Petty rockstars and their petty feuds

After 50 years, Roger Daltrey decided to take a pop at the Stones, sparking a septuagenarian slanging match. David Lister on the dishonourable history of rock gods and their bitchy comments

Sparring partners: Daltrey and Townshend (AFP via Getty)

The Who’s singer Roger Daltrey must have had some irritation with The Rolling Stones festering for more than 50 years. Decades after the era that made both bands world-famous, Daltrey has taken a pop at the Stones. In an interview, he declared: “You cannot take away the fact that Mick Jagger is still the No 1 rock ’n’ roll showman up front. But as a band, if you were outside a pub and you heard that music coming out of a pub some night, you’d think, well, that’s a mediocre pub band!”

Pub band would have been bad enough. But it’s the insertion of the word “mediocre” which shows a craftsman at work. And when the 77-year-old rocker added, “No disrespect” that too was the ultimate bitchy sign-off.

No disrespect either from Sir Paul McCartney, who also in recent weeks had his own pop at the Stones, calling them a “blues cover band” and claiming that The Beatles’ net was cast “wider than theirs”.