Pete Townshend, the guitarist and co-founder of The Who, talked about songwriting in a recent interview with the What It Takes podcast. He described himself as a “song dreamer” and praised famous songwriters from the past, like Gershwin, as well as modern artists like Taylor Swift. Townshend admires Swift’s love for her work, saying that even if he doesn’t always like her music, he enjoys seeing her have fun, but Gene Simmons did give his honest opinion on Taylor Swift.
“I’m a song dreamer in a sense,” he told the podcast. “So I love the great songwriters of my father’s era, Gershwin and so on. And also the great songwriters of today, past The Beatles and all the rest of them to Taylor Swift.”
Townshend went on to praise Swift, saying: “I love what she does, too. Not that she’s necessarily absolutely always to my taste, but I just love the fact that she seems to love it, that she seems to be having so much fun. That’s what I identify with.”
This isn’t the first time Townshend has supported Swift. In a 2019 interview with Rolling Stone, he discussed her struggles with owning her master recordings after they were sold without her knowledge. He found her situation sad and advised her not to let it bother her too much.
In news about The Who, Townshend mentioned that he and Roger Daltrey hope to work together again, as they are the last surviving members of the original band. Townshend hinted that they might make new music or do live shows, saying he’s confident in his songwriting skills. However, he acknowledged that Daltrey might not want to create new songs.
Daltrey has recently said he needs to be realistic about the future, suggesting he may be close to retiring.
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift has been making headlines for endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign and for a viral moment when she sang “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” with her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, helping the song reach number one.
