Phil Collen on the Future of Rock: ‘I Don’t See That Star Power’

Phil Collen had some interesting thoughts about the future of rock, and the Def Leppard guitarist might make some newer artists mad.

Collen was asked in a new interview with Listen Next! (h/t Blabbermouth) about which artist he thought would be the ones Def Leppard could "pass the baton to," and he couldn't name anyone.

"I don't know. I'm still waiting, actually," responded Collen. "You hear a lot of stuff out there, but it's few and far between."

As for his reasoning why nothing has resonated with him, Collen offered up a theory."

"There's a problem, I think, and I think it's the TikTok and YouTube crowd," he said. "When bands or artists would write before, it would be because they wanted to be an artist and wanted to express themselves and write songs and share them and go, 'Wow. Check this out', as opposed to, 'Wow. Look at me. Please love me.'"

Collen added, "I don't wanna sound like an old dude, but that's what I noticed. And I'm still waiting for someone like Prince or [Led] Zeppelin or something that has a bit more something to it. There's very little stuff."

Collen would go on to name major rock artists that have blown him away like Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, Foo Fighters and the Sex Pistols. However, newer acts just haven't moved him.

"I hear derivative stuff and stuff that's not inspired. You wanna get inspired," he said. "So, yeah, I'm still waiting. It's like in every genre of music. In hip-hop, it's the same deal. You're waiting to hear… Or R&B. You listen to the old R&B — you listen to Stevie Wonder, you listen to Marvin Gaye and stuff like that — nothing is like that anymore and that kind of soul and vibe and everything. I think we've kind of comfortably got into something else that doesn't really demand that kind of excellence. It's rare that that kind of talent comes along."

Phil Collen turns 66 today (December 8), but if you’ve ever seen Def Leppard live, you certainly wouldn’t know it. Why? He’s in better shape than most men half his age.

The guitarist rarely performs with a shirt on, and frankly, who among us wouldn’t do the same if we were equally as ripped? Of course, such a killer physique doesn't just happen. Collen puts in a lot of work to stay in shape, especially before heading out on tour. However, when touring was put on hold this year, even Collen enjoyed a little too much R&R. So, what's a rockstar to do? Start a 30-day fitness challenge on YouTube.

Back in July 2021, Collen launched his 30-day fitness challenge on Def Leppard's YouTube Channel. During the weekly videos, Collen shared his various workout routines, diet changes and his favorite workout playlists.

In honor of his birthday (or maybe to kick any New Year's Resolution off a little early), embedded below are all of the videos from the Phil Collen 30-Day Fitness Challenge. Enjoy!

In week one, fans saw Collen get his diet back on track after indulging a little too much during the pandemic. If you zoom in on his workout notes in this video, you can see where he writes to drink a gallon of water every day. Let's face it, most of us should consider doing the same, because most of us are dehydrated.

In week two, fans see Collen focus more and more on weight training and cardio in the form of squats, chin-ups and pull-ups.We also see him put together one of his quick, go-to salads, which features avocado and two chopped veggie burgers.

In week three, Collen adds heavier weights to his workouts, where he's keen to build up his chest, shoulders and arms. He also shares that he loves to start his day with some oatmeal with berries and peanut butter to help fuel the start of his day.

In week four, we see Collen do some unique circuit training that utilizes kickboxing and traditional calisthenics. He also revealed that before his 30-day fitness challenge, he gained 13 pounds in a month, due to basically eating whatever he wanted and not really exercising very much. During his challenge, Collen lost eight of those 13 pounds and reminded viewers that it's much easier to put on weight than it is to lose it.