David Ellefson Agreed With Gene Simmons When Declaring That “Rock Is Dead in America”

Having performed on stage since the 1980s, David Ellefson found himself part of bands like The Lucid, Dieth, Kings of Thrash, and even Metal Allegiance. But for many, they remember the musician for his time with the metal band Megadeth. While performing with several bands over the years, Ellefson loved genres like heavy metal, power metal, hard rock, and even thrash metal. The musician continues to perform with his solo tours. Touring in Europe, Ellefson recently shared his thoughts on rock and roll in America and how it is apparently dead. 

Sitting down for an interview with Border City Rock Talk, Ellefson discussed his career in the music industry. But instead of just focusing on himself, the rockstar opened up about the current state of rock music in America. When asked why he didn’t tour more in North America, the musician declared, “Rock is dead in America — it really is. And I know people will lambaste me for saying that, but it is.” 

Explaining his stance on the situation with rock music, Ellefson added, “Unless you’re an established band, unless you’re Linkin Park and Metallica and KISS and Slayer, whatever, to start a new rock band — kids aren’t into that shit. They’re into Facebook and Tesla. Yeah, their lives are on their phones. Being a rock star is not cool anymore, like it was for us growing up. So, if you’ve got it established, you can keep it working.”

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Gene Simmons And David Ellefson Agree On Current State Of Rock Music

Not the first musician to make such a statement, KISS bassist Gene Simmons also noted how rock music died in America.  “If you walked down the street and asked a 20-year-old, ‘Who’s the bass player in Nirvana?’ they wouldn’t know what you’re talking about. Or, ‘Can you sing a Nirvana song?’ No, no. The Beatles — and, to a slightly lesser extent, the Stones and Elvis — everybody knew the Beatles. If you hated rock music, you knew about them.” He continued, “You walk down the street, randomly ask people, ‘Who’s on Mount Rushmore?’ They’ll say, ‘Uh, Elvis.’ They won’t get it, but they know those four faces anywhere you go. They may hate the band, but you can’t deny that.”

While rock music might be dead in America, it continues to thrive in other places in the world. Ellefson revealed, “For me, I enjoy South America, Latin America, [where] they love rock and roll,” he continued. “Asia, Australia. So you leave America and, man, rock and roll is very much alive and well. They champion the legacy stuff, they like new stuff. There’s a lot more…”

(Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns)