Grohl: Rock is in my DNA

Dave Grohl says rock is his "air and food" and that it will "never disappear."

The Foo Fighters frontman is the latest star to shoot down Gene Simmons’ controversial comments, in which he said “rock is dead”.

Grohl insists music trends move in cycles, but rock will never be anything other than a lifestyle for its many followers.

He tells KROQ: “For me it’s my air, it’s my food, it’s my lifestyle. It’s just what I do. My band is my family and the music we make is our voice. It’s never going to disappear. When I step out at a Foo Fighters gig, either in an arena, club or stadium full of people singing Everlong or My Hero or Pretender – rock and roll is alive and well in my house.”

The Kiss bassist claimed last month that illegal downloading and a lack of industry support had killed rock music. The Foos were one of the first to respond, saying via Twitter: “Not so fast, Mr. God of Thunder…”

This week, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian added his name to the list of those disagreeing with Simmons, saying his comments were those of a businessman rather than an artist.

Grohl adds: “There’s lots of rock being played and lots of rock being cared about and being made all over the world. I think popular culture works in cycles. Think about where music was just before Nirvana and Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and all those bands that blew up.

“We were kind of in a place where it almost seemed untouchable. There were a lot of bands that were really heavily stylised and heavily produced. It was really fun and it was fun to party to, but there are some times that you get hungry for something that’s real. I want to see a dude sweating blood over his instrument he just smashed on the ground.”

Grohl and the Foo Fighters will issue their eighth album Sonic Highways on November 10.