Daltrey: "Cowell Has Belittled The Power Of Music!"

Roger Daltrey is the latest performer to take aim at Simon Cowell over his talent show The X Factor - branding the hit show a "slump" the music industry must recover from.


The Who frontman rant follows Sir Elton John's recent outburst, in which he branded the talent show "a**e-paralysingly brain crippling". Madness star Suggs, Suede's Brett Anderson and New Order rocker Bernard Sumner have also recently lined up to blast Cowell.

Daltrey claims Cowell has "belittled" music by manufacturing pop stars on his series - and he's convinced rock icons The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and his own band would never have passed the audition stage of the contest.

Speaking to daily rag The Sun, he says:

"We really need to break away from The X Factor and American Idol - that Simon Cowell thing. I really think the music industry will beat this slump and come back stronger.

"Groups like The Who, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles wouldn't have made it past the audition stage, let alone be shown on TV. That's the joke of it.

"The music they make on the shows is absolute tripe. He's made a good industry out of it, but it's belittled the power of music. He wouldn't know what the 'X Factor' was if it bit him on the b**locks."


From a viewer's perspective I can see the draw of the X Factor, and I  belie people do want to see an everyday person break into an industry that initially appeared to be only for an elite bunch.

Singers and stars can slate it til the cows come home, but for something that pulls in millions of viewers every week, something must be right with it.