Bono performing on stage with U2 in Auckland. Photo / File
Bono performing on stage with U2 in Auckland. Photo / File
Festival line-ups, record sales, pop charts and the entire, heaving machine of the music industry may continue to be dominated by men but music, according to U2 frontman Bono, has become "very girly".
The 57-year-old told Rolling Stone magazine that he fears for the state of rock'n'roll due to the lack of space young men have to vent their feelings.
"I think music has gotten very girly," Bono told Rolling Stone.
"And there are some good things about that, but hip-hop is the only place for young male anger at the moment – and that's not good."
If Bono (real name, Paul Hewson, although he recently told the BBC that everyone, including his wife, calls him Bono) specified what he meant by "girly", it wasn't printed in Rolling Stone.
Perhaps he was referring to Praying, the critically acclaimed comeback single from Kesha, which takes aim at the male music industry figures who damaged her career and creativity for years on end.
US recording artist Kesha. Photo / Supplied
Maybe Bono was thinking of Lemonade or Seat At The Table, chart-topping albums by sisters Beyoncé and Solange Knowles, respectively, which eloquently rage at America's treatment of black women.
Beyonce in a clip from video for her album Lemonade. Photo / File
Bono lamented that the absence of "place for young male anger", which does not, apparently, include the lion's share of festival headline slots, will result in the death of rock music.
He continued: "When I was 16, I had a lot of anger in me. You need to find a place for it and for guitars, whether it is with a drum machine – I don't care. The moment something becomes preserved, it is f------ over. You might as well put it in formaldehyde.
"In the end, what is rock & roll? Rage is at the heart of it. Some great rock & roll tends to have that, which is why the Who were such a great band. Or Pearl Jam."
Bono also said that he uses his three children as a means of discovering new music.
"Jordan is a music snob, an indie snob. Eve is hip-hop. Elijah is in a band, and he has got very strong feelings about music, but he doesn't make any distinction between, let's say, the Who and the Killers. Or, you know, Nirvana and Royal Blood. It is not generational for him."
Elijah Hewson, Bono says, "believes that a rock & roll revolution is around the corner", possibly because he, like many 18-year-olds, believes he is "going to start it".
This will, it is hoped, offer a place for "young male anger" beyond the limited boundaries of hip-hop.
Bono also mentioned a near-death experience, or "extinction event", to the magazine, saying that "it was physical for me," but did not specify the details.
