Legendary Cream drummer Ginger Baker recently gave the genre of heavy metal a fine round of slamming, calling it a "repulsive abortion."

While in full swing, Ginger ripped fellow drumming icon John Bonham, calling late Led Zeppelin skinsman inferior to him and "not a musician."

The 75-year-old told Forbes: "These people that dress up in spandex trousers with all the extraordinary makeup - I find it incredibly repulsive, always have.

"I've seen where Cream is sort of held responsible for the birth of heavy metal. Well, I would definitely go for aborting. [Laughs] I loathe and detest heavy metal. I think it is an abortion.

"A lot of these guys come up and say, 'Man, you were my influence, the way you thrashed the drums.' They don't seem to understand I was thrashing in order to hear what I was playing. It was anger, not enjoyment - and painful. I suffered on stage because of that [high amplifier] volume crap. I didn't like it then, and like it even less now.

"That whole Rock and Roll Hall of Fame thing - at least half the people in there don't have a place in any kind of hall of fame anywhere, in my opinion."

Focusing on Bonham, Baker added, "Years ago, John said, 'There are two drummers in rock and roll, Ginger Baker and me.' There's no way John was anywhere near what I am. He wasn't a musician.

"A lot of people don't realize I studied. I can write music. I used to write big band parts in 1960, '61. I felt that if I was a drummer, I needed to learn to read drum music. I was so good at sight reading, a guy in one of the big bands told me to get two books. I studied them at the same time. One was about the rules of basic harmony, the other how to break them all. [Laughs]"