Keith Richards Called 1 Member of The Who ‘All Flash’
The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards has never been afraid to deliver some harsh critiques of his fellow musicians. Whether it’s The Beatles, Prince, or Elton John, Richards has created some rifts through his brutal opinions. One band with which the Stones had a rivalry was The Who, another band that emerged during the British Invasion. Keith Richards stirred the pot when he said one member of The Who is “all flash.”
Keith Richards called The Who’s Roger Daltrey
The Who rose to prominence during the 1960s British Invasion, when bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones took over rock n’ roll worldwide. While the band never had the same popularity as The Beatles or the Stones, they did have many successful albums and songs that have kept the band relevant.
The Who was formed in 1964 with lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, drummer Keith Moon, and bassist John Entwistle. In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Richards seemed to respect Townshend and Moon greatly, but he had a lesser opinion on The Who’s frontman.
“I always thought Daltrey was all flash,” Richards shared. “I love Pete Townshend, but I always thought The Who were a crazy band anyway. You would say to Moon if you were in a session with him, ‘Just give me a swing,’ and he [couldn’t] … He was an incredible drummer, but only with Pete Townshend. He could play to Pete like nobody else in the world. But if somebody threw him into a session with somebody else, it was a disaster. There’s nothing wrong with that; sometimes you’ve got that one paintbrush, and you rock it.”
“I just was never really interested in that many English rock and roll bands, actually, at all,” he continued. “I mean, I usually like guys like Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, and that was before I was even recording. But there was something [about] the Yeses and the Journeys and all them that just left me a bit cold.”
Daltrey gave the insults right back to The Rolling Stones
Keith Richards’ comments on The Who might have stemmed from a long-term bitterness between the two musicians as Daltrey also had some choice words about The Rolling Stones. In a 2021 interview with Coda Collection, the “My Generation” singer praised Mick Jagger but said the Stones as a whole are a “mediocre pub band.”
“You can not take away the fact that Mick Jagger is still the number one rock ‘n’ roll showman up front,” Daltrey said. “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! No disrespect.”
Which band has been more successful?
When comparing bands, it’s impossible to do it on quality because everyone’s opinion is subjective. However, the Stones have been the more successful band in The Rolling Stones vs. The Who. The Stones have sold over 240 million records worldwide, while The Who has sold over 100 million. Still a respectable number, but the Stones do have them beat.
On the charts, The Who has only had one top-10 hit in the U.S. and never had a No. 1 hit in the U.K. The band also didn’t have a No. 1 album in the U.S. Meanwhile, The Rolling Stones had eight No. 1 hit songs, 23 top-10 hits, and nine No. 1 albums. Even if one thinks The Who is a better band, it’s objectively clear that the Stones are the more successful band.
