Rock legend Todd Rundgren shared some choice opinions about reigning pop star Taylor Swift in a September 2026 interview with Vulture. So, of course, that’s the only thing that anyone wants to report on. How will the notoriously loyal and volatile Swifties react? Will Swift herself respond? And isn’t it kind of convenient that these comments came on the same day that Swift announced yet another version of her latest album?
All things considered, Rundgren has enjoyed a long career of creating, producing, and touring, which he continues to do. His fanbase spans several generations now, as fans who grew up listening to him introduce his music to their kids and so on and so forth. Still, even though he has no plans to give up performing, he does hold some controversial opinions about the state of modern music.
Speaking with Vulture, Rundgren admitted that Meat Loaf’s 1977 album Bat Out Of Hell, which he produced, was a satire of Bruce Springsteen. Well, more like a joke directed right at Bruce Springsteen. When asked if there was a modern artist he would do this for in 2026, Rundgren had his answer at the ready.
“Taylor Swift, of course,” he said. “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.”
Todd Rundgren Publicly Calls Taylor Swift ‘Mediocre,’ Swifties at Defcon 1
There are many places where Todd Rundgren would find no argument with those statements. But Rundgren didn’t stop at his Swift criticisms. According to the rock icon, “It’s the era of the female artists.” Mr. Rundgren, what does that even mean, we ask? Apparently, we have video games to blame for this modern age of women in music.
“The biggest artists in the world are female artists at this point, and that’s because of video games,” said Rundgren. “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?’”
By Rundgren’s reasoning, the music industry gave birth to the Female Pop Star at that point. And we have to admit, there might be a bit of truth to that. On the surface, this sounds like an absurd comment to make. But just think about how the music industry operates for longer than five minutes, and the wave of female pop stars in the 90s starts to look a little suspicious.
“And [the music industry] 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?’” Rundgren continued.
Do These Comments Have Hidden Depth, or Are They Simply ‘Old Man Yells At Cloud’ Moments?
Of course, he had to bring another female pop star into the conversation for comparison, as people so often love to do. For Rundgren, he chose to mention Lady Gaga, noting that “She’s a classically trained piano player.”
As for Taylor Swift, he said, “She’s not a great singer, she’s not a great songwriter, she’s not a great dancer. She’s a role model for what was a very young generation of women, and now for those women’s daughters as well, because it’s mothers and daughters going to Taylor Swift shows.”
Despite the possibility that Todd Rundgren is going to get himself crucified online by rabid Swifties for his comments, there’s no denying that he might be onto something. Aren’t people constantly going on about nepo babies, industry plants, and psyops when it comes to music? Why not turn that energy toward figuring out why the music industry still has as much power as it does? Then we can talk.
Photo by Per Ole Hagen/Getty Images
The post Taylor Swift’s Pervasive Mediocrity Is Directly Linked to Video Games of the 90s, or So Says Todd Rundgren appeared first on VICE.
