The Razor Tongue Of Keith Richards – 15 Artists He’s Slammed, From David Bowie To Oasis

David Bowie: “It’s all pose. It’s all fucking posing. It’s nothing to do with music. He knows it too.”

Prince: “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. 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.”

Elton John: “An old bitch… his writing is limited to songs about dead blondes.” Elton’s response: “It would be awful to be like Keith Richards. He’s pathetic. It’s like a monkey with arthritis, trying to go on stage and look young. I have great respect for the Stones but they would have been better if they had thrown Keith out 15 years ago.”

Bob Dylan: “Bob’s a nasty little bugger. I remember him saying to me, ‘I could have written “Satisfaction”, but you couldn’t have written “Desolation Row”‘. I said, ‘well, you’re right there, Bob.’”

Sex Pistols: “There’s more to it than saying ‘shit’ on TV or learning to spit by practicing in the mirror.” Sid Vicious’ response: “I wouldn’t piss on Keith Richards if he was on fire.”

Oasis: “These guys are just obnoxious. Grow up and then come back and see if you can hang.”

Justin Bieber: “He’s a wannabe. His music? I mean it’s a load of crap isn’t it?”

Rap music in general: “Rap: so many words, so little said. What rap did that was impressive was to show there are so many tone-deaf people out there. All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it, and they’re happy. There’s an enormous market for people who can’t tell one note from another.”

Guns N’ Roses: “I admire their guts. But too much posing. Their look; it’s like there’s one out of this band, one looks like Jimmy, one looks like Ronnie. Too much copycat, too much posing for me.”

Grateful Dead: “The Grateful Dead is where everybody got it wrong. Just poodling about for hours and hours. Jerry Garcia, boring shit, man. Sorry, Jerry.”

Metallica and Black Sabbath: “Millions are in love with Metallica and Black Sabbath. I just thought they were great jokes… I don’t know where Metallica’s inspiration comes from, but if it’s from me, then I fucked up”

Creedence Clearwater Revival: “When I first heard them, I was really knocked out, but I became bored with them very quickly. After a few times, it started to annoy me. They’re so basic and simple that maybe it’s a little too much.”

Led Zeppelin: “Jimmy [Page] is a brilliant player. But I always felt there was something a little hollow about it, you know?”

The Bee Gees: “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?”

P Diddy: “Bereft of imagination. What a piece of crap.”