{"id":1102326,"date":"2026-07-21T09:51:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T09:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1102326\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T09:51:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T09:51:25","slug":"the-iconic-singer-keith-richards-called-a-nasty-bugger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1102326\/","title":{"rendered":"The iconic singer Keith Richards called a “nasty bugger”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Keith<\/p>\n

Credit: Far Out \/ Alamy<\/p>\n

Tue 21 July 2026 9:19, UK <\/p>\n

Over the course of his incredibly long and illustrious career, Keith Richards<\/a> has rarely passed up on an opportunity to voice his opinions on other musical artists. <\/p>\n

Everybody from Black Sabbath to George Michael has come under fire from the legendary Rolling Stones guitarist, often for pretty flimsy reasons. As a key member of one of the biggest rock and roll bands of all time, Richards is afforded a status that is virtually untouchable, and he has certainly abused that position on more than one occasion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whichever way you spin it, The Rolling Stones were a truly iconic band during the 1960s. Representing the adolescent rebellion upon which rock and roll was originally built, Richards and company brought some much-needed energy to the world of old-school blues. From their initial formation in 1962, the band wasted no time in rising to the top of the rock and roll scene. Inevitably, the band\u2019s rapid success caused a certain level of arrogance within the band\u2019s line-up, as is evidenced in virtually every interview given by Richards.<\/p>\n

Richards has good reason to be arrogant, as the timeless riffs of the Stones\u2019 songwriter altered the world of rock and roll guitar indefinitely. Of course, being such a legendary musician, especially within an era like the 1960s, during which rock music dominated the cultural consciousness, Richards has been rubbing shoulders with fellow music icons for decades. Although the guitarist has managed to forge some friendships over the years, he has made a lot of enemies<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n

If The Rolling Stones represented the defiant rock world of the 1960s, then Bob Dylan encapsulated the socially conscious landscape of folk music. These worlds collided within the hippie counterculture era, which fostered an appreciation both for social realism and far-out rock and roll. Both Dylan and The Stones became synonymous with the counterculture age, and the artists crossed paths on a fairly regular basis. However, Dylan reportedly did not endear himself<\/a> to the London rockers.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\"Bob<\/a>Credit: Far Out \/ Alamy \/ Mark Seliger<\/p>\n

During a 2014 interview, Keith Richards reflected on the impact of Bob Dylan, seemingly showing an appreciation for the folk hero. \u201cHe showed you that rock \u2018n\u2019 roll didn\u2019t need to be quite so restricted by that verse-chorus-verse formula,\u201d he told NME, \u201cWe all pushed each other in those days.\u201d Seemingly, the revolutionary sounds of Dylan did not fall on deaf ears in the case of Richards.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the effects of Dylan\u2019s music on Richard were second to his abrasive personality. According to the guitarist, \u201cBob\u2019s a nasty little bugger,\u201d explaining, I remember him saying to me, \u2018I could have written \u2018Satisfaction,\u2019 Keith \u2013 but you couldn\u2019t have written \u2018Desolation Row.\u201d I said, \u2018Well, you\u2019re right there, Bob!’\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That mixture of admiration and competition was hardly unusual among musicians of their generation. The 1960s moved at such a relentless pace that artists were constantly borrowing ideas from one another while simultaneously trying to outdo their peers. Respect for a contemporary\u2019s achievements did not preclude sharp words or bruised egos behind the scenes, particularly when reputations were being forged in real time.<\/p>\n

Richards\u2019 comments also underline the different creative paths the two men pursued despite operating within the same cultural moment. Dylan expanded the possibilities of rock lyricism, while the Stones refined a swaggering, blues-driven sound built around unforgettable riffs. Rather than occupying the same lane, they represented parallel visions of what rock music could become, making comparisons between them almost inevitable.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, a Bob Dylan cover version of the Rolling Stones classic \u2018(I Can\u2019t Get No) Satisfaction\u2019 would be pretty interesting, though a Stones cover of \u2018Desolation Row\u2019 would be equally noteworthy. <\/p>\n

Reportedly, the friendly competition between The Stones and Dylan stretches all the way back to 1966, when Dylan apparently claimed that The Hawks \u2013 later renamed The Band \u2013 were the world\u2019s best rock band, taking that title from the Stones. These claims were never particularly proven, as The Band struggled to get anywhere close to the level of rock stardom that The Stones enjoyed, but it seems the comments were scathing enough to remain in Richards\u2019 mind decades later. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

ADD AS A PREFERRED SOURCE ON GOOGLE \"\"\/ <\/a> The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter<\/p>\n

All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Credit: Far Out \/ Alamy Tue 21 July 2026 9:19, UK Over the course of his incredibly long…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":682867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3936],"tags":[39538,77,269,9942,16,15],"class_list":["post-1102326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-bob-dylan","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-the-rolling-stones","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116957355543840041","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1102326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1102326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1102326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1102326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}