Ten years ago, Esquire asked Nick Simmons, son of Kiss legend Gene Simmons, to interview his father. In the piece, provocatively headlined Gene Simmons: 'Rock Is Finally Dead', Simmons Sr. claimed that rock music was kaput. It had ceased to be. Bereft of life, it rested in peace. Rock was now ex-rock.
"The death of rock was not a natural death" quoth the God Of Thunder. "Rock did not die of old age. It was murdered."
In the weeks, months and years that followed, the pronouncement was repeated with a frequency bordering on lunacy. On the click-driven internet, there's no surer way of driving traffic than by courting controversy, and no quicker path to controversy than to ask someone to repeat something that's already proved to be controversial. So journalists ask Gene about his theory, and other journalists report those conversations, and readers read those stories, and so it continues, a giant, never-ending circle jerk. Hell, we're all part of it.
So in a week where 10 million rock fans from 158 countries tried to buy tickets to see the rock band Oasis in concert, here are the Top 10 times Gene repeated his theory that rock is dead.
Nice one, Gene! Here's to the next 10 years!
"I've been quoted as saying 'rock is dead,' and, unfortunately, it truly is, because you cannot name a new Beatles or a new Elvis or a new Sabbath. Who's the new Led Zeppelin? The point is, in the pop world, there's Taylor [Swift], who's fantastic, and [Lady] Gaga… there's a lot of stuff. But only time makes you iconic. And I love all kinds of music, but in rock, it is sadly dying a bad fate." (BBC Radio 2, 2015)
"Rock is dead. And the reason for that? Downloading and file-sharing. When you stop charging for things, it becomes worthless." (The Sound, 2015)
"As far as I’m concerned, rock is dead. There ain’t no new bands. Foo Fighters, I love ’em, but they’re a 20-year-old band. These are long-in-the-tooth bands: Nirvana, Pearl Jam. They’re old bands. That doesn’t mean there’s not new bands out there. As far as I’m concerned, if Lady Gaga dropped the disco and the pole dancing and all that stuff and put together a rock band, that would be legitimate, because she’s got the musical goods. She can write songs, play instruments and can actually sing. And she understands the fearless quality of spectacle. I’d love to see her do Queen-style music. She can do it. Madonna cannot." (Rolling Stone, 2016)
"Rock is dead... If you walk down the street and the first person you meet, especially somebody forty, fifty years old, and you say, 'Panic! At The Disco,' they run. They have no idea what the hell you're talking about. A superstar and an iconic band pervades all and everyone knows what it is." (WWL Radio, 2017)
"The record industry is dead for new artists. Rock is dead. The last great rock band was the Foo Fighters, and that's 20 years ago. You can't name another rock band, because you can't make a living." (Larry King interview, 2019)
"Rock is dead. And that’s because new bands haven’t taken the time to create glamour, excitement and epic stuff. I mean, Foo Fighters is a terrific band, but that’s a 20-year-old band." (Gulf News, 2020)
"Rock is dead because if we play the game from 1958 until 1988, which is 30 years, you had Elvis, The Beatles, The Stones, Pink Floyd, and on and on and on. And you can go to the heavy part of it, which is Metallica, Maiden, if you want to put Kiss in there, that’s fine. AC/DC, on and on and on. Even U2, Prince, Bowie, Eagles. And then you get to disco stuff, and Madonna, and that stuff, and Motown, of course. And then from 1988 until today, who’s the new Beatles?” (Heavy Consequence, 2021)
“Rock is dead. Because as soon as fans were able to download and fileshare for free, new bands didn’t have a chance to make a living. And that breaks my heart, because there’s so many great talented young musicians and writers who are never gonna get the chance that I got. Anything that is free or a penny when it should cost a dollar or more soon is worthless.” (X17 Online, 2022)
"Rock is dead. The kids are listening to EDM and sort of Tame Impala stuff, which I quite like actually. Ghost is interesting. There’s some good stuff out there, but they’re not going to get the chance that we did. They didn’t have a record company who put up posters around, gave you advances that you never had to return, so you could full-time dedicate yourself to that thing. How do you do that if you’re giving your music away for 1/100th of one penny for a download? How do you pay the rent?" (Spin, 2022)
"I stand by my words: rock is dead. The people that killed it are fans. Fans killed the thing they loved by downloading and file sharing for free. How do you expect somebody who loves the guitar to come into this creative process? You’ve got to invent yourself. And so rock is dead." (Metal Hammer, 2022)
