Gene Simmons stands by his statement from eight years ago that “rock is dead.”
He tells Metal Hammer, “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…
“From 1958 until 1988, 30 years, right? You got Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones and on and on. Motown. You have the surf thing and The Beach Boys, the British invasion — hundreds of bands. The Hollies are hardly ever talked about, they’re a great band. Disco stuff, Madonna, Prince, David Bowie, all that great stuff. You had the heavy bands Metallica and Iron Maiden, all that stuff in those 30 years. Eternal music and bands.
“But from 1988 until today, who is the new Beatles? BTS? There’s no denying BTS are world famous. But am I going to form a garage band to do those songs? No. I think they’re well-crafted and professional, but One Direction and ‘N Sync and all the boy bands don’t change the world. It just makes little girls hearts flutter and then they’re gone. That doesn’t have gravitas. Influential bands, that make somebody want to pick up a guitar, learn how to play songs and be in a band don’t exist, because you can’t make a living.”
Simmons and the band that he has earned a living with for 49 years, KISS, resume their End of the Road tour next Tuesday in Santiago, Chile. They’ll be back in the U.S. starting May 11th in Milwaukee.
REUTERS PHOTO
