Gene Simmons Reiterates: Rock Is Dead

Gene Simmons (Instagram @genesimmons)

JAKARTA - KISS bassist / vocalist Gene Simmons once again confirmed that rock is dead. This time he said, "the new bands haven't taken the time to create glamor, excitement, and epic stuff."

Although rock n 'roll has been king of the music scene for decades, in recent years, rock n' roll has been displaced by hip-hop's increasing popularity.

This has led to many pundits proclaiming the genre "dead" from an industry perspective. They note, rock has been beaten in all sizes by pop, hip-hop, and EDM.

Simmons spoke of rock's diminishing status during a recent interview with Gulf News. Addressing the entire "rock is dead" debate, Gene said: "Rock is dead. And that's because new bands haven't taken the time to make things glamorous, vibrant, and epic."

The bassist added, rock music triumphs existed from 1958 to 1988. During those 30 years there were Elvis (Presley), The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones. then there was AC / DC and the band it formed, KISS.

"From 1988, to today, it's over 30 years. Tell me who the new Beatles are. You can't. There are popular bands. BTS is very popular. All kinds of (music) bands are very popular. It doesn't mean iconic and legacy. and all the time. It's different. "

The "rock is dead" argument has come up repeatedly over the years, including in 2018 after Maroon 5 vocalist Adam Levine told Variety magazine that "rock music is not everywhere. I don't know where it is," he said. .

"If anything, how come nobody invited me to that party. All the innovation and amazing things that happen in music are in hip-hop. It's better than anything else. And that's why people love it."

As for Simmons a few years ago told Esquire magazine that "rock doesn't die of old age. It is murdered."