Taylor Swift SAVAGED as ‘apotheosis of mediocrity’ by rock legend who says she ‘ruined music’

Avant-garde rock icon Todd Rundgren has torn into Taylor Swift, denouncing her as the ‘apotheosis of mediocrity’ and accusing her of having ‘ruined music.’

As an artist, Rundgren’s hit songs include I Saw the Light from 1972, Can We Still Be Friends from 1978 and Bang the Drum All Day from 1983.

His career as a producer saw him play a pivotal role in the creation of the New York Dolls’ self-titled debut album, as well as Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf.

In a new interview, Rundgren, 78, praised Lady Gaga as a ‘real musician’ and a ‘classically trained piano player,’ placing her in contradistinction to Swift.

‘Swift doesn’t do anything particularly great except grow hair. She’s not a great singer. She’s not a great songwriter. She’s not a great dancer,’ he said.

‘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,’ the We Gotta Get You a Woman singer observed to Vulture.

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Swift and Rundgren for comment. 

‘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 the era of the female artists,’ said Rundgren.

‘The biggest artists in the world are female artists at this point, and that’s because of video games,’ argued the prog rock impresario, who also composed the score to the 1994 comedy Dumb and Dumber starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels.

‘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?”‘

According to Rundgren, industry executives then ‘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?” So you got Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, P!nk, and many artists of that ilk.’

His remarks ran shortly before Swift earned three MTV Video Music Awards, achieving the record for the most trophies of any artist in history with 33 total over the course of her career.

Until this past Sunday, Swift, 36, was tied with Beyonce, 45, who has now been left trailing in the second place spot with 30 VMAs to her name.

Among the prizes Swift earned at the weekend was video of the year for The Fate of Ophelia, the lead single from her 2025 album The Life of a Showgirl.

In her acceptance speech, Swift dedicated her award to the recently deceased Dolly Parton, whom she hailed as the ‘ultimate showgirl.’

Swift, who has directed 18 of her own music videos, was also presented with the inaugural Artist Director Award by her friend Dakota Johnson.

When she received that prize, she concluded her acceptance speech by introducing the debut of her steamy new clip for her single Patient Zero, which stars her alongside Johnson, Colin Farrell and Cara Delevingne.

Patient Zero is one of the four songs Swift released last Thursday as part of a deluxe edition of her latest album called The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore.

Although critics were left sharply polarized, the new tracks earned Swift the most single-day Spotify streams of any female artist this year, via Variety. 

The fever-pitch publicity around Swift reached a zenith with her 1,000-guest Madison Square Garden wedding to NFL star Travis Kelce on July 3.