Midnight Oil front man Peter Garrett takes remarkable swipe at Taylor Swift: ‘She’s not setting a good example’

Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett didn’t hold back when talking about global megastar Taylor Swift on Friday.

Speaking to 107.1 SAFM’s Bec & Soda, the 70-year-old criticized everything from Swift’s use of her private jet to how much she charges per ticket for her shows and how she’s crowding out emerging artists.

Garrett, a climate change activist, was not particularly impressed with the megastar’s use of private jets, saying he is “not setting a good example.”

“I’m sure you could sit in the front of a Qantas or Japan Airlines plane and still feel a tingle in your stomach,” he said.

Host Mark ‘Soda’ Soderstrom recalled attending a Midnight Oil concert in 1985, when tickets to the concert were only $15.90.

Garrett went on to say, “Ultimately… having been in this business forever, it’s pretty brutal.”

Tickets for the Eras Tour range from $80 for the cheapest pass to a whopping $1,250 for the “It’s Been a Long Time Coming” VIP package.

Garrett added: “I wouldn’t begrudge anyone’s success, that’s the first thing I have to say, she’s obviously striking a chord with masses of people, particularly people of a certain age group who have experienced growth at a certain time, and what she’s singing about. and talking about it rings really true to them.’

However, the Midnight Oil singer also pointed out that the superstar is making it harder for younger artists.

“It’s become such a phenomenon that it’s displacing artists left, right and center,” he said.

The rocker said he feels sorry for emerging artists, especially after Australia saw only three local artists on the ARIA Top 100 chart.

“I think at one point in the last week or two, we only had three Australian artists in that top 100,” he said.

Garrett’s rant comes as Swift will perform four shows in Sydney from Friday, February 23 to Monday, February 26 after performing three sold-out shows in Melbourne.