Alice Cooper is the latest rock star to weigh in on Gene Simmons’ claim that ‘Rock is Dead.’
Cooper said in a new interview with NME, “Gene Simmons – I would like him to do my taxes because he’s a businessman and that’s valid, but I guarantee you right now that in London somewhere, in garages, they’re learning Aerosmith and Guns ‘N’ Roses. There’s a bunch of 18-year-kids in there with guitars and drums and they’re learning hard rock. It’s the same with the United States: there’s all these young bands that want to resurge that whole area of hard rock.”
Cooper, however, did recognize the fact that the rock genre isn’t a mainstream force, but that that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
He said, “We’re not at the Grammys; we’re not in the mainstream. Rock’n’roll is outside looking in right now, and that gives us that outlaw attitude. And I think that’s very good for rock and roll, ’cause that’s how rock and roll started; we were all outlaws at the time, and then we became mainstream.”
Cooper also recognized the longevity of hard rock music saying, “The one kind of music that started and never ended was hard rock. It went to punk, it went to disco, it went to hip-hop, it went to grunge, but the one thing that went through the middle of it was hard rock.”
Simmons, obviously, shows no signs of backing down from his original statement. However, he should consider Cooper’s thoughts, if only for his taxes idea. Simmons could make a good chunk of money giving people tax advice. If there’s one thing The Demon enjoys, it’s making money.
