Todd Rundgren claims that Taylor Swift “ruined music” and calls her the “apotheosis of mediocrity”

Todd Rundgren has taken aim at Taylor Swift, claiming there is an argument that she has “ruined music” and describing the superstar as the “apotheosis of mediocrity”.

• READ MORE: Taylor Swift – ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ review: magical when the songwriter just lets herself be.

The veteran singer-songwriter and producer made the comments in an interview with Vulture, after being asked which contemporary artist he would target if he were making an album intended as a parody.

The question referred to Rundgren’s production of Meat Loaf’s 1977 blockbuster ‘Bat Out Of Hell’, which he has previously said he approached partly as a spoof of Bruce Springsteen.

Quando lhe perguntaram quem ele escolheria se estivesse fazendo a mesma coisa em 2026, Rundgren respondeu: “Taylor Swift, é claro. Há um argumento a ser feito de que ela arruinou a música.”.

Rundgren then offered his theory for why female artists have come to dominate mainstream pop, arguing that a shift began in the 1990s when young male consumers increasingly spent their money on video games rather than records.

Ele continuou nomeando Swift ao lado de Lady Gaga e Pink, mas destacou Gaga por elogios como “real musician” e “classically trained piano player”.

Returning to Swift, Rundgren said: “Taylor Swift doesn’t do anything particularly great except grow hair. She’s not a great singer. She’s not a great songwriter.

Rundgren has spent more than six decades as a musician and producer. Alongside his solo records ‘Something/Anything?’ and ‘A Wizard, A True Star’, his production credits include ‘Bat Out Of Hell’, New York Dolls’ self-titled debut and XTC’s acclaimed ‘Skylarking’.

His comments come shortly after Swift released ‘The Life Of A Showgirl: The Encore’, an expanded version of her 2025 album featuring four newly recorded tracks.

Yesterday (September 25), she shared its lead single ‘Patient Zero’, alongside ‘Cleveland!’, ‘Pink Clouding’ and ‘Babylon’.

O vídeo completo de “Patient Zero”, que Swift dirigiu e que conta com Dakota Johnson e Colin Farrell, estreará amanhã (27 de setembro) nos MTV VMAs.

O último álbum da Swift recebeu uma resposta crítica mista. O NME deu ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ três estrelas, elogiando parte de sua “classically Swiftian sweetness” mas argumentando que seu trabalho mais forte anterior foi mais transformador.

Swift previously said she was untroubled by criticism of the record, explaining: “I have a lot of respect for people’s subjective opinions on art – I’m not the art police.”.

She added: “Everybody is allowed to feel exactly how they want.”.

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