News Six legendary artists that Keith Richards Disliked
While Keith Richards is a musician of many talents, one area where he falls short is his ability to keep his feelings quiet, be it music, politics or otherwise. The enigmatic Rolling Stones guitarist, perhaps the ultimate riff machine, kept himself busy with verbal sparring matches during his downtime with the Stones, sometimes even aiming barbs at his own bandmates. During those sparring matches, the musician had six artists who acted as his nemesis, the Frazier to his Ali. Although many will disagree with his unfiltered opinions, Richards remains a refreshing presence in an increasingly vanilla musical landscape.
In the modern age, the current swathe of rock stars have access to a constant outlet for their musings in the all-singing, all-dancing form of social media. It is a set of platforms which, for good or bad, provides a direct link between the audience and the artist. If Richards had access to a smartphone during the 1970s, one can only imagine the carnage he would have created.
Meanwhile, during rock and roll’s heyday, musicians like Richards only had the opportunity to vent about other bands and musicians during interviews. However, despite only having a limited number of chances to speak publically, the guitarist found ample time to air his grievances with some of rock and roll’s most legendary acts.
As the chugging rhythm and swagger of the Rolling Stones, Richards has earned his seat at the top table of the musical ladder, among the great and the good of the industry. Nevertheless, while the guitarist has always paid homage to the founding fathers of rhythm and blues – noting that he would be nothing without them – Richards has also never been shy about throwing the odd poison-tipped barb or two at his contemporaries from the music business.
The Stones man has built a fiery reputation due to his inclination to cast aspersions at rival bands and artists, friends, former touring partners, and even whole genres of music at times. The guitarist’s scathing eye can never be underestimated, and no figure is without potential crosshairs on their back.
During an interview with The Daily News, Richards once went beyond criticising an act and decided to take shots at the entire rap genre, stating: “What rap did that was impressive was to show there are so many tone-deaf people out there. All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it and they’re happy. There’s an enormous market for people who can’t tell one note from another.” He harshly concluded by stating: “Rap: so many words, so little said.”
However, Richards isn’t only attacking outside of his realm. It wasn’t as if being a rock musician helped any artist grow in esteem for Richards – beyond the Bluesman of old. The guitarist has been most ruthless about some of his rock contemporaries, including icons of the game such as David Bowie and Led Zeppelin, who have each received a dressing down from Richards.
While his comments may have led to the occasional rebuttal from the victim, most of the offended artists have covered Richards’ material at one point or another, which proves the high regard for his output.
Six musicians Disliked by Keith Richards:
David Bowie
While the talents of David Bowie stretch far beyond the personas he created, it’s hard to argue that the visual experience the ‘Starman’ provided added a lot to his mystique and subsequent legend. His costuming and visual experience are equally integral to his music as the notes on the page. By leaning into his aesthetics, Bowie created worlds for his art within, which helped him land visionary status.
However, not everybody was impressed with Bowie’s flamboyance, which didn’t sit well with Richards, who would have preferred him to focus on his songwriting. In a 2008 interview, Richards claimed ‘Changes’ was the only song from Hunky Dory that he could remember before saying of his contemporary: “It’s all pose. It’s all fucking posing. It’s nothing to do with music. He knows it, too.” Of course, Bowie knew it, and so did we; in fact, it only made his music more extraordinary.
Richards added: “I can’t think of anything else he’s done that would make my hair stand up.” It’s an assessment that many would scoff at, pointing to a career imbued with creativity throughout, but it simply wasn’t to the taste of The Rolling Stones guitarist, who couldn’t hide his feelings on the matter.
While he had issues with Bowie’s artistry, he described him as a “good friend” following his passing in 2021., while hailing him as a “true original”.
Oasis
Oasis were built on the foundations that groups like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones laid down. While the Britpop royalty had nothing but respect for the past, Richards was initially less keen on the Gallagher brothers.
