Years After The Beatles Broke Up, Lou Reed Shared His Very Honest (And Critical) Thoughts

Very rarely has a professional and famous musician said anything bad about The Beatles. However, some have, and several of those musicians include Trent Reznor, Michael Stipe, Quincy Jones, and most notably, Lou Reed. Now, The Beatles and Lou Reed quite literally have nothing in common musically. However, you’d think Reed would have a refined enough palette to at least appreciate the artistic majesty behind The Beatles’ work and career. However, he didn’t, and he transparently divulged that fact in a 1987 interview.

Lou Reed was never one to mince his words and censor himself for the sake of being polite and socially digestible. This is unarguably an admirable trait, but when it comes to his take on The Beatles, people seemingly start to scratch their foreheads in confusion. You don’t have to like The Beatles’ music, but you at least have to respect what they did. Well, in theory you do, but Lou Reed seemingly didn’t agree with that as he raked The Beatles over the coals with some quite critical comments.

Lou Reed’s Brutal and Blunt Comments About the Beatles

Years after The Beatles’ break-up, Lou Reed completely unloaded his true thoughts on the band. Prior to his 1987 interview with journalist Joe Smith, Reed was actually complimentary about the group. However, something drastically changed when Reed was asked about the Fab-Four years later.

“From my point of view, the other stuff couldn’t come up to our ankles, not up to my kneecap, not up to my ankles, the level we were on, compared to everyone else,” Reed told Smith.

“I mean they were just painfully stupid and pretentious, and when they did try to get, in quotes, ‘arty,’ it was worse than stupid rock ‘n’ roll,” added Reed, per the Library of Congress.

Reed’s remarks didn’t stop there, as he continued to make his point by articulating the career trajectory of John Lennon.

“I don’t think Lennon did anything until he went solo,” Reed said. “But then too, he was like trying to play catch-up. He was getting involved in choruses and everything. I don’t want to come off as being snide, because I’m not being snide, what I’m doing is giving you a really frank answer, I have no respect for those people at all. I don’t listen to it at all, it’s absolute sh—.”

Lou Reed is, of course, one of the best to ever do it, so his opinion is completely warranted. However, to the majority of music listeners, this is an incredibly hot take. Do you agree with Lou Reed? Or do you believe these claims are completely ludicrous and unfair? Regardless, the man said what he said, and you’ve got to respect him for being honest.

Photo by Adam itchie/Redferns