Poison drummer Rikki Rockett recently went on L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns podcast, ‘Totally ’80s’, and opened up about his thoughts surrounding the topic of whether or not rock is dead. The drummer slammed rock bands for not being brave like Taylor Swift. He explained:
“I don’t think rock has any sociocultural movement, and that’s the problem. Nobody stands for anything right now. Rap is the most dangerous [genre] now. Actually, Taylor Swift has more bravery than most rock bands these days — she is not afraid to open her mouth and go against ‘the man.’ Rock bands play the game now, man. Nobody’s that brave anymore.”
The drummer likely made his comments in reference to Swift speaking her mind on political issues in recent years, as well as her legal battle against her former label, Big Machine, over ownership of her masters. Besides giving a shout-out to Taylor, the rocker also mentioned homophobia in the rock community.
Here’s what Rikki said about the current state of the rock scene around homophobia:
“Now, what’s crazy is that even though so many people in our era wore makeup back then — and the older I get, the more I need it! — it’s amazing how many rock people are homophobic. It’s an incredibly homophobic genre. It’s very weird. It’s part of why rock is struggling. I think right now there is a contradiction of all these things.”
Certain household names such as KISS’ Paul Stanley, Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider, and Alice Cooper have all made transphobic comments these past couple of month. For instance, Paul Stanley tweeted to share his concerns about children’s self-expression of gender identity. The rocker wrote:
“There is a big difference between teaching acceptance and normalizing and even encouraging participation in a lifestyle that confuses young children into questioning their sexual identification as though some sort of game and then parents in some cases allow it.”
You can listen Rikki Rockett’s recent appearance on the ‘Totally ’80s’ podcast below.
