The legendary musician, producer, and songwriter Keith Richards is most known for playing a crucial part in the formation of the group The Rolling Stones. He is renowned for his lively personality, rebellious demeanor, and free-spirited way of living.
People are drawn to him by his magnetic presence, which is why this occurs. He is renowned for his humor, sarcasm, and ability to joke around and casually converse with people, even in difficult circumstances.
This has oftentimes resulted in trouble but he has never changed himself. Maybe because this is who he is. Despite all this, He supports social justice and human rights as well. Overall, Keith Richards is a captivating and gifted person who has had an enduring impact on the music business.
The guitarist has been particularly brutal with some of his rock contemporaries, including David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, and many more. Richards has given each of them a reprimand. And discussing that, here are some of the artists that had to deal with Keith’s harsh comments.
Elton John
Elton John is one of the most highly regarded musicians all around the world. But for Richards, that’s not the case. He has insulted John on multiple occasions and those are very harsh to digest.
While talking with Rolling Stone in 1988, Richards was asked about Elton John and he said, “Reg, give me a Rubens, and I’ll say something nice. Reg Dwight. Lovely bloke, but posing.”
It also continued as after the death of Princess Diana, Elton worked on ‘Candle In The Wind’ as a tribute and Richards had quite a thing to say. He told, “Yeah, it did jar a bit, songs for dead blondes, But he was a personal friend, after all. I’d find it difficult to ride on the back of something like that myself, but Reg is showbiz.” to EW in 1997.
Oasis
Oasis looked up to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in the initial days. To hear something bad from their influencers must be quite heart-wrenching. This time, it was not only Richards, Jagger also tagged along and called them, “Crap”. It was Richard’s statement.
About Oasis, Mick Jagger said, “You can’t dance to it, the new album’s impossible, These guys are just obnoxious. Grow up and then come back and see if you can hang.”
Prince
Prince was quite a household name in the 80s. Back in 81, the audience was harsh on him and started to damage the musician’s set. While Jagger intervened and helped Prince, Keith was not so soft. He called Prince, “An overrated midget.”
He added, “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,” Richards cruelly said shortly after the event. “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.”
Bee Gees
Some regard them as the best band in the world. Simply said, the Bee Gees‘ harmony is the foundation of their greatness. They were brothers, and there is simply no emulating or replacing that sound.
They were also very skilled in what they did. But, Keith was not that impressed with the musicians and said things about them. While talking with Rolling Stone in 1969, he told, “Well, they’re in their own little fantasy world. You only have to read what they talk about in interviews… how many suits they’ve got and that kind of crap. It’s all kid stuff, isn’t it?”
The Grateful Dead
For Richards, the band was very much overrated. He said that he never understood why there was such a great deal as the band was very “boring” in itself. He even said, “The Grateful Dead is where everybody got it wrong. Just poodling about for hours and hours. Jerry Garcia, boring shit, man. Sorry, Jerry.”
Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger is an English singer, songwriter, and actor who has been a prominent figure in the music industry for over six decades. He is best known as the founding member and lead vocalist of the Rolling Stones, one of the most successful and iconic rock bands of all time. Mick and Keith have a history full of insults.
While Keith may have done some of them just for the fun of it, Jagger has been angry with his comments. Kieth has talked about Jagger’s manhood in his autobiography, Life, and it was not a good thing. He has written,
“The idea of status quo to Anita, in those days, was verboten. Everything must change. And we’re not married, we’re free, whatever. You’re free as long as you let me know what’s going on. Anyway, she had no fun with his tiny todger. I know he’s got an enormous pair of balls, but it doesn’t quite fill the gap, does it?”
Metallica
Richards has impacted a lot of musicians in his career. Another band that he doesn’t like is Metallica. While talking with New York Daily News in 2015, he said, “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 f***** up.”
Wow, that was quite harsh. As he doesn’t even want people to classify him and his band as an influence on Metallica.
David Bowie
David Bowie, a pioneering and significant English singer, songwriter, actor, and multi-instrumentalist, spanned a variety of musical genres, including glam rock, art rock, soul, and pop. Bowie’s music was distinctive in that it frequently incorporated components from a wide range of inspirations, including jazz and classical music as well as funk, punk, and hip-hop. He persisted in dominating the music business until his passing in 2016.
However, Keith was not a fan of David Bowie. In 2008, he said that ‘Changes’ was the only song he remembers from Hunky Dory. He said, “It’s all pose. It’s all fucking posing. It’s nothing to do with music. He knows it too. I can’t think of anything else he’s done that would make my hair stand up.”
