Legendary lyricist Sir Tim Rice has joked that he would turn town global pop phenomenon Taylor Swift if she asked him out because ‘every time she falls out with somebody the poor bloke gets slaughtered in her next song’.

The 79-year-old, whose celebrated works include Evita, Chess and The Lion King, admitted that he gets ‘depressed’ by modern pop music.

The Oscar-winning lyricist gave a wide-ranging interview about the musicians, films and books that he loves – and the ones that he’s not so much of a fan of.

Sir Tim, who has written for musical theatre since the 1960s and is one of few to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award, is best known for his collaborations with Elton John and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.

He spoke to The Times about how early rock’n’roll by the likes of Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly used to cheer him up in his early teen years.

But he added: ‘One of the things that depresses me today about a lot of pop music is that so many of these songs seem to be pretty miserable in a very ‘me me me’ way. I was listening to Traitor by Olivia Rodrigo — she’s a great singer and there’s some great musicianship, but you think, “They sound really unhappy.”

‘And Taylor Swift: every time she falls out with somebody, the poor bloke gets slaughtered in the next song. In the unlikely event that Taylor Swift asked me out, I would say no.’

Rice said of Swift (pictured): ‘Every time she falls out with somebody, the poor bloke gets slaughtered in the next song.’

Fortunately for Sir Tim, the 34-year-old Swift is in a high-profile relationship with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce – who has confirmed he will be supporting the pop star on her Eras Tour in Europe this summer.

The couple have been all but inseparable since Swift returned to the States having completed the Australia and Asia legs of her monster Eras Tour last month and recently came back from a sun-filled vacation on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera.

Pictures showed them totally at ease and enjoying time together on the beach.

Sir Tim’s remarks come as Swift officially reached billionaire status on Tuesday. She climbed to fourteenth place on the Forbes 2024 rich list after amassing a $1.1billion fortune.

Away from Swift, Sir Tim also declared PG Wodehouse as his favourite author, revealing that the Jeeves and Wooster novels influenced him and Lloyd Webber’s work.

He said his favourite piece of music was Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony which he described as ‘typically Scandinavian and slightly chilling, but very warm on the inside.’

Sir Tim also opened up about the lyric he wished he had written which was Summertime Blues by Eddie Cochran.

The lyricist described the music as ‘a wonderful rock’n’roll song with a very clever, witty lyric about life as a pissed-off teenager’.

Sir Tim said his favourite play was Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, while one he is looking forward to seeing is James Graham’s Dear England.

The author said he was currently hooked on the Leonardo da Vinci box set by Ken burns, while his favourite TV series of all time is Frasier.

The British composer also spoke about his love for film, revealing Genevieve as his favourite.

Elsewhere, he said his favourite poem is Roger McGough’s Let Me Die a Young Man’s Death and the place he feels happiest is in Cornwall or in bed – ideally both.

If he was to have a fantasy dinner party, he would invite lyricists Jerry Leiber, who wrote hits for Elvis, Sammy Cahn, who wrote music for Frank Sinatra, Hal David, who wrote with Burt Bacharach, Oscar Hammerstein and Larry Hart, who wrote with Richard Rodgers, Alan Jay Lerner, who wrote for My Fair Lady and Gilbert so he ‘could complain about Sullivan’.

Sir Tim Rice vs Taylor Swift

Sir Tim Rice

Age: 79

Awards: Sir Tim has won 23 awards and received 58 nominations. He is one of few stars to win an Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Tony. He won Oscars for ‘A Whole New World’ from Aladdin, ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ from the Lion King and ‘You Must Love Me’ from Evita.

Marital status: Sir Tim separated from his wife, Jane McIntosh, in 1990, although the divorce was never formally finalised. He also had a eight-year romance with socialite Amanda Eliasch and a relationship with artist Nell Sully. It’s understood he has now found love with literary agent Caroline Michel.

Biggest hits: Evita, Chess, The Lion King, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar

Home: Sir Tim hails from Buckinghamshire but has lived in London for many years. He also has a house in Cornwall and an estate in Scotland.

Taylor Swift

Age: 34

Awards: Swift has won 741 awards and been nominated 1,253 times. She has won the American Music Awards 40 times, the Billboard Music Awards 39 times, and Video of the Year four times. She’s won the Brit Awards twice and has 14 Grammys.

Marital status: Swift is in a relationship with Kansas City Chief star Travis Kelce. Their high-profile romance has seen NFL TV figures skyrocket.

Biggest hits: Shake It Off, Blank Space, Love Story, I Knew You Were Trouble, Anti-Hero.

Home: Swift was born in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Her portfolio is made up of eight properties, which are worth more than $100million, according to the Wall Street Journal.

She has homes in Manhattan, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Beverly Hills to name a few.