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The Kinks’ Dave Davies clarifies comments on The Beatles, calling John Lennon “difficult”
Despite their rivalry, the musician did say “you’d be a fool if you didn’t like The Beatles”
The Kinks’ Dave Davies has clarified his recent comments on The Beatles.
- READ MORE: The Kinks on 60 years of sibling rivalry: “We’re just different animals”
Last month, Davies stirred up the old rivalry between the two bands, saying George Harrison was the only member he “really liked” and that “John Lennon didn’t like The Kinks, he really didn’t”.
At the time, he also said: “In fact, John Lennon didn’t really like anybody! George Harrison was the only one I really liked. He was the nicest guy. Paul McCartney wrote a few decent songs, yeah.”
Now, Davies has clarified his comments. “You’d be a fool if you didn’t like The Beatles, but I liked George so much because I could see something simmering underneath – very thoughtful,” he said in a new interview with i News.
He went on to say: “Paul said wonderful things about The Kinks… but Ray and John had a rivalry… John was difficult.”
Despite his complicated feelings towards Lennon, Davies did express his sadness over the iconic artist’s untimely death in 1980. “I still get angry because it’s such a fucking waste… but yeah… The Beatles couldn’t write Ray’s songs, and Ray couldn’t write Beatles songs.”
Davies has previously recalled Lennon being fiercely protective of The Beatles’ equipment when the two groups played together.
I like the Beatles and I do appreciate all the kind words @PaulMcCartney has said about the Kinks https://t.co/T9jaGK7jcU
— Dave Davies (@davedavieskinks) July 24, 2026
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“He wouldn’t let us touch anything,” he said. “‘Don’t you dare touch those!’ He was a paranoid guy, but funny.”
After reports of his latest comments were published, however, Davies clarified that he remained a fan of the Liverpool band.
“I like the Beatles and I do appreciate all the kind words Paul McCartney has said about the Kinks,” he wrote on X.
The rivalry between the groups dates back to the early stages of The Kinks’ career, when they appeared below The Beatles at Bournemouth’s Gaumont Cinema on August 2, 1964. The show came two days before the release of The Kinks’ breakthrough single ‘You Really Got Me’, which went on to give them their first UK Number One.
Ray Davies later recalled Lennon making a dismissive remark about The Kinks being there solely to warm up the audience, only for their performance of ‘You Really Got Me’ to receive an ecstatic response.
“We’d played with The Beatles in Bournemouth and John Lennon made a remark that we were only there to warm up for them, but we got a great reaction to ‘You Really Got Me’,” Ray told MOJO.
“It was an early validation that we had something that stood up for us, like being bullied in school and having something that was bigger than the bully. It was that sort of feeling.”
Dave’s new comments came as he and Ray opened The Kinks: Brothers, their collaborative exhibition with British portrait painter Christian Furr.
The collection reimagines a 1968 passport photobooth picture of the siblings taken in East Finchley, North London, through a series of mixed-media works on paper and canvas. The exhibition will run at Gibson Garage London until September 6.
The brothers recently said they were “getting on great” and would “never say never” to a future Kinks reunion.
“It’s miraculous, really, how we’ve become so bonded,” Dave said. “We enjoy each other’s company.”
Ray and Dave last performed together in 2015, when Ray joined his brother in London for a rendition of ‘You Really Got Me’. They later worked together on new Kinks material, with Ray revealing in 2023 that they had enough partially completed recordings for “about 20” songs.
More recently, the brothers presented a united front after Moby described the lyrics to their 1970 single ‘Lola’ as “gross and transphobic”. Dave said he was “highly insulted” by the criticism, while later revealing that Ray had responded by asking: “Who the fuck is Moby?”
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The Kinks’ Dave Davies has clarified his recent comments on The Beatles.
- READ MORE: The Kinks on 60 years of sibling rivalry: “We’re just different animals”
Last month, Davies stirred up the old rivalry between the two bands, saying George Harrison was the only member he “really liked” and that “John Lennon didn’t like The Kinks, he really didn’t”.
At the time, he also said: “In fact, John Lennon didn’t really like anybody! George Harrison was the only one I really liked. He was the nicest guy. Paul McCartney wrote a few decent songs, yeah.”
Now, Davies has clarified his comments. “You’d be a fool if you didn’t like The Beatles, but I liked George so much because I could see something simmering underneath – very thoughtful,” he said in a new interview with i News.
He went on to say: “Paul said wonderful things about The Kinks… but Ray and John had a rivalry… John was difficult.”
Despite his complicated feelings towards Lennon, Davies did express his sadness over the iconic artist’s untimely death in 1980. “I still get angry because it’s such a fucking waste… but yeah… The Beatles couldn’t write Ray’s songs, and Ray couldn’t write Beatles songs.”
Davies has previously recalled Lennon being fiercely protective of The Beatles’ equipment when the two groups played together.
I like the Beatles and I do appreciate all the kind words @PaulMcCartney has said about the Kinks https://t.co/T9jaGK7jcU
— Dave Davies (@davedavieskinks) July 24, 2026
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“He wouldn’t let us touch anything,” he said. “‘Don’t you dare touch those!’ He was a paranoid guy, but funny.”
After reports of his latest comments were published, however, Davies clarified that he remained a fan of the Liverpool band.
“I like the Beatles and I do appreciate all the kind words Paul McCartney has said about the Kinks,” he wrote on X.
The rivalry between the groups dates back to the early stages of The Kinks’ career, when they appeared below The Beatles at Bournemouth’s Gaumont Cinema on August 2, 1964. The show came two days before the release of The Kinks’ breakthrough single ‘You Really Got Me’, which went on to give them their first UK Number One.
Ray Davies later recalled Lennon making a dismissive remark about The Kinks being there solely to warm up the audience, only for their performance of ‘You Really Got Me’ to receive an ecstatic response.
“We’d played with The Beatles in Bournemouth and John Lennon made a remark that we were only there to warm up for them, but we got a great reaction to ‘You Really Got Me’,” Ray told MOJO.
“It was an early validation that we had something that stood up for us, like being bullied in school and having something that was bigger than the bully. It was that sort of feeling.”
Dave’s new comments came as he and Ray opened The Kinks: Brothers, their collaborative exhibition with British portrait painter Christian Furr.
The collection reimagines a 1968 passport photobooth picture of the siblings taken in East Finchley, North London, through a series of mixed-media works on paper and canvas. The exhibition will run at Gibson Garage London until September 6.
The brothers recently said they were “getting on great” and would “never say never” to a future Kinks reunion.
“It’s miraculous, really, how we’ve become so bonded,” Dave said. “We enjoy each other’s company.”
Ray and Dave last performed together in 2015, when Ray joined his brother in London for a rendition of ‘You Really Got Me’. They later worked together on new Kinks material, with Ray revealing in 2023 that they had enough partially completed recordings for “about 20” songs.
More recently, the brothers presented a united front after Moby described the lyrics to their 1970 single ‘Lola’ as “gross and transphobic”. Dave said he was “highly insulted” by the criticism, while later revealing that Ray had responded by asking: “Who the fuck is Moby?”
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