Andy Rooney: 'I Don't Know Who Lady Gaga Is' (VIDEO)

Andy Rooney waxed on Lady Gaga and the country's other pop music stars Sunday night on "60 Minutes," saying that the rise of singers he's never heard of has driven home to him that he's out of the American mainstream.

"I consider myself to be an absolutely dead-center, normal average American," Rooney said. "The things I write and read on television are for regular, normal, average everyday Americans....My question then is this: if I'm so average America, how come I've never heard of most of the musical groups that millions of other Americans apparently are listening to?"

Rooney said that he didn't recognize anyone on a list of Billboard's Top 200 performers.

"The singers I know have been replaced by performers like Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Usher — I mean, who?" Rooney said. "That must mean that I'm out of the American mainstream, and definitely not average."

"I don't know who Lady Gaga is, and kids today probably don't know who Ella Fitzgerald is," he added. "Maybe we should call it even."

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Comments

[ChazAtlas]

05:14 PM on 06/02/2010

You may like Andy Rooney or not. Regardless, Lady Gaga sucks and is lame. She has no talent and is nothing but a pathetic Madonna/Britney Spears gimmick. I've seen and heard better out of part-time drag queens. Props to her for making millions off of tweens and middle-aged gay guys that want to seem "hip" with the younger crowd. She still sucks.

[Gerald Ward]

12:50 AM on 05/19/2010

I haven't much watched 60 Minutes since the hack job they did on Audi years ago but when I do watch it I'm reminded of the other reason i don't watch it, Andy Rooney. There must be something else on.

[Sandmanj]

02:30 PM on 05/18/2010

Don't worry, Andy - I'd rather listen to Ella Fitzgerald too. In addition to having a real name, she could actually sing.

[coblstone]

04:10 AM on 05/15/2010

never heard of lady gaga ? probably cuz you were absolute dead center 50 years ago.
seriously in this century andy rooney is only AWAKE for 60 Minutes a day!

[ElBruce]

05:12 PM on 05/13/2010

Good God.

They should call his segment "be polite while grampa rants and you can have ice cream on the way home."

[bussumheads]

11:57 AM on 05/13/2010

The only reason I know who Andy Rooney is, is because when I was growing up, we were required to watch 60 Minutes.

But I would pose a question to him then... You may not know these mainstream pop artists. But whos to say that ANYONE listensing to these artist knows who YOU are Mr Rooney.

Mr Rooney, you are out of touch, and no longer relevant in the new media. In fact when I watch 60 Minutes now, I turn it off when it gets to his segment. Cause I know what I'll hear... "Blah, blah, blah... I'm old and the world has changed and I don't like it."

[mcbaby2]

08:05 AM on 05/13/2010

Obviously he has heard of these people if the names are spewing out of his mouth!!!! He needs to hang it up.

[LizFree]

12:47 AM on 05/13/2010

I love that he's self proclaimed: "absolutely dead-center, normal average American." I mean how does one come to that conclusion? Just because he's married with kids and a house?

Ok and can I just ask this question which is a bit tangential but I'm curious ... if there was a 70 year old woman who was Andy's physical female equivalent would she have a show? This man is not easy on the eyes and while that shouldn't be a barrier for having a show, I doubt a hideous woman could remain on the air this long. I'm not suggesting taking Andy off the air but I am advocating the visual presence of women who are smart and witty without having to also be attractive... like Andy.

[coblstone]

04:12 AM on 05/15/2010

barbara walters

[bynddrvn5]

09:46 PM on 05/12/2010

Lucky bastard!

Lady Gaga is a no talent hack, who likes to wear fetish clothes on stage. She recycles songs from the Violent Femmes, Ace of Base, and Blondie, remixes them a bit and pisses it out as an original work of art. Seriously, are Lady Gaga fans all tone deaf, or do her songs sound familiar?! Listen to Ace of Base "Don't Turn Around" then listen to Lady Gaga's "Alejandro."

Even her odd look is not original, she stole it from a popular Irish dancer - Roisin Murphy.

