Ghost’s Tobias Forge has hit back at Gene Simmons’ assertion that “rock is dead”, arguing that new bands will continue to rise to the top.

The KISS bassist and singer has spoken multiple times in recent years about his belief that the genre is no longer producing major new artists, dating back to comments in 2014 in which he accused record labels of failing to adequately support rock musicians.

In 2021, he returned to the topic, saying that contemporary artists may be popular, but that does not mean they are “iconic”, saying new bands “haven’t taken the time to create glamour, excitement and epic stuff”.

Simmons also pointed his finger at the younger generation of music fans, accusing them of “killing the thing that you love”, despite appearing to be more critical of the streaming model and its low pay for artists.

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Late last year he made another intervention, arguing that in “something like almost 40 years” there had been no significant new figures to emerge in rock music. “Who are the new Beatles?” he asked.

Now, Forge has countered Simmons’ assertions in an interview with Consequence, defending younger generations’ ability to nurture future festival headliners in the rock genre.

“I think it was Gene Simmons that said it most times, but I mean a lot of people have said that rock ‘n’ roll is dead and there will be no new headliners,” Forge said. “I understand that it’s been sparse, but I think that with the unfortunate disappearance of a lot of bands that I like – Kiss being one of them – I do believe that with time I think that there will be more [headlining rock] bands.”

“There are a few examples of fairly new bands who’ve risen to great statures, faster than we did. I think that there’s this strange time phenomenon that happened somewhere in the 2000s where everything that was sort of old was old, and everything that came after was new, and just keeps on being labelled as new – especially by people who at the time were in their twenties or thirties or forties and now are in their forties, fifties, sixties. Which I think is an age thing.”

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The comments follow on from similar sentiments that Forge shared in March when he told NME that Ghost are “living proof” that the concept that “rock is dead” is not true.

“For the last decade or so, there’s been this ongoing chatter in the music business – especially in the rock business – of ‘rock is dead’ or ‘no new bands can become big’,” he said. “Ghost, as well as a few others, are living proof that that is not true.”

“I’m not saying that you can become a new AC/DC, but we are living proof that you still can do it. There are more recent bands around, like Sleep Token, who are succeeding, so obviously, you can become a bigger band.”

The Swedish band’s sixth studio album ‘Skeletá’ was released in April, and earned a four-star review from NME, who noted: “While it may not boast the same instant hooks of some earlier albums, the latest offering does instead offer something more substantial. Through a rich exploration of genres and a new level of emotional depth, it becomes clear that ‘Skeletá’ was made with a new vision in mind, and comes as the promising start of a new Ghost chapter.”