He played in a student bluegrass band and was a fan of James Taylor, country singers George Jones, Merle Haggard and George Strait and the rock groups Kiss, Queen and Journey. In years to come, he would blend these musical influences together and, in doing so, achieve enormous success.

"When I was 17, I was at a Queen concer," he recalled. "I was standing on my chair, screaming as best I could, and I couldn't hear myself scream because the music was so loud. I had my arms spread out, going totally ballistic, and I'm thinking. 'This is what I want to be! This is what I want people to see me do! This is giving people the memory of a lifetime.'

Thanks to Irene Heinstein for this information