Gene Simmons may think rock is dead, but his former touring mate Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue begs to differ.

"Gene's not the first to not have his finger on the pulse, and won't be the last," Sixx tells Legendary Rock Interviews. "Trust me, new blood is boiling in a garage near you just waiting to be the next biggest band in the world. We need them."

Sixx, who released 'Modern Vintage' with his side band Sixx: A.M. earlier this month, was reponding to an incendiary interview conducted by Simmons' son Nick for Esquire. In it, the Kiss co-founder asserts that file sharing signalled the end of music as a business.

"Rock did not die of old age. It was murdered," the elder Simmons said. "Some brilliance, somewhere, was going to be expressed and now it won't because it's that much harder to earn a living playing and writing songs. No one will pay you to do it."

Motley Crue just kicked off another leg of their Final Tour, with dates featuring opener Alice Cooper continuing through November 22 in Spokane, Washington. Sixx earlier took Simmons on for comments he made about suicide and depression, and Simmons was forced to apologize. Motley Crue mounted a world tour with Kiss in 2012.

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