Not every musician is built to write songs forever. In a candid chat with super-producer Rick Rubin, punk rock legend Henry Rollins discussed why he stopped making music to focus on other things. And his answer might surprise you:
“The smart thing I did as a younger man was one day I woke up in my bed and I went, ‘I’m done with music. I don’t hate it. I just have no more lyrics. There’s no more toothpaste in the tube.”
Rollins admitted that he’s lucky that he had so many other paths available to him. With writing, producing, acting, and stand-up comedy in his repertoire, he had plenty of other dreams to chase.
Unlike some fellow artists, Rollins says he never felt like it was his job to make the fans happy, “If [fans] happen to like what I’m doing, cool. If they don’t, they can bite me.” How punk rock of him.