Todd Rundgren reflects on past feud with John Lennon and reveals how they came to a truce
Todd Rundgren has opened up about his former feud with Beatles icon John Lennon.
The two began feuding publicly when Lennon’s solo career kicked off following the end of the Fab Four. At that time, Rundgren told Melody Maker, “All he really wants to do is get attention for himself, and if revolution gets him that attention, he’ll get attention through revolution.” Lennon struck back with an open letter to Rundgren with subtle critiques about his then-new group, The Nazz.
Now, when asked by a fan whether he kept the “amusing letters” from Lennon, Rundgren responded via The Guardian: “I met him at a party in the period he was drinking with Harry Nilsson and misbehaving all over Hollywood. He looked like a bundle of rags in the corner and as a Beatles fan I was disappointed that he had nothing to say”.
He continued reminiscing, “Later I was being interviewed by NME and I said something along the lines of that you can’t be a revolutionary and preach one thing if you’re behaving in another way, and that became the headline. John wrote a letter ostensibly to me but as an open letter in NME.”
He finished simply, “There was a kerfuffle. Then one day I got a call and it was John, saying: ‘I think we’re being used here, so let’s bury the hatchet.’ I said: ‘Fine’ and that was that.”
In the same article, the 1970s star revealed that he is working on a new project. He wrote, “I am working on a new record, which I’ll finish after the next touring leg, but playing live keeps me youthful. My body likes me to get out there for two and a half hours each night. It’s like an aerobic exercise, or a marathon.”
The iconic musician will next play Subscription Rooms in Stroud, as well as Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham on October 28th, and London Palladium on October 29th.
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