BREAKING NEWS :’I Do Like to Complain, and I Will Complain’: Ritchie Blackmore Speaks Up on Popular Music Today, Calls It ‘Bloody Awful’…
Guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore, never one to shy away from sharing his unfiltered opinions, has once again stirred the pot—this time with a fiery critique of contemporary popular music. In a recent interview, the Deep Purple and Rainbow founder didn’t mince words, branding today’s mainstream music as “bloody awful.”
“I do like to complain, and I will complain,” Blackmore began, half in jest but entirely serious. “Most of what I hear on the radio today—it’s all the same formula. Bland, overproduced, no soul. It’s not music; it’s marketing.”
Blackmore, who helped pioneer hard rock and heavy metal in the 1970s with iconic riffs like “Smoke on the Water,” lamented the lack of individuality in modern songwriting. “There’s no real musicianship. No one’s pushing the boundaries anymore. Everyone’s playing it safe, and it’s boring,” he said. “I don’t hear any of the rawness or passion that we used to strive for.”
He took particular aim at the rise of digital production and autotune. “When everything is pitch-perfect and locked to a computer grid, it stops being human. It sounds artificial—and it loses its charm,” Blackmore remarked. “There’s beauty in imperfection, and that’s what modern music seems to have forgotten.”
While the guitarist acknowledged that some artists are still doing “interesting things,” he noted they are few and far between in the mainstream spotlight. “You have to dig deep to find the good stuff. The labels push whatever will sell the fastest, not what has longevity or meaning.”
Despite his criticism, Blackmore insists his views aren’t rooted in nostalgia. “I’m not saying everything from the past was great. We had our fair share of rubbish. But we also had originality, risk, and musicians who actually played their instruments.”
At 80, Blackmore continues to perform with Blackmore’s Night, his Renaissance-inspired folk-rock band, and has no plans to conform to modern trends. “If that makes me old-fashioned, so be it. I’d rather play music I believe in than chase what’s popular.”
As always, Ritchie Blackmore remains as unapologetically outspoken as his guitar playing—sharp, passionate, and unmistakably authentic.
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When Heart took the stage in 2012 to perform “Stairway to Heaven,” they didn’t just sing a song — they shattered the internet and broke the heart of a rock legend (in the best possible way). With Ritchie Blackmore watching from the audience, Ann and Nancy Wilson delivered a cover so powerful, so emotional, that Plant, the man who wrote the song, was visibly moved to tears by the final notes. Now sitting at nearly 200 million views, this moment still hits like a wave, proving that real music, real emotion, and real connection never go out of style….
