TED NUGENT Blasts JOAN JETT's Inclusion On ROLLING STONE Magazine's List Of '100 Greatest Guitarists'

January 2, 2022

Ted Nugent has blasted Rolling Stone magazine for including Joan Jett on its list of "100 Greatest Guitarists".

The 73-year-old rocker, whose recent time in the spotlight has been more for his political views than his music, railed against Jett's inclusion on the list while praising such great musicians as Angus Young (AC/DC),Eddie Van Halen (VAN HALEN),Billy Gibbons (ZZ TOP),Neal Schon (JOURNEY),Joe Bonamassa, Derek St. Holmes, Tommy Shaw (STYX) and Rickey Medlocke (LYNYRD SKYNYRD) during his December 30 YouTube livestream.

He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "So I just mentioned some killer, monster guitar players, huh? Some of the best that ever lived. But when you see the Rolling Stone magazine list of greatest guitar players, they list Joan Jett but not Tommy Shaw.

"How do you list the top 100 guitar players and not list Derek St. Holmes?" he continued. "How do you do that? You do that by lying. The same way you get Grandmaster Flash in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. You do that by lying. You have to be a liar. You have to have shit for brains and you have to be a soulless, soulless prick to put Joan Jett… [I] love Joan. Some of my greatest memories include lesbians. I love the lesbians; it's a cocktail of wonderment. [I] love Joan Jett — 'put another dime in the jukebox, baby'; great rock and roller — but as a top 100 guitar player, but you don't list Rickey Medlocke or Dave Amato [REO SPEEDWAGON]. Really? Or Dick Wagner? Dick Wagner and THE FROST from Detroit. Or Mark Farner? Mark Farner from GRAND FUNK RAILROAD. Joan Jett is on the list but not Mark Farner? Grandmaster Flash is in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame but not GRAND FUNK RAILROAD? [Laughs]

"By the way, if Grandmaster Flash is in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and Joan Jett is on the list of top 100 guitar players, then I'm Caitlyn Jenner's boy toy."

This is not the first time Nugent has been critical of Rolling Stone editor David Fricke's choices for "100 Greatest Guitarists". Three years ago, he said that he hasn't gotten the recognition that he deserves as a guitar player, explaining: "This isn't ego. I have an ego, because I have self-esteem, because I put my heart and soul into being the best that I can be. If you run a race and your chest breaks the ribbon and you've won the race, I think you can look in the camera and go, 'Man, I'm fast. Man, I ran good.' I think that should be celebrated. Excellence should always be celebrated. But remember, those people in the musical [sic] industry who make those decisions about who's best and who is in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, they hate me because I'm against dope. And I am against dope. I don't think it's good. I don't want my sons and daughters, I don't want my grandkids, I don't want my pilots, I don't want my band, I don't want my crew stoned. I don't want them comfortably numb. I don't wanna have to wake 'em up three times to get to the gig. I don't wanna have to remind 'em how the song goes. I've had this all my life. And these people in charge of deciding this, they don't like me because I'm on the board of directors with the highest votes for 25 years on the National Rifle Association. They somehow blame inanimate tools on crime."

He continued: "I know that Jimi Hendrix was a god, and Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and Joe Perry and Joe Bonamassa and Rickey Medlocke and Billy Gibbons and Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Of course they're the best. Steve Vai. Joe Satriani. Hell, Vic [Johnson] in Sammy Hagar's band is an unbelievable guitar player. Derek St. Holmes is an unbelievable guitar player. Brad Whitford… I could go on and on and on — unlimited. But to think that I don't qualify in the top one hundred of guitar players in America is just a stupid lie. Case closed."

Nugent's new studio album, "Detroit Muscle", is due on April 29 via Pavement Music. The follow-up to 2018's "The Music Made Me Do It" was recorded with Ted's current band, which includes bassist Greg Smith and drummer Jason Hartless.

Find more on Ted nugent
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).