Having wrapped up his final tour, ‘Adios Mofo ’23,’ in July, Ted Nugent recently appeared on ‘The Joe Pags Show.’ While comparing new and old music during the episode, he accused Taylor Swift of ruining ‘real music,’ saying:
“So, I’m afraid to say in this world that’s gone down the toilet in all aspects, I’m afraid the success of Taylor Swift, and God bless her work ethic, God bless her musical dreams, but that’s cartoon music. I mean, it doesn’t have any piss and vinegar. There’s no fire; there’s no sensuality in that. It’s all poppy nonsense as far as I’m concerned, and it’s the most popular stuff in the world, which is an indictment to the music industry and music fans.”
About some older bands, he continued:
“They’re not looking for that fire from a ZZ Top or from a Mitch Ryder And The Detroit Wheels or from a Brownsville Station or an Amboy Dukes. And I miss that. Thank God I’m still around. We still deliver the fire that The Beatles did [at clubs] in Germany.”
These comments aren’t new from Nugent, as he previously slammed Swift’s music as ‘cartoonish’ in an October episode of his ‘The Nightly Nuge’ show.
Ted Nugent’s Older Comments On Swift’s Music
The singer said he was lucky to be born in an era supporting ‘quality music’ and appreciated bands like Foo Fighters for trying to carry the torch. Still, he claimed the new artists didn’t have the same ‘fire’ as the old ones.
Giving Swift’s music as an example, Nugent shared:
“Taylor Swift. That music, to me, sounds like cartoon music. It sounds like if I bumped into a child’s cartoon show on a Saturday morning, I would probably hear the No. 1 country song, or I would hear the No. 1 pop song!”
Criticizing the pop singer’s music for not being ‘organic,’ he added:
“It’s all formulated to give a certain vocal delivery and a certain chord change and a certain tempo that they examine so closely that it’s not organic and instinctive and sexy and unleashed and genuine and believable…”
In another chat in 2021, Nugent also claimed artists like Swift made music for numbers.
