Gene Simmons believes rock is dead because he can't tell the difference between good music and good sales, according to Little Caesar frontman Ron Young.

Young was responding to Simmons' now-infamous 2014 proclamation that the art form of rock 'n' roll had expired. It caused such a kerfuffle that Canadian band Helix subsequently released a song called "(Gene Simmons Says) Rock Is Dead".

“Rock’s not dead - big huge business of rock is dead so Gene Simmons laments,” Young says on the latest episode of White Line Fever podcast. “It’s ridiculous. Rock is never going to go away. It’s just a question of whether people want to find it, if people want to make it. Sales and good music have nothing to do with each other. People like him don’t understand the difference because to him, if it isn’t selling out arenas, it’s dead. But it’s not dead. It’s going on in clubs and venues and smaller places, happening everywhere. There isn’t a lot of money behind it. Those are two different things. So rock isn’t dead.”

In a recent interview with Hot Metal, Europe’s Joey Tempest revealed he wrote the 2016 single “Days Of Rock ’N’ Roll” after a conversation with the KISS bassist.

“I wrote the lyric in response to a lot of people I met on the road - including Gene Simmons and other people - who at the time were talking about ‘we’re not going to make any more albums, rock is dead’,” the singer said. “There were so many people saying that and I was like ‘I’m not sure about that, I think there’s a light there, I think there’s a hope there and I think the last few years has proven that with bands like Rival Sons and there are other bands emerging in the UK. There is a sense that it’s OK to do rock ’n’ roll, to do albums, and I think people will rediscover it. I still have hope.”

(Photo - Steve Mascord)