If you haven’t noticed, rock is making it’s way back into the mainstream thanks to some unlikely artists. Rappers Machine Gun Kelly and Trippie Red have both made rock albums along with pop superstar Miley Cyrus. As a matter of fact, Miley’s album “Plastic Hearts” was #1 on the Top Rock Albums Chart. She even gets a little help from rockers Billy Idol and Joan Jett.

She made an appearance on the Spotify podcast “Rock This With Allison Hagendorf” and talked about her early influences listening to the radio. ‘Pop’ is short for popular. And when I was a kid and I would listen to pop radio on my way to school every single day, it was everything. It was country music, it was David Bowie, it was the Rolling Stones, the Beatles. Those are big pop songs — those are big, mainstream, popular songs,”.

She went on to give her own definition of rock and roll. “Rebellion, and I feel that it’s confrontational,...I feel that there’s a freedom in rock ‘n’ roll music that I wish for every genre, and I wish for my own... Rock ‘n’ roll is a lifestyle. It’s a lifestyle choice, it’s not taking ‘no’ for an answer, and that’s something that I’ve learned from a lot of these females, like Joan.” She added, “I would say that’s what rock and roll used to represent is crossing the line. I think now it’s about erasing it.”

Take a listen to the podcast on Spotify.

What do you think? Do you like non-rockers making rock albums? Will rock be cool again or is Gene Simmons right when he says that rock is dead? Share your thoughts with us.

-- Doug O’Brien

Cox Media Group