The seven singers hated by Keith Richards
Keith Richards has never been shy about his musical opinions. From his place at the very top as The Rolling Stones’ guitarist and one of the most famous players in history, he’s regularly using his post to throw verbal daggers at others. Whether it’s his peers, new artists or even his own bandmates, no singer is safe.
In particular, Richards is always more than happy to dish out his opinion when it comes to vocalists. While most commonly found behind an electric guitar, he routinely steps up to the microphone, either to deliver rousing renditions of his self-penned Stones tracks like ‘Happy’ or in his brief solo project stints. Even though he’s not the band’s frontman, that doesn’t stop him from passing critique as if he is.
His loose tongue has led to plenty of famous feuds. There was the extended bust up between the Stones and the Sex Pistols, their long-term hatred for Aerosmith and plenty more harsh words thrown at legends like Prince, The Who and beyond. There seems to be no one Richards won’t come for, as he’s even previously cut down the work of The Beatles or Bob Dylan.
But in these seven instances, his issue is with the singer. He, in particular, has a problem with the skill and talent of these vocalists or, in his mind, the lack thereof.
The singers Keith Richards hates:
David Bowie
It’s not always about disliking everything about a person, but Keith Richards never had time for David Bowie the performer. 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”.
Elton John
“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, so maybe wounds have healed after all.
Liam Gallagher
There is definitely an element to which Richards struggles to see time passing. With a few of the acts he’s critiqued, there seems to be a strain of bitterness towards the changing time as he went after punk and grunge bands in the 1980s and then, as the 1990s got underway, he took swings at Britpop. Maybe it’s all just jealousy as he saw new bands ascend to the throne as the Stones were beginning to lose their way, or perhaps it is just a matter of opinion.
Either way, the Gallagher brothers fell victim to one of his vitriol-spitting rants. “These guys are just obnoxious,” he said in 1997. “Grow up and then come back and see if you can hang,” he continued, brushing the band off as a tired nostalgia trip as he added, I don’t hear anything there. It’s all just retro to me. But there is an element of pity”. To put it plainly, he called the band “crap”.
But specifically, Richards hated Liam Gallagher, the band’s main singer. His brother, Noel, recalled a chance run-in with the Stones player who said to him, “One thing I’ve always wanted to ask you: Who is the bigger cunt, your singer or mine?” While taking a swing at his own singer, the guitarist also made his dislike for Liam known. But, as a huge fan of the Stones despite their frosty reception towards him, Noel responded, “Well, as your singer wrote some of the greatest lyrics of all time. I’m going to say mine.”
Jerry Garcia
To this day, the Grateful Dead still has a cultishly dedicated fanbase. When they broke out in the mid-1960s, they were almost instantly held up as geniuses of rock, helping to expand the genre with the experimental mindset of the decade. They were one of the biggest and most defining acts of an era absolutely packed full of pioneers, staking their claim as one of the most interesting, respected and beloved bands of the ‘60s and beyond.
But Richards wouldn’t agree. When it came to the Grateful Dead, and specifically their leader and singer Jerry Garcia, he didn’t mince his words. “The Grateful Dead is where everybody got it wrong,” he said, “Just poodling around for hours and hours.” To him, their extended, jam-like songs are nothing but dull noise. In particular, Garcia’s voice annoyed him most as he said, “Jerry Garcia, boring shit, man. Sorry, Jerry.”
Robert Plant
Nothing and no one is sacred to Keith Richards, not even Led Zeppelin. In fact, the iconic rock band were actually the target of the guitarist’s hate over and over again. “They’re thrown together and you always feel it. You can always see the join,” he once said about the group, claiming that they, along with The Who and Black Sabbath, felt forced.
But in particular, he took issue with Robert Plant’s voice, stating that that’s the thing that turned him off the band. Way back in 1969 he said, “I played their album quite a few times when I first got it, but then the guy’s voice started to get on my nerves.” Even when Led Zeppelin were right in their prime, the Stones player couldn’t get on with Plant’s singing as he added, “he’s a little too acrobatic.”
Spice Girls
If Richards didn’t like Britpop, there was no way he was going to like the pure pop of the 1990s. As rock and roll gave way to girl power, the guitarist was there to tear it down. He went right for the top as he threw his criticism at not only the biggest act of the era but one of the biggest pop acts in history: the Spice Girls.
“They’re really just a lot of tarts!” he declared, wasting no time in delivering a savage opinion. “Can they sing? No! Can they play? No!” he continued, utterly discrediting the famed pop band. As he looked around at a music scene who were all obsessed with the five stars, Richards couldn’t believe his eyes. “The world’s gone mad,” he declared.
Mick Jagger
Sometimes, when two people have been friends for so long, the relationship becomes more like siblings. And what do siblings do but bicker? Richards and Jagger certainly got catty after decades of working together, touring together and attempting to navigate growing up together as two of the most famous musicians in the world.
When it came to Jagger’s solo work especially, Richards made no attempt to disguise his hatred for it. “I think that everybody – with the possible exception of Mick himself – has learned the lesson that Mick Jagger’s really good when he’s with The Rolling Stones,” he said, “But when he ain’t, I don’t think anybody gives a fuckin’ toss. Whether he gets the message or not.”
During their most difficult years, Richards seemed to take repeated jabs at his bandmate, including at his abilities as a singer. When he compiled a list of his 20 favourite singers of all time, Jagger was nowhere to be seen as a clear and critical statement.
