Sonny Long Is a Legend in His Own Mind

Long was initially loath to disclose his day job. He ultimately said he works in the insurance industry but refused to name the company or even give his title there. So surely he pays his publicist and bodyguard, right? And surely he wouldn't be offended by the question if he's already said spending "every dollar you've got" to hire publicists and bodyguards is necessary, right?

Wrong. When asked whether he pays his publicist and bodyguard, he says he does. When asked whether he pays them money, he's clearly offended.

Jamie Peachey

Jamie Peachey

Sonny Long, surrounded by his "bodyguards."

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To watch video of Sonny Long singing, visit our music blog, Up on the Sun. For more information on Long, visit his MySpace page.

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"I'm not even gonna answer that question, because I don't know the reasoning behind the question," Long says, scoffing and shifting in his seat. "It's not important to me. It's not a big question, but the thing about it is, my people are taken care of. They're here because they're here. Whether they're paid with paper, or whether they're paid with knowledge, they're here because they're here."

"These are my friends," Long continues. "I can't have my friends around me?"

A lot of people have their friends around them, but their friends aren't assuming the roles of publicist and earbud-wearing bodyguard. If he were just going out to dinner and the press weren't around, would he bring his friends to an upscale place like Pure Sushi in Scottsdale?

"That depends if they're hungry," Long fires back.

It's the first short answer he's given to any question over four interviews.

Obviously, Long views himself as a visionary, a wearer of many hats: recording artist, promoter, entrepreneur, philosopher, educator, philanthropist. The lanky, 6-foot singer also considers himself a budding "NBA point guard" — even though he says the last time he played competitive basketball was at South Mountain High School at least 11 years ago.

"I'm gonna try out for the Suns," Long claims. "For real, that's one of my goals. There's been no talks yet. There's no talks. It's something that's been on my goal list. I was a basketball player. I love basketball to the point where, you know what, why not? I've got one life to live. I wanna do everything that's on my bucket list. I wanna be the best musician, I wanna be the best father, all these things. I'm gonna go for it.