Todd Rundgren has taken aim at Taylor Swift, claiming there is an argument that she has “ruined music” and describing the superstar as the “apotheosis of mediocrity”.
The veteran singer-songwriter and producer made the comments in an interview with Vulture, after being asked which contemporary artist he would target if he were making an album intended as a parody.
The question referred to Rundgren’s production of Meat Loaf’s 1977 blockbuster ‘Bat Out Of Hell’, which he has previously said he approached partly as a spoof of Bruce Springsteen.
Asked who he would choose if he were doing the same thing in 2026, Rundgren replied: “Taylor Swift, of course. There’s an argument to be made that she ruined music.”
“It’s an understandable phenomenon,” he continued. “It’s just that, to me, Taylor Swift is the apotheosis of mediocrity.”
Rundgren then offered his theory for why female artists have come to dominate mainstream pop, arguing that a shift began in the 1990s when young male consumers increasingly spent their money on video games rather than records.
“It’s the era of the female artists,” he said. “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?’”
He went on to name Swift alongside Lady Gaga and Pink, but singled out Gaga for praise as a “real musician” and a “classically trained piano player”.
Returning to Swift, Rundgren said: “Taylor 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.”
Rundgren has spent more than six decades as a musician and producer. Alongside his solo records ‘Something/Anything?’ and ‘A Wizard, A True Star’, his production credits include ‘Bat Out Of Hell’, New York Dolls’ self-titled debut and XTC’s acclaimed ‘Skylarking’.
His comments come shortly after Swift released ‘The Life Of A Showgirl: The Encore’, an expanded version of her 2025 album featuring four newly recorded tracks. Yesterday (September 25), she shared its lead single ‘Patient Zero’, alongside ‘Cleveland!’, ‘Pink Clouding’ and ‘Babylon’.
The full video for ‘Patient Zero’, which Swift directed and stars Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell, will premiere at the MTV VMAs tomorrow (September 27).
Swift’s latest album has itself received a mixed critical response. NME gave ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ three stars, praising some of its “classically Swiftian sweetness” but arguing that her strongest previous work had been more transformative.
Swift previously said she was untroubled by criticism of the record, explaining: “I have a lot of respect for people’s subjective opinions on art – I’m not the art police.”
She added: “Everybody is allowed to feel exactly how they want.”
