That one period of it was tragic. But there were a lot of years before and a lot of years after, so that's very far from the truth. In fact, it's totally the other way.
- In '77 I made a record that I wasn't pleased with, really, for Fred Foster. I didn't write any of the songs, and I only had a few days to do the album. And then I did a record for Elektra, which was like a half-finished project to me. That was less than a year after the surgery ... I had blockage of ninety percent, seventy percent and sixty percent. So they said, We'll take care of it, and I said, We'll, leave me a nice scar, then. And it came out terrific. And it's still terrific. My doctor here said it's the best work he's ever seen.
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