“It’s fatal”: the iconic band Keith Richards saw no point in listening to

Keith Richards dismissed the Sex Pistols in a 1977 interview, saying there was no point in listening to them and rejecting the idea that the Rolling Stones should imitate punk. The remarks matter because they illustrate the tension between established rock artists and punk’s rise, as well as Richards’ concern that pursuing novelty could become commercially driven rather than authentic.

Richards grouped the Sex Pistols with David Bowie and Led Zeppelin as artists he did not regard as representing music’s future or present. He said Mick Jagger viewed punk as contemporary, but argued that changing simply to appear current would be “fatal” for the Stones and likened it to older bands adopting electric instruments to follow fashion.