Adele & Rihanna “Can’t Rely On Themselves,” According To Keith Richards

Keith Richards took the typical rock vet stance in a recent interview with Time Out London when he dissed current superstars Adele and Rihanna. (To be fair, he was baited by the interviewer, but still.) The Rolling Stones guitarist was asked if he thinks it’s crazy “that huge artists today like Adele and Rihanna use so many songwriters.”

His response: “Well, they can’t rely on themselves, can they?”

Richards added that our current music era is more about fame than maybe the art. “We’re in the midst of a heavy-duty ‘showbiz’ period, even stronger than when we killed it last time.”

The thing a lot of these rock geezers forget when they lodge complaints about pop and rap artists not being self-sufficient or getting too much outside help is that, uh, they’re in a band. Keith Richards has spent the last five decades writing songs with Mick Jagger, and they would bring those songs to fruition with the rest of their band, comprising another two or three dudes, not to mention producers and engineers. Music is almost never a solo effort. He’s slagging pop singers for working with a team, when he’s done it for literally his entire career.

Meanwhile, Grimes is out here wearing 10 hats in the studio and gets no mention from Richards and his authentic “artiste” generation.