After calling them “crap” and Mick Jagger claiming “you can’t dance to it, the new album’s impossible,” in regards to Oasis’ material, Richards summed up the band’s Mancunian make-up by stating: “These guys are just obnoxious. Grow up and then come back and see if you can hang.” The 1990s legends had been well and truly told.
Surely, with the amount of musical homage the band paid, The Beatles were fans, though? Nope. Paul McCartney called them “unhip”, and George Harrison had his own damning assessment when he said: “The music lacks depth and the singer Liam is a pain, the rest of the band don’t need him.”
Richards eventually met Noel Gallagher one New Year’s Eve; according to Noel, The Rolling Stones singer asked him, “Who’s the biggest c**t? Your singer or mine?’” In response, the former Oasis member replied: “And I was like, ‘Well… As your singer wrote some of the greatest lyrics of all time, I’m gonna say mine,’ and he went, ‘I thought as much’”.
Prince
Prince’s influence on music since his 1980 debut is undeniably seismic. Shortly after his mainstream arrival, he was invited to open up for The Rolling Stones. However, it may have been that incident that saw the Minnesotan musician’s name enter into Keef’s little black book of public damnation.
Richards once damningly said: “An overrated midget… Prince has to find out what it means to be a prince. That’s the trouble with conferring a title on yourself before you’ve proved it. His attitude when he opened for us… was insulting to our audience. You don’t try to knock off the headline like that when you’re playing a Stones crowd. He’s a prince who thinks he’s a king already. Good luck to him.”
Of course, Prince would hardly be affected by the words of the guitarist and would go on to become an iconic figure, even though they never patched things up on a personal level.
Elton John
With Elton John’s Rocketman and farewell tour, it felt like a new generation had become invested in the singer. Over the course of his career, John has been responsible for producing countless classic tracks, but Richards remains less than impressed.
“An old bitch… his writing is limited to songs about dead blondes,” Richards once said of the Rocketman without so much as a second thought.
Rather than accept the cutting remark, Elton responded with the same level of viciousness, stating, “It would be awful to be like Keith Richards. He’s pathetic. It’s like a monkey with arthritis trying to go on stage and look young. I have great respect for the Stones, but they would have been better if they had thrown Keith out 15 years ago.”
While it seemed like these insults would muddy their relationship permanently, John surprisingly appeared on The Rolling Stones’ 2023 album Hackney Diamonds. He might not be best friends with Richards, but his respect for The Rolling Stones supersedes any personal feud.
Led Zeppelin
Richards’ style of music may have been born from some technically gifted players, but it’s most certainly rooted in human emotion, a factor which could be a reason for his disdain of heavy metal behemoth Led Zeppelin. He’s not the only rocker who has enjoyed taking a pop at Led Zeppelin. Pete Townshend also famously had some serious venom pent up for the band. In a 1969 interview with Rolling Stone, the guitarist said, “The guy’s voice started to get on my nerves. I don’t know why; maybe he’s a little too acrobatic.”
Recently, he’s turned his crosshairs to target the iconic John Bonham, telling the same publication: “I love Jimmy Page, but as a band, no, with John Bonham thundering down the highway in an uncontrolled 18-wheeler. He had cornered the market there. Jimmy is a brilliant player. But I always felt there was something a little hollow about it, you know?”
Metallica
As well as taking on his contemporaries, Richards has been none too kind to those who cite him as an influence. Two acts in question were Metallica and Black Sabbath, with the former having once supported The Rolling Stones on tour, yet Richards doesn’t have a kind word to say about the rock juggernauts.
He was quoted as saying: “Millions are in love with Metallica and Black Sabbath. I just thought they were great jokes… I don’t know where Metallica’s inspiration comes from, but if it’s from me, then I fucked up”.
Clearly, Richards isn’t a fan of heavy metal, and although the two acts mentioned above are two of rock’s most adored acts, The Rolling Stones guitarist will never understand the appeal.
