During his recent interview with LA Weekly, Alice Cooper shared his ideas about KISS bassist Gene Simmons‘ claims about rock music’s existence and longevity. The musician explained the accurate side of Simmons’ words by adding that he disagreed with the other parts.
Previously, Simmons made a bold statement about rock music and its future, saying that rock is dead, but this wasn’t a natural death for him. The famous bassist stated that the genre’s murderers were the streaming platforms because most people chose monthly or annual memberships instead of buying physical records. According to the rocker, young artists can’t earn enough money without doing other side jobs.
In addition to attacking the platforms, Simmons claimed that it’s impossible to find The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and Metallica’s successors, criticizing the next generation. Many of his colleagues disagreed with his ideas, and one of them, Cooper, highlighted that rock could not die while there were teenage kids who were listening to Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, and himself.
After talking about rock’s immortality thanks to legendary groups’ popularity and young ones’ interest and dedication, the musician revealed why Simmons said those words in the beginning. Cooper thought that the KISS icon was talking about financial problems that newbie rockers had to face, which prevented them from focusing on creating and performing their works. Hence, Simmons’ main argument was money.
Cooper said in his interview that:
“Gene Simmons said rock is dead, but I think he was talking financially. I think there are kids in garages now learning Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, Alice, and Ozzy. Young 16-year-old kids are rocking; that’s healthy. I don’t think rock is ever going to die.
When you talk about hard rock, like the Stones, The Who, that’s the only music that lasted. Grunge was here for a while. Punk was here for a while. Emo was here and all this, but hard rock bands kept going. So if you’re in a hard rock band, you can go as long as you want.”
After that, Cooper went on to say that hard rock bands preserved their popularity and success over the years thanks to their dedicated fan base and passion for making music. However, he drew attention to grunge and punk’s rise and fall.
