Here's a question my friends and I have discussed once or twice: have we seen the last of the rock stars?

They certainly appear to be a dying breed, at least. Elvis was arguably the first genuine rock star. Their heydey seemed to be somewhere between the start of Beatlemania and sometime in the mid-1980s. But how many new rock stars have we seen lately?

It seems like all the current biggest names in rock (U2, Metallica, Springsteen, Aerosmith, etc.) are bands that are at least 25 years old. The last big exciting wave of new bands occurred during the grunge movement of the early 90s -- and most of those acts portrayed themselves as "anti-rockstars," anyway.

So what happened? It's not for a lack of musicians -- you can go to almost any city in America and see some great unknown bands playing live. It just seems like all the top acts that are successfully promoted these days are either hip hop or stupid pop drivel. Will we ever see a new Led Zeppelin, a new Rolling Stones, heck, even a new Elvis Costello or Fleetwood Mac?

The last real rockstars were Nirvana.

Wait 4-5 years and my band will revolutionize things.

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Just a amatuer looking for tips

Current Gear:
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I had to go with "drought." Everything is cyclical, so we'll eventually get back to the singin' 'n' songwrittin' rock bands, like those in "the good old days." I nearly went with "you don't get it," but I just happen to have fairly broad tastes, when it comes to music. I do like some hip-hop and rap, although there's quite a bit out there I could do without...wouldn't miss one bit, if it just up and disappeared from the planet.

Surf instrumental music experienced a 3rd wave of popularity, after several surf songs were featured in Pulp Fiction - especially "Miserlou" by Dick Dale & The Del-Tones at the beginning, and "Surf Rider" by The Lively Ones at the end. Something similar is bound to bring us back to the good old fashioned, flat out balls to the walls rock like you mentioned.

And I will admit it...I do like country & western, in case you're wondering just how broad my musical tastes go (hell...I even like The Brady Bunch, so there ya go...).

Matt

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Fast Cars & Loud Guitars!

There are many factors that play a part in the fact that there are really no rock stars today like there were in past decades.

1. Anyone can record a CD at a reasonable price now days. There's no need for a high tech recording studio.

2. The radio is dead. Between internet radio, the internet in general, TV, iPods and other modern means of listening to music there is no need to listen to the radio. So people don't, and it doesn't play any good music anyway.

3. With the internet and iTunes, anyone can put out a CD and promote it, there is no need for record labels.

4. Because of factors 1 and 3, music has fragmented into a million different genres and sub-genres. The record labels have little to no control over what the musical trends are. All of these little sub-genres have their own little circle of followers, the fan base is divided into little pieces. And since not everyone listens to the same radio stations, the same bands, and the same record labels, there can be no smash hits on the scale of what a smash hit used to be. And most of the smash hits now are by older bands that everyone knows about (like AC/DC, Iron Maiden, and U2 just to name a few).

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[quote="schnepf13"]

In the humble opinion of my wife......that would be me .

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"Another day in paradise!"

Killers , Strokes , Hives , Queens of the Stone Age , Foo Fighters , John Mayer , Joe Bonamassa , Maroon 5 , Les Claypool , there are so many my head is spinning i'd never be able to recall all of them (check the lollapalooza lineup for Chicago this summer). if you are worrying that this generation does'nt have enough rock and roll musicians to idolize , they do , with more comming (thanks to the internet and easier/better recording options) every day.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

We still have them like us there just older. In time one will emerge.

A good point! There are some very good bands on the scene right now. Looking at this year's Lollapalooza lineup...I'm a big fan of Vampire Weekend, Neko Case (and the New Pornographers), Fleet Foxes, Deerhunter and The Decemberists.

Just the same, these were all bands/performers I had to sort of seek out on my own (in fact, if it weren't for sattelite radio, I might not be aware of any of those bands' existences).

Conversely, the top 5 downloads on iTunes right now include releases by the Black Eyed Peas, Daughtry, Eminem, Lady GaGa and Lo Rida. New music on broadcast radio is mostly bubblegum pop, country and hip hop.

