"Rock is Dead"
Everyone involved in the music industry gets to say this at one point and can name the exact moment when the patient stopped breathing. I’m not in the music industry, but I’m sure that Rock ‘n Roll is dead. The same way I’m certain that the hundreds of other “religious” attempts to destroy the moral foundations of Western Civilization from within are also dead. The line between religion and cult is the very line between truth and "all else". "All else" are the endless cults that last only until Truth overcomes them.
Rock 'n Roll was the cult of my generation. It was my everything. I worshipped it always. Here is the line of gods that occupied me entirely from ages 10 to 30. The same line of gods that guided millions of others around me.
Man must worship; it's the only thing that makes him happy. Dylan confirmed it. Religion is based on concepts of universal truth. By this logic therefore, there can be only one true religion, one correct universal truth. Then, there is "all else". "All else", by definition is not true, and therefore can only aspire to oppose and destroy what is true.
A bunch of kids born in the splendid isolation of the United States in the late 1930’s were largely untouched by the hardships of a world war. When they came of age, they did so as the most blessed generation in American history. The country had just liberated the world, ascended to the pinnacle of the global stage, and was full of hope, prosperity, and endless opportunity. And full of faith in God.
A generation like the Roman children born in the time of Augustus, aware of their fortunate place in history, who gave thanks and sacrifice throughout their lives to unseen gods, to preserve their civilization for generations longer. Into their midst came God Himself. Like the Romans - who decended from the worship of unseen gods during Augustus to the direct worship of Caligula as god - this boomer generation has chosen to worship only the gods it can see.
So, the new religion of Rock & Roll was invented. It burst out of the gate like all revolutions, converting everything in its path. By the 1960’s, it became the official religion of youth culture. In the 70’s, around the time of its 20th birthday, its initial hero - the Trojan horse Christian used to get into the public square - died from his excesses at the age of 42. By that time, the initial cult of R&R was a house divided all over the place.
Like all houses divided, it could not stand. When did it die? My two cents is that it died as a cult when its last great uniter, Cobain, shot himself in 1994. The logical conclusion of its arc. An act of rebellion no future leader could ever outdo. So, no more leaders. No more cult. No more Rock 'n Roll.