Is rock dead? Not if you’re actually listening
Rock has been declared dead and buried almost a dozen times since it was birthed in the 1950s. So far, though, it has refused to lie down and go away.
Yes, hip-hop is the main musical driver of popular culture, but there are still millions, billions of rock fans out there. This music isn’t going away anytime soon.
If you’re worried about rock’s health, read this from UDiscoverMusic.com. You’ll feel better.
Is rock music dead? Every year, it seems, the mainstream music media sounds the death knell for rock. “Rock Is Dead. Thank God” scream the headlines. “Rock’n’Roll Is Dead. No, Really This Time” say those who cry wolf. And year after year, the same examples are held up to support these claims, without any conclusion ever being drawn to the point in question.
First, the classic artists will be discussed. They’re not getting any younger, but even though they’re still big draws at the box office, they obviously won’t be around forever. Then the conversation will turn to more current rock acts who can easily draw a crowd. And yet, though the young hopefuls may be capable of filling arenas on their own – be they Queens Of The Stone Age, Black Stone Cherry or Twenty One Pilots – it’s left undecided as to whether they have what it takes to reach the lofty heights of Festival Headliner.
What the “experts” say
Sometimes pundits will get involved. Industry “experts” will add their thoughts and opinions on whether rock music is dead in an attempt to add some weight to the discussion. Then the musicians wade in, explaining how rock bands are regurgitating the same old clichéd riffs and tired ideas, often in an attempt to promote their own clichéd riffs and tired ideas; after all, aren’t they the very people in a position to change the ship’s course and steer away from the oncoming iceberg?
But then, in 2017, music changed.
