'There's room for so many genres': Julian Casablancas weighs in on 'rock is dead' debate

Julian Casablancas says anyone who says rock is "dead" has lost their imagination.

Several artists over the years have declared the genre over, including most recently KISS rocker Gene Simmons.

However, The Strokes frontman, 42, has insisted that even if rock isn't always popular, there are still elements of it blended in with other styles of music, although he admitted he would gladly see blues-rock retired. Julian is quoted by Rolling Stone as saying: “I think people who say things are ‘dead,’ I feel like it means their imagination possibly has died.

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“There’s room for so many genres of music; not necessarily blues-rock, please, no more of that.

“All kinds of genres of music can blend in so many ways. Keys themselves, or singing styles or different bending of notes. You can sing an Arabic song with a country twang or vice versa, there’s so much room for stuff.”

Gene, 71, recently insisted there's been no true rock artists since 1988, whereas before then there was the likes of Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Stones and Pink Floyd.

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He said: "The point is, yeah, rock is dead because if we play the game from 1958 until 1988, which is 30 years, you had Elvis, The Beatles, The Stones, Pink Floyd, and on and on and on. And you can go to the heavy part of it, which is Metallica, Maiden, if you want to put KISS in there, that’s fine. AC/DC, on and on and on. Even U2, Prince, Bowie, Eagles. And then you get to disco stuff, and Madonna, and that stuff, and Motown, of course. And then from 1988 until today, who’s the new Beatles?"