Is rock and roll dead?
 

Yes this has being said since the 60’s, but I think it’s happening for real now. Right now I’m watching the Grammy’s, and rock and roll is quite absent in the main show. I know there’s awards given off-air, and that’s part of the problem. Grammy’s as lame as it is, it’s a snapshot of what the mainstream is listening to. And it’s not rock music. It’s pop, and hip hop. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the hip hop tribute with all those artists from my childhood, I got goosebumps when they showed Run DMC. And the tribute of recent passings, including Jeff Beck was nice to see. But when it comes to new artists, there’s nothing rock and roll. It’s sad, even with artists like HER which has made her electric guitar and blues influences front and center, it’s just not enough. To think the Foo Fighters is the last big rock band is quite sad.

It's like you said - they televise the most marketable, currently trending artists. Just like commercial radio - the only rock they play is "classic rock." There are new artists playing rock, hard rock, metal, etc. But you're not gonna find them on radio or TV.

The good news is, unlike when we were young, there are LOTS of alternative platforms - satellite radio, youtube, streaming services, podcasts, internet radio, etc. Rock isn't dead at all. You just gotta go hunt it down now, it's no longer being spoon-fed to you.

I think if we have to 'hunt it down,' then yes, that seems pretty dead to me, at least in terms of relevance. I'm sure we could find 19th century musical-hall turns if we hunted them down, but no one, I think would say this style of music is thriving.

Art forms have a shelf-life. Traditional ones evolve into ever more extreme or complex forms until the only people still paying attention are diehard aficionados. Rock had its day in the sun, but that day has mostly passed, as far as I can see.

It's not dead... maybe on life-support though!

Maneskin (a relatively new Rock-ish band from Italy) was nominated for a Grammy which was nice to see even though I knew they didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell at winning. There are a few new and young bands out there keeping the Rock traditions alive but they are playing to us old geezers. The Pretty Reckless are a favorite of mine. Taylor Momsen was a young, beautiful television and movie actress well on her way to stardom when she walked away to form a rock band because that's what she felt. Even their pandemic virtual acoustic versions are awesome!



The dance/pop stuff has been around forever and I don't see that going anywhere anytime soon. And all you need is a microphone and autotune (and very little talent) and you can be a hip-hop/rapper so why bother to take the time to learn to play a musical instrument? But they are still out there. Musicians. I'll bet Rock keeps percolating under the radar and makes a resurgence although I doubt I'll be here to see it!

The times they are a changing.

Kurt Cobain's death marked the end of an era to me.

well,its as dead as Big Band and Laurence Welk was in 1976? its around but so was Laurence Welk.

Commercial music is for young people and I'm certainly no longer young. And I haven't been for a long time.

At the same time, I have no shortage of music to listen to.

- Glenn

Don't even get me started on things like the Grammy's

It's TV I don't watch, and IMHO is rubbish.

If that's the source of truth, then yes, rock and roll is dead.

I am attracted to rock and roll because of the often “counter culture” or sending a single finger message to “the man”- side of it.
It doesn’t belong on an award show (unless it’s Tool, who should win the award for most polyrhythms) celebrating popularity- it should be on the outside if it’s true to its roots.

For me, it was the 80s hair bands. Rock had degenerated into clownish parody: the same old, same old with all the front men dressed up as pantomime queens.

This.

Indeed.

I believe comments here illustrate availability or familiarity bias more than reality.

All of my daily travels, subscriptions, radio listening, parenthood and the also the teens who jam at my house give me the impression rock and roll is plenty alive and well.

A fun test for this - making sure not my bias - is using some not my own and for other purposes Google, Amazon and Apple credentials in a clean/setup scenario. Lots of rock and roll is out there across platforms and devices.

It also seems like my house is not the only one in the neighborhood where teens jam to new and old music plus their own.

Great discussion everyone. I want to elaborate a bit of why I think rock and roll is dead. I mean it as in new or rising talent on the mainstream. The one new band that gave it a sliver of hope was Greta Van Fleet. And haven’t heard much of them in the past few years. Kids jamming some Metallica or guns and roses at guitar center only strengthens my point. They’re just playing their parents music because there’s nothing new to play.

Even tv commercials have tons of 70’s-90’s rock music. A testament that good music transcend generations, but also a testament that there’s nothing popular that’s new in that genre. The interest is there. There’s a reason why Slash is still relevant, and why Master Of Puppets hit the charts 35 years after it was released just because the song was featured in Stranger Things. People in general love rock and roll, but the music giants have killed it off the mainstream.

Haven't heard all that much from anybody past couple years though, eh?

Rock & roll does not thrive as a virtual experience.

Bands will be being heard from more now, don't you worry.