Todd Rundgren Criticizes Taylor Swift, Calling Her "the Apotheosis of Mediocrity"
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Todd Rundgren has made it clear that he is not a fan of Taylor Swift. The singer-songwriter and producer, known for "I Saw the Light," criticized her music and went further, blaming her for what he sees as a decline in the quality of popular music.
"To me, Taylor Swift is the apotheosis of mediocrity. It’s the era of the female artists," he said in a recent interview with Vulture, published Sept. 25.
Rundgren, 78, who also wrote "Hello It’s Me," discussed Swift when asked whom he would target if he ever produced another album that poked fun at an artist. In 1977, he produced Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell," which Rundgren has previously said was a jab at Bruce Springsteen's sound.
"There’s an argument to be made that she ruined music. It’s an understandable phenomenon," Rundgren said of Swift.
USA TODAY has contacted Swift's representative for comment.
Rundgren Links Women's Dominance in Music to Video Games
Rundgren also attributed the prominence of women among today's biggest artists to 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,'" he told the outlet.
He continued: "Why don’t we start making music for young girls instead of Pearl Jam or something like that?"
Swift Continues to Set Records
Swift continues to break records, and many fans refer to her as "the music industry." The deluxe edition of her 2025 album "The Life of the Show Girl," titled "Encore," set two Spotify records. The track "Patient Zero" became the most-streamed song by a female artist in a single day, and Swift recorded the most streams in a day by a female artist in 2026.
The new material drew mixed reactions, however. Pitchfork gave the deluxe edition a 4.0, down from the 5.9 awarded to the original album.
At the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 27, Swift accepted the inaugural Artist Director Honors award and became the most decorated artist in the show's history, with 33 wins. Her other milestones include being the only artist to win Album of the Year at the Grammys four times and the only artist to hold all top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 in a single week.
A couple of notes: I kept the album title as written, but it's usually styled "The Life of a Showgirl," so you may want to verify it. Also, the Billboard chart is typically called the "Hot 100," which I corrected from "Top 100."
