Todd Rundgren Says Taylor Swift “Ruined Music,” “Not A Great Songwriter”

Look out! Here comes the cult-beloved rock legend Todd Rundgren, and he's got takes! Rundgren has never been shy about sharing his opinions. In 2021, for instance, Rundgren said that he wasn't attending his own Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction because it "would just be hypocritical." (He'd already called it a "scam.") If Rundgren had been in the building that night, he would've seen Taylor Swift cover and induct Carole King, but he wasn't, so he didn't. Now, Rundgren would like to talk that shit.Todd Rundgren recently did a long interview with Vulture. Writer Devon Ivie brought up Rundgren's production of the Meat Loaf classic Bat Out Of Hell: "You said at the time that you didn’t care if it succeeded or not because you just wanted to make fun of Bruce Springsteen." (This gets funnier when you consider how many E Street Band members played on that LP.) Ivie continued, "If you produced an album in 2026 to make fun of an artist, who would be your target?" Good question! Here's Rundgren's answer:Taylor Swift, of course. There’s an argument to be made that she ruined music. It’s an understandable phenomenon. It’s just that, to me, Taylor Swift is the apotheosis of mediocrity. It’s ...