The Black Keys Pick on Nickelback: 'Rock and Roll is Dying'

The Black Keys have a bone to pick with Nickelback. Sort of.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, drummer Patrick Carney held nothing back when he gave his two cents on the current state of rock and roll.

Rock and roll is dying because people became OK with Nickelback being the biggest band in the world . . . so they became OK with the idea that the biggest rock band in the world is always going to be sh-t - therefore you should never try to be the biggest rock band in the world. F-k that! he told the magazine.

Rock and roll is the music I feel the most passionately about, and I don't like to see it f-king ruined and spoon-fed down our throats in this watered-down, post-grunge crap, horrendous sh-t, he added.

The Black Keys, made up of Carney and lead singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach, are about to embark on a world tour in support of their seventh studio album, El Camino.

Since its Dec. 6 release, the album has sold more than 200,000 copies, debuting on number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart -- the highest position the band has ever achieved on the chart.

Lonely Boy, the first single off El Camino, received overwhelmingly positive reviews from music critics when it was released in October. Rolling Stone even awarded the track four out of five stars.

The band's recent comments on Nickelback (who also released their seventh studio album in late 2011), are not out of character.

The Black Keys have not been shy about their views on topics like rock and roll, mainstream music and the art of selling out. Their sixth studio album, Brothers, produced a handful of hits, including Tighten Up and Howlin' for You, as the band was featured in major movie soundtracks, TV shows and TV commercials.

It's like, we put a song on a sitcom and we catch crap for it, but Drake puts his face on Air Canada planes and everyone's like, 'It's awesome,' Carney said on the Canadian radio show Q in December.

It's the kind of thing we used to worry about . . . it is also weird because music seems to be the only art form where that's even an issue. Every other art form in the world, no one really cares. You know, every actor, every athlete is like hawking some sort of something. Watches. Perfume. Drinks, added Auerbach.

The Black Keys El Camino tour begins on Jan. 23 in Antwerp, Belgium. The band play New York City's Madison Square Garden on Mar. 12 and again on Mar. 22 (the first show sold out in 15 minutes).

The full Rolling Stone interview with The Black Keys (who are also the new issue's cover boys) will hit newsstands on Jan. 19.

Scroll down for the music video for Lonely Boy.

For the complete El Camino tour dates (first leg), click here.

Do you agree with Patrick Carney that rock & roll is dying? Share your comments below.