With the next group of modern rock bands looming over the horizon, KISS bassist Gene Simmons was asked if there will be a new band that could parallel KISS or The Beatles, and he doesn’t believe that there ever will be.
Although he says that he admires modern pop stars like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, Simmons says that their longevity will not match artists that have attained such a high level of greatness, also commenting on the ‘10,000 hour’ concept for a full concert arena experience.
Simmons explains the 10,000 hour concept as this: “Before The Beatles went into the studio to become The Beatles, they played clubs for ten thousands hours. That’s years. You have to do something for thousands and thousands of hours before you get any good on it. Nowadays, instant gratification means you can hum in your shower, then wind up on ‘The X Factor’ and you’re on television and you get a recording contract. But almost none of these singers who get recording contracts become huge.”
In regards to there being a modern-day version of The Beatles, Simmons said: “The next KISS or the next Beatles or whoever it is is not gonna come along, because there’s no infrastructure. Here, let’s play a game. From 1958 until 1988 is thirty years. What have we got? We have Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The [Rolling] Stones, Jimi Hendrix, the biggest bands of all time. And then in disco, you had Madonna, Donna Summer, all that. The biggest of all. And then in pop, you had Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5, all that stuff… and U2. And in heavy metal, you had Metallica and Iron Maiden and all that stuff. And Prince and all that.”
“From 1988 until today… give me the new Beatles and the new Stones. Give me just one. You can’t. Rock is dead. And the reason for that? Downloading and filesharing. When you stop charing for things, it becomes worthless. And there;s gonna have to be a business model that’s gonna have to change.e ‘Cause there are great bands out there, but there’s no support system.”