Gene Simmons: 'Rock Is Finally Dead'

Gene Simmons told his son during a candid interview for Esquire that rock music has been “murdered” by file-sharing and that rich, white, and entitled native-born Americans are partially to blame.

“My sense is that file-sharing started in predominantly white, middle and upper-middle-class young people who were native-born, who felt they were entitled to have something free, because that’s what they were used to,” he said. 

Immigrants are more patriotic, according to the KISS legend.

“If you’re a native-born American, my contention is that you take a lot of things for granted. All the freedoms and opportunities you have here are expected, and you feel entitled. I think this has taken over the American psyche. I find that many of the more patriotic people are immigrants,” he explained. 

Upcoming artists are set up for failure and would be better off trying out for a reality show.

“It’s very sad for new bands. My heart goes out to them. They just don’t have a chance. If you play guitar, it’s almost impossible. 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,” said Simmons.

Many of today’s musical frontrunners are forgettable and have destroyed the craft of creating iconic music, as they are incomparable to the groups that were formed in the 60s and 70s, such as The Beatles, Pink Floyd, or The Stones.

‘Where’s the next Bob Dylan? Where’s the next Beatles? Where are songwriters? Where are the creators? Many of them now have to work behind the scenes, to prop up pop acts and write their stuff for them,” he said.

Simmons discussed how Psy’s anti-American track “Gangnam Style” set the standard for new age music artistry, as it had incredible rankings worldwide. 

“Look up the numbers to that song. He blows everyone else out of the water,” he urged.

Psy once performed before President Obama around Christmas time in Washington.

“I firmly believe that there’s something missing in America, and it used to exist, and it’s now corny. Patriotism is corny, and that’s a sad state of affairs,” Simmons concluded. “I think every day, we forget about the — and here’s the corny part — glory of America. And thats too f*cking bad.”