Song · Joe Walsh
“Life of Illusion” by Joe Walsh
“Life of Illusion” by Joe Walsh appears on 7 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 1981 and 2016. Its best result is #52 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #52 alternative song of 1981.
Joe Walsh put "A Life of Illusion" on There Goes the Neighborhood, his fifth solo studio album, in 1981, but the song was an old friend by then: most of the track had been cut back in 1973, during the sessions for The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get. Dusted off eight years later, it turned into a hit and one of the Walsh songs people know best.
Record World admired the way Walsh's existential lyrics coil into a hook, and gave Kenny Passarelli his due for the guitarrón. It made No. 34 on the Hot 100 and went all the way to No. 1 on Billboard's Top Tracks chart, a peak that Don Henley and Glenn Frey, his old bandmates, would also hit.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 52 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981 | 106 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 259 | 95.5 KLOS | KLOS Memorial Day 500 (1982) | 499 |
| 2002 | 690 | 92.3 KGON | KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) | 923 |
| 2004 | 689 | 92.3 KGON | KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) | 923 |
| 2011 | 460 | 97.9 The Loop | The Loop Rock N Roll 500 (2011) | 500 |
| 2016 | 245 | 103.5 The Fox | The Fox Memorial Day 500 (2016) | 299 |
| 2016 | 949 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 | 1007 |
Also listed as: A Life Of Illusion; Life Of Illusion; A Life of Illusion.
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