Five years after Aerosmith got back together, I realized how fragile we are as humans. There was a time I thought we were bulletproof, but then things happened and I came to the realization that I had to play every gig as if it was my last show. You have to start thinking that way, because you never know what's going to happen next.

Aerosmith is such a powerful band; I mean, it's like a steam locomotive.

I'm glad that I never ended up killing myself, though I came close more times than I would like to admit.

I never envisioned what I was doing as part of a career.

The great British blues guitarists of the Sixties - people like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Peter Green - could play like virtuosos, but they also understood the importance of energy and intensity

I think one of the most valuable things Aerosmith has is the energy we produce when we all play together.

It's probably listening to country music that got me to start playing a lot cleaner, not as distorted.