The Rolling Stones rocker branded heavy metal bands Metallica and Black Sabbath ''jokes'' and quipped that rap music only appeals to ''tone-deaf people''.

Speaking to the New York Daily News, he said: ''Millions are in love with Metallica and Black Sabbath. I just thought they were great jokes.

''And rap - so many words, so little said. What rap did that was impressive was to show there are so many tone-deaf people out there.

''All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it and they're happy. There's an enormous market for people who can't tell one note from another.''

Keith also hit out at Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, expanding on comments he made in his autobiography 'Life' where he called him a ''snob''.

He said: ''I'll reinforce that. His daughter, Georgia Mae, was sitting around in my room and she said, 'oh, you know what dad's like. He's such a snob.' He can come off that way even to me and the rest of the band. He comes on the plane and doesn't say, 'Hey mate.'

''He's preoccupied with something really boring. He's a control freak. He likes to know everything that's going on. He lost himself a bit in the details.

''But he's a hell of a frontman and I still love him dearly. Your friends don't have to be perfect.''

Isn't he like 90?

Well he can go fuck himself

Rolling Stones suck

They're barely even Rock tbh.

The Rolling Stones are awesome, and way better than Metallica, but how dare he take a shot at anything Ozzy-related. this makes me sad, I dont want a feud between them/their fanbases.

The Rolling Stones havent been relevant in decades. Do people even still know they exist?

@Batman

Metallica is good too, being put under the Rolling Stones isn't a bad thing.

Yeah Metallica never made any music as great as The Rolling Stones made. And I think Metallica is great.

I can get thinking Rap is crap if you don't listen to a lot of the right stuff. I like Eminem but a lot of his old filler songs are unbearable to me.

People can like who they wish and not like who they wish, that's cool. But you can't publicly come out and say that kinda' bullshit he just did. Sabbath literally revolutionised the genre when they burst onto the scene and, although Metallica isn't to everyone's taste, they've have had some tremendous hits.

I wouldn't even put Rolling Stones in the same category as them, honestly, as I always felt they were more like pop music. The dude clearly is a mark for himself; wonder if he knows Bret Hart?

Nothing against the Rolling Stones but I am a much bigger Black Sabbath fan. They helped invent a genre of music. It's pretty ridiculous to label Metallica and Black Sabbath as jokes, with the amount of success they have had.