Keith Richards, the guitarist for the Rolling Stones, with the most poisonous tongue in rock ‘n’ roll. Even his own bandmates have experienced the force of Richards’ intense rage; nobody is safe from taking a verbal beating from him.
It’s crucial not to overthink Richards’ intentions when he speaks. Most of the time, his jabs are spontaneous, and he doesn’t give a single thing he says a second of consideration. In order to get press coverage, there isn’t typically a deliberate outcome, and Richards is just being himself.
Richards’ wild tongue has occasionally gotten him into trouble, but it has never caused him to change his ways. The guitarist has only followed his own rules for more than 50 years, and because they have been so successful for him, he has no intention of changing them any time soon. The Rolling Stones’ future was once saved by Richards having to accept Mick Jagger’s apology, but it was an exception. Richards shows no sign of apologizing for how his victims have perceived the other insults on this list and continue to stand his own.
8 Legendary Rockers Insulted by Keith Richards
Prince
The Rolling Stones and Prince have a rocky past together. The “Purple One” was performing as the British band’s support act in Los Angeles in 1981 when the hostile crowd began to disrupt the performer’s set. Richards was less welcoming than his bandmate, but Mick Jagger personally intervened to make sure Prince finished the remainder of his commitments backing the group.
“An overrated midget, 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,” Shortly after the event, Richards stated harshly. “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,” he then added.
Richards revealed to the Los Angeles Times eight years later:
“To me, Prince is like The Monkees. I think he’s very clever at manipulating the music business and the entertainment business.”
Elton John
Richards initially disparaged Elton John in a 1988 interview with Rolling Stone. On a variety of current pop tunes, including Elton John’s “I Don’t Wanna Go On With You Like That,” the guitarist was asked for his opinions. In regards to the music, he said:
“Reg, give me a Rubens, and I’ll say something nice. Reg Dwight. Lovely bloke, but posing”.
Richards became enraged when Elton updated “Candle In The Wind” in honor of Princess Diana after her passing.
“Yeah, it did jar a bit, songs for dead blondes,” he revealed EW in 1997. “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”.
The Bee Gees
The Bee Gees were unquestionably skilled craftsmen and a little hit factory as pure pop writers. Keith Richards was not impressed with the Gibb brothers’ artistry and treated them like children despite the fact that for a while everything they touched turned to gold.
In 1969, Richards scathingly stated to Rolling Stone:
“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?”
Metallica
The Rolling Stones have unquestionably impacted an infinite number of bands. Richards is often pleased with their positive influence on other people. Metallica is one band, nevertheless, that the guitarist does not want to be associated with.
“Millions are in love with Metallica and Black Sabbath. I just thought they were great jokes,” he revealed this in 2015 to the New York Daily News. Angrily continuing, Richards said: “I don’t know where Metallica’s inspiration comes from, but if it’s from me, then I fucked up.”
Oasis
Jagger, who was also venomous, linked up with Richards for this verbal onslaught. The two were in a documentary that was never shown. Oasis was referred to as “trash” by Richards, while Mick Jagger added: “You can’t dance to it, the new album’s impossible,” relating to the music of Oasis. Richards pushed the boot in even further and uttered: “These guys are just obnoxious. Grow up and then come back and see if you can hang.”
David Bowie
David Bowie is one of the very few musicians in music history who has never faced criticism. Although Keith Richards’ artwork may be seen objectively and without bias, his letter was lost in the mail.
Richards asserted that “Changes” was the only Hunky Dory song he could recall in an interview from 2008. “It’s all pose. It’s all fucking posing. It’s nothing to do with music. He knows it too.” The Rolling Stone adds inhumanely: “I can’t think of anything else he’s done that would make my hair stand up.”
Mick Jagger
In his bizarre book Life, he made the decision to make fun of Jagger’s genitalia size.
“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,” Richards wrote. “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?”
Richards made an unusually sincere apology in a 2012 documentary honoring the group’s 50th anniversary:
“[Mick] and I have had conversations over the last year of a kind we have not had for an extremely long time, and that has been incredibly important to me.”
The Grateful Dead
You have to have the courage to criticize The Grateful Dead because they are more than just a musician; they are a family. Richards, on the other hand, thought the group’s music was “boring” and never grasped why there was such a fuss over them. The last adjective that would spring to mind when describing The Grateful Dead is “boring,” yet Richards is an experienced dissident who believes differently from the majority.