STEEL PANTHER Comments On GENE SIMMONS' 'Rock Is Dead' Remark

Drummer Stix Zadinia and bassist Lexxi Foxx of Los Angeles glam-metal jokesters STEEL PANTHER are the latest musicians to respond to KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons' recent comment that "rock is dead."

Simmonstold 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, Lexxi told Jo Schüftan of Horns Up Rocks! (see video below): "How can you say that? I mean, I know — out of his mouth. But… That bums me out, because look at what we've done. And I think that it's really cool that we're bringing heavy metal… when I say 'back,' I mean, there was a period of time when it went away, right? And it's, like, everybody wants to still rock, 'cause we're, like, doing really, really, really bigger shows, bringing heavy metal back. So I think it's proof that people want metal."

Added Stix: "I agree with you, Lexxi. It's testament to what's going on. We're right here at Barclays Center [in Brooklyn, New York]. We're with JUDAS PRIEST. We're playing a kick-ass rock and roll show. It ain't dead. You just need to know where to look for it. And all you've gotta do is look right down into Brooklyn, and you can see that tonight rock and roll is very much alive."

STEEL PANTHER is currrently supporting JUDAS PRIEST on a North American tour. The trek kicked off on October 1 in Rochester, New York and will run through mid-November, wrapping up in Tacoma, Washington. The tour will make stops in major markets, including Brooklyn, Detroit, Baltimore and Los Angeles.

STEEL PANTHER's third album, "All You Can Eat", sold around 13,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 24 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD arrived in stores on April 1 via Open E/KLS.