Sean Musial, Editor

Is rock n’ roll dead? This is a valid question to be asked in the current climate of the music industry and where it’s heading. Hip-hop and country seem to be trending the most compared to the other genres and subgenres that are in the game. However, rock has seemed to be on a steady decline over the past two decades, and it can be argued that it has been flushed out completely. 

There are no new Beatles or Rolling Stones to say that classic rock is alive. There are no new Black Sabbath or Metallica climbing the ranks to say that metal still has a pulse. There are no new Pink Floyd or Jimi Hendrix Experience to say that the psychedelic genre is still afloat in the cosmos. There are no new Ramones or The Clash wanting teens to rebel to the sound of punk. There are no new Nirvana or Pearl Jam to get people to head bang to grunge. They feel like moments in time, lost to a changing age. 

People learn a lot of this music through their parents, movies or streaming. A lot of these rock icons are either in their 70s, 80s or have passed. During July of 2025, the world lost Ozzy Osbourne who died from cardiac arrest just 17 days after he stepped off the stage of his last concert. The Rolling Stones had their last tour back in 2024 with the Hackney Diamonds Tour, which I had the pleasure of seeing when they came to Philadelphia, and has since concealed their planned 2026 tour. These show the slow decline of what rock was and how much the genre of music really influenced an entire generation at one point. 

Those who are attempting to keep some glimmer of hope alive for rock is something to be admirable towards. Yes, it might not be the popularized form of music today, but there are some bands still touring or producing new music. Foo Fighters, Imagine Dragons and Arctic Monkeys are some examples of modern day rock bands that are still up and running. This is not necessarily enough though because the Grammys were dominated strictly by rap and hip-hop winners. Or, it just wasn’t publicized enough. 

The category of “Rock, Metal & Alternative Music” at the Grammys showed many different accomplishments from a wide range of artists. With artists and bands such as YUNGBLUD, Turnstile, Nine Inch Nails and The Cure winning different awards for the genre, the world is given the many unique styles and original forms of what rock has come to today. Two are fairly new while the other two have been around for decades. Each, no matter what the rest of the world might think, are trying to keep the rock phenomenon gracing the ears of the audience that craves it. 

If something’s not considered mainstream relevance, oftentimes people chop it up to be unimportant or insignificant. The birth of rock is oftentimes considered to be at some point during the mid-1950’s. And, it sure wasn’t mainstream at first. The parents of the kids who were listening to this music often looked down upon it because of the so-called nature of it and it could affect the youth. Two to three years later, it defined decades. It was mainstream when it first started, and feels like it entered back into that loop of being pushed back in the background of “mainstream music.”

Is rock n’roll dead? Maybe it’s in hibernation, waiting for a new wave of rock bands and icons to really amp up the voltage to increase where it stands in the music industry today. Maybe it has died off, trying to gravitate towards what once was decades prior. Since we learn these songs through different forms of media and the older generations, personally, I think it has died off and we’re just watching the former kings fill our history books.