9 Reasons Rock And Roll Is Dead (And Never Coming Back)

3. The Elder Statesman Are Whining About Nonsense

The full quote from Gene Simmons about the sorry state of rock music is as long-winded as it is churlish, but here's a snippet:

"The death of rock was not a natural death. Rock did not die of old age. It was murdered...You're better off not even learning how to play guitar or write songs, and just singing in the shower and auditioning for The X Factor... Where's the next Bob Dylan? Where's the next Beatles? Where are the songwriters?"

Well, if we're using Dylan and the Beatles as the definition of rock and roll, there's certainly no shortage of them out there. Singer-songwriter types pop up constantly, it's just rare for them to get the kind of radio play those other two examples quite frankly lucked into back in their day. But herein lies the main problem: What the hell constitutes rock and roll?