During Wacken Open Air, we got the opportunity to interview the legendary Mick Arnold and Ronnie Simmons of Rose Tattoo about the festival, women in metal, and more.

Benedetta

I’m here with the legendary Rose Tattoo. How are you doing, guys?

Rose Tattoo

Good, thank you.

Benedetta

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with me. So, how does it feel to play at the legendary Wacken Opera on its 35th anniversary?

Rose Tattoo

It feels good. It’s an honour.

Benedetta

And for a legendary band such as yourselves, I guess that it’s even more special to be here. Also because, I’m a new fan of yours, so I can’t wait to see you all on stage.

Rose Tattoo

It’s been great to be a part of the whole thing, you know. 50 years of Rose Tattoo as well. 1976 to 2026 and here we are.

Benedetta

Yeah, definitely. So, since you have such an incredible experience, both with live shows and music recordings, do you think that the life of an artist is lonely?

Rose Tattoo

In a good way. I’d say high highs and low lows. It’s all part of it.

Benedetta

Do you think that in 2026 will we ever get some sort of equality between men and women in metal?

Rose Tattoo

I think it’s easier for women to get a foot in. Yeah, look at bands like Thundermother. They were great. They’re really making waves. They’re a great band. They can rock just as hard as the boys. You know what I mean? Look at all the guitarists that are out there. What’s her name? Oh, Nita Strauss. Yeah, she’s a great guitarist. They can outplay most men. There’s no real issue there.

Benedetta

I know, but isn’t it a bit unfair that, for example, this year at Wacken it’s just all male male bands headlining, like Judas Priest, Def Leppard and so on?

Rose Tattoo

That’s a bit unfair, I think. It’ll come. It’ll turn, yeah. The way I see it is it doesn’t matter what you have between your legs. It’s if you rock or not. I don’t see it as gender. It’s just a matter of just being good, rock hard, play from the heart. Yeah, in the pop side of things, the women dominate. Look at Taylor Swift, Beyonce. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Benedetta

So, this AI thing that is going on at the moment, do you think that it will affect the music in such a way that we won’t recognise what is human and what is artificial?

Rose Tattoo

It’ll get lost. But there’s no true emotion. They can emulate it closely, but to nail it 100%, you know, at the moment, I don’t think so. But there’s issues there, you know. You can use it as a tool to help you, you know, say write a song or whatever, but, you know, to rely on it 100%, I don’t think that’s good.

Benedetta

Guys, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with me. Do you have anything else to add to our readers?

Rose Tattoo

Long live rock’n’roll!