On his decision to quit GUNS N' ROSES in 1996:

"It was a huge relief when I made that decision. From the early '90s onwards it was a very stressful situation, so I relieved myself of that burden, but then it was a hell of a lot of work to keep that all going, because from then I was out on my own. It's a tough business, I learned a lot about it, and I learned that without the umbrella of the whole GUNS N' ROSES name, I needed to be a bit more alert on a regular basis to stay afloat '” it was slow learning . . . The one thing I learned? To take charge of everything to do with my career'¦ and really not to trust anybody."

Interesting question. While I'd have to say Blondie was more artsy whereas Pat Benatar was more a pure pop hits machine (We Belong & Love is a Battlefield seem straight out of an 80's movie soundtrack), I had to look at their greatest hits cd. Benatar had more hit songs, and bigger one's, but I dunno, I wonder if alot of it was fabricated & just given songs similar to Aguilera & Spears (wasn't Hit Me with you Best Shot written by John Mellencamp?!) whereas Blondie wrote the songs a la Gwen Stefani & No Doubt.

I'm going to go with Blondie on the credibility factor. Just my $.02.