In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Joe Walsh, the lead guitarist for the band Eagle's, was asked to describe the worst part of success:

The worst part of success is that a lot of things come along with it that you didn't really know you were gonna get in the package. There are distractions: Money, drugs, women, partying. You get a royalty check, and you go get a new car, and then you party, and then you get high—and then you forget what got you there in the first place. It's all ego stuff. When you're young it's really easy to lose your perspective, which I did, really losing sight of who I was. I started believing I was who everybody thought I was—which was a crazy rock star. You know "Life's Been Good," that story. It took me away from working at my craft. Me and a lot of the guys I ran with, we were just party monsters, and it was a real challenge to stay alive and end up on the other end of it.

The interviewer then asked, "So many of your friends from that era—like Keith Moon and John Belushi—didn't make it. What do you think caused you to survive it?" "Don't know," replied Walsh. "I wonder every day. People often ask me if I believe in God and I kinda have to, because I'm still here. I had not planned on living this long, and here I am."