12/06/2025
John’s Most Iconic Moments
The Furious Letter He Wrote to Todd Rundgren (1974)
Few artists could provoke John Lennon the way Todd Rundgren did in 1974.
At the time, Rundgren had just released his ambitious experimental album Todd and sat down for an interview to discuss it. Instead, he diverted into an unsolicited critique of John — and didn’t hold back.
Rundgren said:
“John Lennon ain’t no revolutionary. He’s a fu***ng idiot, man. Shouting about revolution and acting like an ass. It just makes people feel uncomfortable.”
“All he really wants to do is get attention for himself, and if revolution gets him that attention, he’ll get attention through revolution.”
For a man already bruised by the U.S. government’s ongoing deportation battle, a strained marriage, and a chaotic “Lost Weekend,” Rundgren’s comments hit hard and personal.
John replied directly, in a handwritten letter dripping with sarcasm, hurt, wit, and psychological poking — classic Lennon.
He began by challenging Rundgren’s premise:
“I don’t represent anyone but my SELF.”
Then, pointing out the emotional heat behind Rundgren’s comments, John jabbed:
“It sounds like I represented something to you, or you wouldn’t be so violent towards me. (Your dad perhaps?)”
That line has become one of the most quoted zingers in any Lennon letter.
John then pivoted to Rundgren’s critique of the Beatles:
“Which gets me to the Beatles, ‘who had no other style than being the Beatles’!!
That covers a lot of style, man — including your own, TO DATE.”
And finally, in a coda that mixed mock tenderness with biting irony, he signed off:
“Anyway, however much you hurt me, darling; I’ll always love you.”
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The letter captures John at his most human:
• defensive yet sharp
• wounded but witty
• self-aware while throwing psychological haymakers
• deeply expressive in ways few rock stars ever allowed themselves to be
The letter also reveals his loyalty to the Beatles at a time when he was publicly trying to distance himself from the band. Rundgren hadn’t just insulted John — he’d insulted the Beatles as an artistic entity, and that was something John responded to with both pride and precision.
It stands today as one of the most memorable documents of Lennon’s post-Beatles voice.
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Do you think John was justified in firing back — or should he have ignored Rundgren’s comments? Tell us below.
