Rock music may not be at the forefront of the public eye these days, but those ringing the death knell may want to hold off. Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has seen this kind of thing before and he feels confident that rock will return to mass prominence.

There's been a debate in the music world ever since Kiss' Gene Simmons declared "rock is finally dead" several weeks ago. However, Grohl told KROQ's Kevin & Bean Show in Los Angeles, "There's lots of rock being played and lots of rock being cared about and being made all over the world. I think popular culture works in cycles. Think about where music was just before Nirvana and Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and all those bands that blew up. We were kind of in a place where it almost seemed untouchable. There were a lot of bands that were really heavily stylized and heavily produced. It was really fun and it was fun to party to, but there are some times that you get hungry for something that’s real."

The vocalist added, "I want to see a dude sweating blood over his instrument he just smashed on the ground. Everybody has that in them sometimes, and I just think it sort of works in these cycles. For me it’s my air, it’s my food, it’s my lifestyle. It’s just what I do. My band is my family and the music we make is our voice. It’s never going to disappear. When I step out at a Foo Fighters gig, either in an arena, club or stadium full of people singing ‘Everlong’ or ‘My Hero’ or ‘Pretender,’ rock and roll is alive and well in my house. I’m sorry that some people might feel starved for it.”

Grohl went on to state that part of the idea of the band's 'Sonic Highway' series and album was to renew interest in music in general. He'd like to inspire others, much like he was inspired as a youth to pick up and instrument and play. He adds, “I’m not a kid anymore. Rock ‘n’ roll is a young man’s game. Basically at this point my mission in life is to get those instruments into those kids’ hands. Watch the episode about Buddy Guy. Watch the episode about Steve Albini, or Chuck D, or Dolly Parton, or Seattle and like, put an instrument in your hand and start playing. Because then it’s only a matter of time."

Foo Fighters' 'Sonic Highways' series airs at 11PM ET Friday nights on HBO, and this week's episode focuses on the Washington, D.C. music scene. Last week's episode, the series premiere, was focused on Chicago, where Grohl and his bandmates will be coming back to on Aug. 29 to play at Wrigley Field. Cheap Trick and Naked Raygun, who both had a presence in the first 'Sonic Highways' episode, will join Urge Overkill as openers for the performance. Ticketing details are available here.

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