Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider lashed out at Hard Rock Cafe for their promotion of rap and pop artists, jumping into a Twitter conversation the Cafe had with one of its followers.
The fan wrote:
“Hard Rock Cafe, as your name speaks for you, can ya stop to put rap and Shakira in your video playlist? Otherwise, you should start to reconsider your Brand name, I believe.”
The company replied:
“Our walls tell our story – we honor today’s artists because we know they are tomorrow’s legends. We truly believe ‘rock and roll’ is an attitude, and today’s rock stars come from all genres. Music brings us together. That’s what we stand for, it’s what we’ve always stood for. [Devil horns emoji]”
Dee chimed in:
“Who is this idiot? Some millennial spouting ‘what we’ve always stood for’ when they weren’t even a consideration to their grandparents at the time of the Hard Rocks inception. Good job promoting the company line though. The ‘metal horns’ at the end were a nice touch. ‘You rock.'”
Hard Rock Cafe replied:
“Millennials everywhere [heartbroken] right now by Dee Snider.”
The person running the company’s Twitter account also replied from his personal account:
“Dee Snider, much respect to you and your career. I work for Hard Rock and do everything I can do to keep the Metal alive when I’m at work. [Devil horns] (p.s. you can fact check me through my Twitter feed. I’m not a millennial).”
Dee also wrote:
“That has always bugged the hell out of me. The Hard Rock Cafe made its name on the backs of Cream, Hendrix, the Who (original hard rock bands) and now… look at them.”
The company replied to the musician:
“Actually… we have always supported music of all types. Legends are not held to a genre, so why should we be? Our walls have memorabilia from rock stars like Hendrix, the Who… but also Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Snoop. The music in our cafes matches the variety on our walls!”
Snider replied:
“I like that you’ve chimed in. But that’s not how it started out. First guitar on the wall in London @EricClaptons from the hard rock band… CREAM! I do believe Pete Townsend from the hard rock band The Who was next, not to be outdone by Eric! (but I could be wrong on that fact).”
After one fan replied to Dee with, “Interesting move to discredit millennials just because we weren’t there for the ‘inception’ of rock. I also think it’s a bit closed-minded to disregard other genres. Run DMC, Public Enemy, Jay Z... All have worked with rock acts because they enjoy it as well. Just a thought,” the company replied:
“Couldn’t agree more. This close-minded thinking isn’t what we’re about. Our cafes were founded on the idea that all were welcome. So we try to keep that spirit alive. That’s the spirit of rock and roll, it’s about being different and celebrating what’s different.”
The company also added:
“Rock is a genre [100%]. But rock and roll is a spirit, and we’re just trying to keep it alive by celebrating musicians from the past that have paved the way for musicians today. We still love rock and celebrate rock. But we’re lovers of music. Is that so bad?”
5 comments
Is this an article from like 20 years ago? There aren’t any Hard Rock Cafes left are there?
There is a hard rock cafe in almost every big city in the world…..
Hell yea Dee Snider for kicking this main stream bs in the balls and calling it like it is. There’s a word that comes to mind…..posers! There is no cross genre bs to be had if your a true rocker or metal head. Yea sure you might listen to something else but if you side with that then you’ve chosen your path. I speak from the heart of a musician and a proud metal head. You don’t even have to be a good musician to make the top of the charts these days. Main stream can suck it!
Dee is being honest and calling this poser out. It’s called the Hard Rock Cafe because it made its money on Hard Rock & Metal.
Definitely 100% for Dee on this.