[WebCommoner]

12:54 AM on 05/13/2010

Everybody borrows (or steals) from someone else ...

http://www.cracked.com/article_18500_the-5-most-famous-musicians-who-are-thieving-bastards.html

[mcbaby2]

08:04 AM on 05/13/2010

You are wrong

[darkwingduck]

09:27 PM on 05/12/2010

Anytime I see Andy Rooney, it's a reminder to me of everything I don't want to be when I'm old: bad-tempered, outdated, boring, and dreaded by young people whenever I open my mouth.

[jagrmeister721]

02:04 AM on 05/13/2010

Well said. Also delusional - as evinced by his claim of being an ordinary American and then going on to show how he's completely out of touch.

[Donna Berry]

02:43 PM on 06/21/2010

After thinking about your comment,dwd, I am looking forward to being that person. Who cares what other people think?--

[WebCommoner]

08:26 PM on 05/12/2010

Mr. Rooney, could it be that you're an average American who is simply out of touch? I'm 33 years old. I listen to Ella Fitzgerald AND Lady Gaga, and shame on you for assuming that I don't. Unlike yours, my music library spans a slew of decades and different genres. Apparently, your standards are limited to whatever you thought sounded good on the radio when you were a teenager. Somewhere along the way, likely due to personal prejudices, you stopped viewing music as art. This is despite the fact that you were likely surrounded by an infinite amount of talent the entire time. The truth of the matter is that good music is good music, no matter where or when it comes from, whether it's Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, The Beatles, Eric Clapton, The Clash, Nirvana, Mos Def, or Beyonce.

[stdeclan]

08:50 PM on 05/12/2010

Wow that's a lot of assumptions on your part. How did you know that Andy had stopped viewing music as art? You are soo insightful to recognize his personal prejudices.
Golly, your music library spans decades? Really! Decades! That's like - awesome! Some peoples collections and interests span like, um, hundreds of years.
I was amazed by the number of genres (2) you cite as being in your music library. And I know some folks, probably like that ninny Rooney, who listen to music that isn't performed only by English speaking musicians. But maybe you don't get that stuff on your radio.
Andy was speaking of his limitations. In your own, snarky way, so were you.

[WebCommoner]

12:50 AM on 05/13/2010

Wow, sounds like I rubbed the wrong Rooney fan the wrong way! It would appear that a math lesson may be in order. Let's all count together ...

Jazz + Rock + Rap + R&B = 4 Genres

Trust that there are plenty more where those came from. Of course, that's all besides the point here, which is that Rooney's piece is in direct reference to American pop music, not Beethoven's 5th or some sort of new wave African folk music. Andy's acknowledgement of his own personal limitations lost credibility the moment he implied that "kids" today wouldn't know a pop icon like Ella Fitzgerald. Even if it's true, it's much easier for a grown man to say that "kids" wouldn't know a jazz age pop singer (of course they wouldn't, because they're kids!) than it would be for him to publicly acknowledge that, somewhere along the way, he simply got lazy and stopped paying attention. Why throw young people under the bus for your own faults?

[SteveS]

06:36 PM on 05/12/2010

Andy, don't tick off the younger generation or there will be no fruit cup with dinner.

[mikeodd]

04:56 PM on 05/12/2010

Being out of touch is nothing to brag about. Why not listen to a few new artists Mr. Rooney? I'm sure you can afford to purchase a little music. If you find yourself unable to relate to them, their subject matter or anything else, then do a show about that. It would at least have a point. Meanwhile your cavalier ignorance insults both the elderly and young.

[scarletxoxoxo]

02:31 PM on 05/12/2010

That is sexy! Let's do it:)

[cardtosser]

02:00 PM on 05/12/2010

You are truly old when you have no curiosity. When you realize that you don't know something, it really isn't very hard to find out.

[chubby06]

02:09 PM on 05/12/2010

I agree that you should stay curious. It takes nothing to check out popular new acts and nothing to realize w/in 10 seconds that (usually) it's garbage. I'll keep looking though.

[stdeclan]

09:02 PM on 05/12/2010

Today, for the most part it is a business. It's the music industry. As in most industries the bottom line is quantity, not quality.
Pop(ular) music is not the be-all and end-all of musical culture-far from it. If you are truly musically curious then it should serve as a starting point only.