KISS' Gene Simmons Says Rap Will Die, Rock Is Dead 2016 In Review

(Radio.com) KISS' Gene Simmons Says Rap Will Die, Rock Is Dead was a top 16 story of March 2016: KISS star Gene Simmons believes that rap music will die, reiterates his belief that rock is already dead and also makes a surprising suggestion of who can revive rock.

"I am looking forward to the death of rap," he said, echoing statements he said to Radio.com two years ago. "I'm looking forward to music coming back to lyrics and melody, instead of just talking. A song, as far as I'm concerned, is by definition lyric and melody ' or just melody."

"I'm all for anybody talking," he says of hip-hop music. "'Wild Thing' was talking: 'Wild thing, she makes my heart sing--she makes everything '' There's no melody there. That's cool' But predominantly, music is about melody and lyric, whether it's rap or doo-wop, or yeah, even rock. Rap will die," he predicted. "Next year, 10 years from now, at some point, and then something else will come along. And all that is good and healthy."

However, he doesn't see much that he believes in, even in his own genre. "As far as I'm concerned, rock is dead. There ain't no new bands. Foo Fighters, I love 'em, but they're a 20-year-old band. These are long-in-the-tooth bands: Nirvana, Pearl Jam. They're old bands."

He does think that rock, and music itself, could be saved by one of pop's biggest stars. "As far as I'm concerned, if Lady Gaga dropped the disco and the pole dancing and all that stuff and put together a rock band, that would be legitimate, because she's got the musical goods. She can write songs, play instruments and can actually sing. And she understands the fearless quality of spectacle. I'd love to see her do Queen-style music. She can do it. Madonna cannot." Read the original report here.

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