The Day the Music Died

When did rock die? Has it died? If so, was it when the Beatles started bickering about money and the egos got in the way of everything else? Was it when hair metal became a viable sub-genre and disco ruled the airwaves? Did rock die in February 1959 in an airplane crash outside of little known town in Iowa?
When did rock die? Was it when the image or a single person became more important than the noise being created? Was it when the noise makers started thinking about what they were composing and started putting "art" ahead of a danceable beat? Did rock die when the sub-genres overtook the genre?
When did rock die? Was it when the splintering of the masses finally led to the end of a united force? Was it when punk came around and it stopped being about the music/noise. Did rock die when the King died on the loo in 1977?
Can anyone answer the question of rock's supposed death? Or will the critics and laymen continue to bicker over the "death" of something that hasn't really died yet. The first incarnation of rock has left, but it left a new incarnation, and another one and another one. (Much like Doctor Who, the general sound of rock can be changed over and over, but that doesn't mean it isn't rock, it just has a slightly different face and personality, it's still rock.) The sub-genres of rock collect and grow, but that doesn't mean that rock it's self has died. The music is still there, pulsating and thumping with strings and horns and techno-babble. Rock doesn't have to be corny, it can be thoughtful. All rock has to do is stretch and push limits, and when it does, it is rock.
Rock is not dead. It has merely grown.