Todd Rundgren Doubles Down on Taylor Swift Criticism: ‘She Ruined Music’

Singer-songwriter Todd Rundgren once again criticized Taylor Swift’s musical abilities, claiming she had “ruined music.” Rundgren, who is best known for founding the rock groups Nazz and Utopia, publicly condemned the pop star in a recent interview with Vulture, naming Swift as the artist he would “make fun of” in a hypothetical 2026 album. “Taylor Swift, of course. There’s an argument to be made that she ruined music,” Rundgren said. “It’s an understandable phenomenon. It’s just that, to me, Taylor Swift is the apotheosis of mediocrity.” He continued: “It’s the era of the female artists. The biggest artists in the world are female artists at this point, and that’s because of video games. Back in the ’90s, boys stopped spending money on music and started spending it on video games, and that left the music market with, ‘Well, where do we go here?’ And they said, ‘Well, there’s all these young girls and they’ve got their allowances, too. Why don’t we start making music for young girls instead of Pearl Jam or something like that?’” As Rundgren went on, he cited Lady Gaga and P!nk as other “artists of that ilk.” However, he clarified that he respected Lady Gaga as an artist, noting that “she’s a real musician.” “She’s a classically trained piano player. Taylor Swift doesn’t do anything particularly great except grow hair,” he said. “She’s not a great singer. She’s not a great songwriter. She’s not a great dancer.” Though, he did call Swift “a role model for what was a very young generation of women,” adding, “and now for those women’s daughters as well, because it’s mothers and daughters going to Taylor Swift shows.” A representative for Swift did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. Rundgren’s commentary echoes similar remarks he made in 2022 on Rick Rubin’s “Broken Record” podcast. At the time, Rundgren shared that he hits “the mute button anytime I see Taylor Swift.” Despite Rundgren’s criticism, Swift is one of the most widely studied musical artists of the 21st century. In June, the pop star was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, becoming the youngest woman ever to received the honor. On Friday, she released “The Life of the Showgirl: The Encore,” which featured four new songs from Swift. Among the new tracks was “Patient Zero,” which saw its music video starring Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell released during the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards. Reviews for the new music have been mixed.