Avant-garde rock veteran Todd Rundgren has sharply criticized Taylor Swift, calling her the “apotheosis of mediocrity” and claiming that she has “ruined music.”
Rundgren’s own recording career includes hits such as I Saw the Light in 1972, Can We Still Be Friends in 1978 and Bang the Drum All Day in 1983.
He also made his mark as a producer, playing a pivotal part in the creation of the New York Dolls’ self-titled debut and Meat Loaf’s blockbuster album Bat Out of Hell.
In a new interview, the 78-year-old musician praised Lady Gaga as a “real musician” and a “classically trained piano player,” contrasting her abilities with those of Swift.
“Swift doesn’t do anything particularly great except grow hair. She’s not a great singer. She’s not a great songwriter. She’s not a great dancer,” he said.
Rundgren, known for the song We Gotta Get You a Woman, acknowledged Swift’s influence as a role model for young women and their daughters.
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Swift and Rundgren for comment.
Avant-garde rock veteran Todd Rundgren has criticized Taylor Swift, calling her the “apotheosis of mediocrity” and accusing her of having “ruined music.”
Rundgren’s songs include We Gotta Get You a Woman from 1970, Can We Still Be Friends from 1978 and Bang the Drum All Day from 1983; Rundgren pictured in 2019.
“There’s an argument to be made that she ruined music. It’s an understandable phenomenon. It’s just that, to me, Taylor Swift is the apotheosis of mediocrity. It’s the era of the female artists,” Rundgren said.
He argued that women now dominate the global music landscape because of video games. Rundgren, a progressive-rock impresario, also composed the score for the 1994 comedy Dumb and Dumber, starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels.
“Back in the ’90s, boys stopped spending money on music and started spending it on video games, and that left the music market with: ‘Well, where do we go here?’”
Rundgren said music executives responded by targeting young female listeners and their allowances rather than continuing to focus on acts such as Pearl Jam. “So you got Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, P!nk, and many artists of that ilk,” he said.
His comments came shortly before Swift won three MTV Video Music Awards, taking her career total to 33 and making her the most decorated artist in the ceremony’s history.
Until this past Sunday, Swift, 36, had been tied with Beyoncé, 45, who now ranks second with 30 VMAs.
One of Swift’s weekend honors was video of the year for The Fate of Ophelia, the lead single from her 2025 album The Life of a Showgirl.
During her acceptance speech, Swift dedicated the award to the late Dolly Parton, whom she described as the “ultimate showgirl.”
In a new interview, Rundgren, 78, praised Lady Gaga as a “real musician” and a “classically trained piano player,” contrasting her with Swift; Gaga pictured in April.
Rundgren’s production credits include a pivotal role on Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell; Meat Loaf is pictured touring in support of the album in 1978.
Swift, who has directed 18 of her own music videos, also received the inaugural Artist Director Award from her friend Dakota Johnson.
When she received that prize, she concluded her acceptance speech by introducing the debut of her steamy new clip for her single Patient Zero, which stars her alongside Johnson, Colin Farrell and Cara Delevingne.
Patient Zero is one of the four songs Swift released last Thursday as part of a deluxe edition of her latest album called The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore.
Although critics were left sharply polarized, the new tracks earned Swift the most single-day Spotify streams of any female artist this year, via Variety.
The fever-pitch publicity around Swift reached a zenith with her 1,000-guest Madison Square Garden wedding to NFL star Travis Kelce on July 3.