Where Have All The Rock 'n' Roll Stars Gone?
Rock 'n' roll will never die, but occasionally it does go into hibernation. The return of Oasis has many harking back to the band's heyday. It's also highlighted a dearth of rock 'n' roll stars
A couple of years ago, I stepped away from Twitter (now called ‘X’). After Elon Musk’s purchase of the social media platform, I felt my time online was better spent elsewhere. The right-wing gutter infestation was to come, yet it was clear that glitches were not being fixed, and the platform was not going to improve any time soon.
Sometimes you only need a glimpse to remind you what you’re missing out on. Many have remained on X. That includes celebrities who see it as a vital way to communicate directly with us common folk. Celebrities like Liam Gallagher.
In the furore of Oasis’ reunion ticket sales, many fans decided to ‘tweet’ the band’s lead singer to comment on their traumatic experience. Of course, the youngest Gallagher brother is not going to reply to each one, though he has a penchant of picking his moment. One response was typically brief, direct, and to the point; ‘SHUTUP'.
In an age where pop stars would fail to say boo to a goose, the response stood out. There’s a distinct lack of edge to music these days, when most acts are worried about perception and metrics. How I miss rock ‘n’ roll stars like Liam Gallagher.
Where To Find Other Rock ‘n’ Roll Stars
Liam Gallagher stands out simply because there are so few musicians willing to speak out and cause a ruckus. Of course, the response was well-publicised by the tabloids, likely because it happens so infrequently. Fans interactions tend to be so civilised. A video of Dua Lipa at Glastonbury went viral this summer, because she merely nodded along to a cringe-inducing serenade by a ukelele player, known as ‘Liam C’. So polite, so demure, so… boring.
Can you imagine Chris Martin telling a fan to ‘SHUTUP’? No, he’d likely invite them onstage to perform with the rest of Coldplay.
Or when Paul McCartney was turned away from a Grammys after-party. Did he violently accost a bouncer? No, he got into a car and found another party.
The world’s biggest pop star, Taylor Swift, swaps friendship bracelets. Though the ‘childless cat lady’ has put her head above the parapet to endorse Kamala Harris. An openly political stance that may have major repercussions for the election.
Beyoncé is known for being so private it elicits an air of mystery. Everyone deserves a certain degree of privacy, yet there are few rock ‘n’ roll vibes to come from it.
There was a time when rock stars dominated the charts, the airwaves, and made their way into the newspapers for tales of destruction and debauchery. Those days seem long gone, as the biggest bands rarely speak out, let alone let their antics do the talking. It was a point that I wanted to ram home in the manuscript. After Britpop came the New Acoustic Movement featuring the likes of Travis, Doves, and Starsailor. Controversial, it certainly was not.
When the New Yorkshire Wave occurred, Arctic Monkeys were deemed arrogant for saying so little. The band refused interviews with the press, and failed to appear on Top of the Pops as they did not want to mime. They didn’t speak out of turn, yet that was enough to be seen as rebellious. Thankfully, Jon McClure of Reverend and The Makers remains keen to speak his mind, even appearing on Newsnight during the 2019 General Election.
The bands rumoured to support Oasis in 2025 are a good indication of how few acts can be considered rock ‘n’ roll any more. Even Liam himself thinks they’re boring. When asked if there will be support bands, he responded ‘Unfortunately yes’ before going on to rate most of them as boring. There are still some great bands out there, yet controversy has (so far) escaped the likes of Blossoms, Inhaler, and Fontaines D.C.
Perhaps we need to look beyond music to find the remaining rock ‘n’ roll stars. Manchester City striker, Erling Haaland, likely deserves inclusion. Amidst the mocking, bullying, and outright humiliation of his direct opponents, he has the talent to back it up and the Viking hair to go with it. You can easily imagine the ‘one-man wrecking ball’ on stage behind a microphone.
Rock ‘n’ roll has likely moved on, even becoming more inclusive.
BRAT Summer
Any sign of a rock ‘n’ roll renaissance came months before Oasis decided to announce their reformation. It was declared when Charli xcx released ‘Brat’ in early June. That reborn sense of chaotic rebellion, volatility, and partying amidst carefree and messy vibes. Of being blunt and honest, saying something regrettable and not truly regretting it at all. While rock ‘n’ roll seemed to once be a male-exclusive domain, BRAT summer was declared by women, and they truly owned it.
Thankfully, Charli xcx is not alone when it comes to women who are revelling in their blunt, brat honesty. US Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, is considered ‘brat’, she’s even rebranded her X profile accordingly. Charli xcx isn’t even the only pop star, you can add Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, who have clearly revelled during Summer 2024 to huge fanfare.
The lifestyle choice that’s been adopted by Gen Z and millennials is pretty close to a definition of rock ‘n’ roll. That would stack up considering how a lot of music is cyclical. Tastes move on and sometimes they revert back. During Oasis’ heyday in the 1990s, British pop culture also featured the ‘ladette’, a reclamation of sex positivity promoted alongside heavy drinking. You just need to look a little harder to find today’s rock ‘n’ roll stars.