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Jack White agrees that we need some new blood to bring rock’n’roll back

If you’ve even glanced at the 2018 lineups for festivals like Coachella and Leeds/Reading, you’ll notice a distinct decline in the number of rock acts. We’re living in an hip-hop/rap/R&B world, which has prompted something of a backlash by rock fans.

Jack White has noticed this, too, and has a few words to say on the matter. Speaking on the radio in LA, Jack said:

“Rock ‘n’ roll needs an injection of some new young blood to really just knock everybody dead right now.  I think it’s brewing and brewing and it’s about to happen. And I think that it’s good. Since rock ‘n’ roll’s inception, every 10, 12 years, there’s a breath of fresh air and a new injection of some sort of what you could I guess call ‘punk attitude’ or something like that, a wildness.

Things get crazy and then they get crazy for a couple years, and then they kind of get subtle, and then you’ve gotta wait for the next wave to come through and get people really excited and screaming about it again.

We see it at Third Man all the time, a lot of young rock ’n’ roll acts, and I can tell in the last couple years it’s definitely different than it was five years ago. So I can tell something’s about to explode again.

Man, I hope he’s right.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39669 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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