music.wikisort.org - Composition

"A Life of Illusion" is a song by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh, which became a hit and one of his most recognizable songs. It appears as the fifth track on his 1981 album, There Goes the Neighborhood. The majority of the track was originally recorded in 1973 as part of The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get sessions.

"A Life of Illusion"
Single by Joe Walsh
from the album There Goes the Neighborhood
B-side	"Rockets"
Released	May 1981
Recorded	1973
Genre	Rock
Length	3:30
Label	Asylum
Songwriter(s)	Joe Walsh, Kenny Passarelli
Producer(s)	Joe Walsh
Audio
"A Life of Illusion" on YouTube

Release

The song was a hit in the United States, peaking at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100, and also reaching #1 on the magazine's Top Tracks chart,[1] where his former bandmates Don Henley and Glenn Frey would also score #1 hits.

Chart history

Chart (1981)	Peak position
Canada RPM Top Singles[2]	37
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[3]	34
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock	1
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[4]	35

Cover versions

In 2002, the Foo Fighters recorded a cover of the song as a B-side, which later appeared on their covers album Medium Rare in 2011.

In popular culture

The song is used as the musical background to the opening scene in the film The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and appears as the first track on the soundtrack album. The song is also referenced in author Rick Riordan's The Burning Maze, the third book in The Trials of Apollo series.

See also

• List of Billboard Mainstream Rock number-one songs of the 1980s

References

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