In his recent interview with Appetite for Distortion, Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider revealed the story of his becoming an Eminem fan. He also stated that the people who thought ‘rock is dead’ drove him crazy while talking about the new generation of rock stars.
KISS icon Gene Simmons fired up the longtime argument about the current place of rock in the music industry when he said ‘rock is dead’ in one of his previous interviews. According to KISS bassist, the new generation can not produce works like Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Pink Floyd and the online streaming platforms prevent them from selling their records.
After his statement, many musicians such as Taylor Momsen, the Kiszka brothers, and Tony Iommi declared that they disagreed with Gene. Dee Snider also reacted to Simmons’ argument in both his interviews and social media posts. Snider apparently thought that rock can never die because next-generation rock musicians were passionate about creating new things for rock music.
During his recent interview, Dee Snider emphasized the immortality of rock music and the passion of the younger generation saying that the ones who said ‘rock is dead’ drove him crazy. While he was giving examples of young generation musicians, Dee revealed that he has been a fan of Eminem since he listened to ‘Stan’ when his ten-year-old son introduced him to the rapper by adding that all of his children loved metal music.
Snider said in the interview that:
“You only have to turn left or right and you just trip over a damn band that’s trying to make it with very little effort. And I’m blessed in that my children are all metalheads, and they have kept me connected to what’s going on. And not just metal. I became an Eminem fan when my son was 10 and wanted the album with ‘Stan’ on it.
And being true to my words in Washington, I listened to it. And then sat and discussed it with my son, and we had a very important conversation about suicide thanks to ‘Stan,’ using it as a tool. But it exposed me to that as well. They have kept me aware of not only that there’s new music but there’s great music.“
He went on:
“When Gene Simmons says, ‘Let me tell you something, there’s no Bob Dylans or Jimi Hendrixes…’ No, you’re just not looking the talent and passion because it’s a pure passion now. These young kids don’t have a hope of getting rich doing it.
Their best hope is that maybe we make enough money selling CDs and t-shirts after the show to get to the next fucking gig. It’s so real, it’s so heartfelt, it’s so for the love of rock ‘n’ roll. It makes me crazy when people say ‘rock is dead.’“
You can watch the interview below.
