Rock And Roll Is Dead

Kravitz (from an interview posted on his website): "A lot of people don't listen to the lyrics, really. There's a lot of my songs that deal with spirituality and deal with God, and I guess that if you're in tune with that, you'll read into it. A lot of people pretty much only listen to the chorus. So songs like 'Rock & Roll is Dead,' a lot of people didn't dig or understand. They said, 'What are you talking about, Rock & Roll is Dead?' We just made this guy the rock and roll, you know, whatever, (laughs), and now he's saying 'Rock and Roll is Dead,' but they didn't listen to the verses to know what I was saying. I was talking about the superficiality of it, the fact that image was taking precedence over music and talent and art. And it's also talking about people that feel they have to live that lifestyle that stereotypical lifestyle in order to be a rock star. It's like, hey, be yourself. You don't have to shoot heroin, and act a certain way in order to be a rock and roll musician, you know. It's about the music. I mean, we've learned from those that came before us. It's not healthy. You die."

In response to this song, Prince (at the time using a symbol in place of a name) released "Rock & Roll Is Alive (And It Lives in Minneapolis)" as a B-side to his "Gold" single.

Kravitz was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for this tune in 1996 but lost to Tom Petty for "You Don't Know How It Feels."