HELLYEAH and MUDVAYNE singer Chad Gray is the latest musician to respond to KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons‘ recent comment that “rock is dead.”
Simmons told Esquire magazine last month — in an interview conducted by his son Nick — that “rock did not die of old age. It was murdered. Some brilliance, somewhere, was going to be expressed and now it won’t because it’s that much harder to earn a living playing and writing songs. No one will pay you to do it.”
Simmons went on to elaborate that as a result of file-sharing and other issues, record label support for rock music was not available like it was when KISS was coming up, concluding, “It’s finally dead. Rock is finally dead.”
Asked to weigh in on Gene‘s comments, Gray told IndiePower.com: “F*ck that! No way, man.
“Is rock dead because people don’t buy records or whatever?
“You know what it is? The dinosaur f*cking mentality is dead.
“You know what? Here’s the deal: If you love HELLYEAH, support HELLYEAH. That’s all we’re asking. If you support us, we can’t go anywhere; we’re gonna stay. You keep us in the papers. You know what I mean?! When people don’t support music, that’s when rock dies. And, dude, people need metal. I’ve always needed metal.
“Metal saved my f*cking life. Metal saved my life countless times. I would have never been able to get through some of the trials of my life without that music to help me. And I support it still, those bands that got me through it, and I continue to support it by f*cking playing metal. You know what I mean?!”
HELLYEAH‘s fourth album, “Blood For Blood”, sold around 17,000 copies in its first week of release to land at No. 18 on the Billboard chart. The band’s previous effort, 2011’s “Band Of Brothers”, opened with 19,000 copies back in July 2012 to debut at No. 19.
HELLYEAH is currently touring North America as guests of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH and VOLBEAT.
Source: Blabbermouth
