3 Wildly Awkward Musician Interviews From Rock History’s Past

Awkward musician interviews still happen today, but there’s something about old-school artists saying wild things to reporters that just sticks in one’s mind. The following three awkward interviews with a few famous artists are still talked about today for a reason, after all.

1. John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) in 1980

It was clear from the get-go that this interview with John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten of Sex Pistols) was going to be a mess. Lydon appeared on The Tomorrow Show with host Tom Snyder, and he looked relatively annoyed at the whole thing and possibly hungover. When asked about the nature of the band’s name, Lydon gave quick, sarcastic answers.

“We ain’t no band, we’re a company,” said Lydon. “Simple. Nothing to do with rock ‘n’ roll. Doo dah.”

Keith Levene tried to at least keep the thing together by giving slightly more detailed answers. But by the end of the whole thing, everyone involved seemed to be annoyed, including the host.

2. Keith Richards in 2015

This was far from the only time Keith Richards has talked smack about The Beatles. See the video above for just one example. Just as well, his 2015 interview with Esquire was far from his only awkward interview through the years.

He started the interview with what appeared to be good spirits, joking with the interviewer about smoking, their then-current Stones tour, and some of Richards’ contemporaries. Then, when The Beatles got brought up, things got awkward.

“If you’re the Beatles in the 60s, you just get carried away, you forget what it is you wanted to do,” said Richards. “You’re starting to do ‘Sgt. Pepper’. Some people think it’s a genius album, but I think it’s a mishmash of rubbish, kind of like ‘Satanic Majesties’. ‘Oh, if you can make a load of sh*t, so can we.’”

The interviewer, likely trying to do damage control, immediately pivots to talking about Richard’s solo album, Crosseyed Heart.

3. John Lennon in 1966

Ah, the most famous of all awkward musician interviews of the 20th century. There’s a reason people still talk about this debacle today.

For those who may have forgotten, The Beatles were once interviewed in 1966 by Evening Standard. John Lennon famously remarked that the Fab Four were bigger than Jesus Christ.

“We’re more popular than Jesus now,” he said. “I don’t know which will go first, rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.”

The comment made international news and angered a lot of fundamentalist Christians in the United States. The band was bullied relentlessly when they toured in the US shortly after, which more or less led to their decision to quit touring that year.

Photo by Harry Benson/Express/Getty Images

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