The rise of AI music—that is, music composed by or with the help of artificial intelligence—has sparked a wave of debates regarding its place in the creative world, the potential long-term effects (read: consequences) of pursuing this form of artificial creation, and how to create an environment in which AI and real-life artists can co-exist without the former overtaking the latter. Countless musicians have expressed their concerns over AI music.
Videos by American Songwriter
Joe Walsh isn’t one of them, and his reasoning for not caring, let alone thinking, about AI music is as hilariously un-serious as they come.
Why Joe Walsh Isn’t Worried About AI Music
At the time of this writing in 2025, the music industry stands at a unique technological crossroads. Our love of classic music from decades earlier means rock stars like Joe Walsh, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, and other superstars of the mid-20th century are still around, touring, making music, and speaking with the press.
But our society’s curiosity to explore new forms of technology and creation also means that AI music is on the rise. New artists are using artificial intelligence to compose their sonic creations. Wholly AI-created bands are doing serious numbers on Spotify. Simply put, the old and new are crashing into one another like two tectonic plates.
Unsurprisingly, the older musicians and younger musical purists are leading the charge on the critique of AI, which they argue belittles real-life artists and strips music of its inherent humanity. But in a brief interview with the Associated Press, Eagles member and prolific solo artist Joe Walsh revealed his reasoning for not worrying about the rise of AI, and it couldn’t be more rock ‘n’ roll if he tried.
“I don’t have much to say about it,” Joe Walsh said of the rise of AI music. “It’s computers; it has nothing to do with music. It’s, you know, it can’t destroy a hotel room. [AI] can’t throw a TV off the fifth floor into the pool and get right in the middle. When AI knows how to destroy a hotel room, then I’ll pay attention to it.”
The Eagles Member Certainly Speaks From Experience
For established artists like Joe Walsh, answering questions about AI music might seem like a laughably unserious way to spend their time—hence Walsh’s very blasé and tongue-in-cheek response. After all, destroying hotel rooms isn’t what made hits like “Rocky Mountain Way,” “Life’s Been Good,” and “Life in the Fast Lane” so timeless. But a proclivity to destroy lodging accommodations certainly was a byproduct of Walsh’s decades-long career. As unserious as he may be, at least he’s speaking from experience.
During a 2016 appearance on Conan, Walsh discussed his lengthy history of destroying hotel rooms while on the road. “My job, really, when I checked out was to get across the stateline before the maid saw the room.” One of the most expensive rampages Walsh ever went on, he explained, was an all-night rager with comedian John Belushi in a penthouse suite, during which they tore off all the wallpaper that they “didn’t like” (while still carefully removing and rehanging the “nice artwork” on the walls because, you know, they weren’t barbarians).
The total bill for damages to the penthouse suite—which, coincidentally, was the hotel owner’s private apartment—was over $20,000. So, it would assume that Joe Walsh was right about the rise of AI music. The technology might be able to spit out a composite of countless musical creations that came before it. But it certainly can’t do that.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.