After the Strokes, The Killers and Maroon 5 it's tough to think of any newer rock band that has even come remotely close to achieving the kind of popularity enjoyed by the likes of the Stones, Zeppelin, the Who, G'n'R, Metallica, and so on....

tHE ROCKSTAR AS ANYONE OVER THIRTY REMEMBERS IS DEAD. There are some good artist out there but bonafide rockstar is a thing of the past.I think the top (forgive me for even having to admit this) rockstar status has been handed over to the top hip hop artist.They act and are treated like the rockstars of the past MINUS THE TALENT .I just dont see anyone new that has the required longevity out there.Now we are talking about ROCKSTAR not a great talent like a Joe Bonamessa.Someone who is going to sell out stadiums and the garden for 3 nights I just dont see it on the horizen.THATS WHY THEY HAVE TO HAVE ALL THESE SHOWS LIKE QZZFEST AND LOLAPALOOZA so they can put 10 acts on the bill where as ZEP or the STONES could draw that on there own back in the day.I think MTV had a lot more to do with killing the industry than helping,because now looks factored in with the music.My good friends band was close to getting sighned in the early 90s and one of the first things the label requested was photos of the band.I mean the way you look should have nothing with the way you sound.And years ago a label gave a band a chance to mature maybe 3 albums without taking off ,today its like one and done.It is not my favorite choice of music(mostly due to how bad the vocalist are)but I think metal more than any other rock form is keeping solid rock guitar on the map right now than almost everything else combined,and with so many great learning dvds,websites,software you are seeing so many more advanced young guitarist then ever.

I think the Heartbreakers and U2 still qualify,Unlike reunion bands there still producing new music.New guys I think John 5 is going to achieve that statis . I agree about the rappers ,unfortunte but true.

Heres what needs to happen to get a return of the rebellious rockstar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xelyOc3butA&feature=related

While accountants govern what we listen to and how we should react to music it will never change.

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No no and no

The song says it all nik! Down with the Establishment!!!

I think that with the death of progressive FM radio, the general public has lost the ability to find new talent. I heard someone say that there are few working bands around anymore that work their way to the top over several years. Everyone wants the meteoric rise to fame, i.e. American Idol. Idol is interesting but we are led by the likes of Simon and Paula - their tastes, and the talent on Idol are not my cup of tea.

That is not to say that their isn't great rock and roll out there - Solid Body and others have mentioned great examples. It seems however, that local pubs, word of mouth, and the "old guard" is all that we have left.

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I Can't Explain

Because the music industry is where it's at, the next great rock star will find it hard to reach the pinnacle. Shows like American Idol don't help. Kids today basically go into the studio, record a cd in the front rooms through Pro Tools and put it up for sale on YouTube, DC Baby or their Facebook & MySpace pages. No more working in clubs sweating out nights honing their preformance skills. They expect go to from Heros of the basement to the Top of the Heap! Let's see how things shake out once the dust has settles and I am sure somone will show up on the scene!

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Lite Ash Tele, Partcaster Black Nashville Tele with Jason Lollars, Blues DeVille 410, Lunchbox 200 Watt Amp, Martin RTGE 00016 Acoustic

Its the whole industry that needs to change. One of the big reasons i'm glad piracy is causing it such problems. I dont like the fact that artists lose money through piracy though. The quicker the whole industry ends the better it will be for music.
The whole Xfactor type show is nothing more than a farce. Bar a select few the contestants are nothing more than impersonators. Like said above completely incapable of delivering a good entertaining hour n half show.
Whilst squeaky clean whitewashed sweetshop 'artists' (term used in a very broad sense) continue to make rock and roll safe. So overprotective parents can let their kids listen to something. Were never going to get a decent rocker. The best we can hope for is the odd exception like Meatloaf. Even if you dont like him he's a great rockin live show. There are a few others too Meaty is just an example.

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No no and no