Moby just picked a fight with the wrong rock legends. The electronic musician branded The Kinks’ 1970 classic “Lola” as “gross and transphobic” in a Guardian interview, and the Davies brothers fired back with everything they had. What made the backlash even more brutal? A beloved transgender punk icon stepped in to defend the song Moby was trying to cancel.
What Moby Said About ‘Lola’ in The Guardian
7 In The Guardian’s “Honest Playlist” feature, Moby listed a number of songs that impacted his life under various topics. When asked to name a song he can no longer listen to, he chose “Lola” by The Kinks. 2 “It came up on a Spotify playlist, and I thought the lyrics were gross and transphobic,” he said. “I like their early music, but I was really taken aback at how unevolved the lyrics are.” 3 Moby didn’t specify exactly which lyrics bothered him in the 1970 hit. The song tells the story of a young man meeting a person named Lola at a Soho bar, with lines that playfully blur gender expectations. 3 Music historians have cited it as an early LGBT anthem.
The timing made it worse. 1Moby’s new album Future Quiet is out now. 1He plays Coachella next month and has a series of European shows lined up over the summer. To many fans, the comments felt less like honest criticism and more like publicity.
Kinks Lola transphobic controversy Moby Dave Davies response 2026
Dave Davies Fires Back on Social Media
3 Dave Davies, the 79-year-old Kinks guitarist, responded on X on March 22, 2026. 1 “Regarding Moby’s criticism of our song LOLA in a recent Guardian interview, these are the words sent to me and Ray from our dear friend trans icon Jayne County,” said Davies. “I am highly insulted that Moby would accuse my brother of being ‘unevolved’ or transphobic in any way.”
He didn’t stop there. In a follow-up post, he warned Moby directly.
9 “I don’t wanna show the guy up, but Moby should be careful what he says. The Cockettes and their friends used to follow us around on tour. We appreciated them.” 8 The Cockettes were a pioneering San Francisco LGBTQ+ theatre troupe. Davies pointed to them as proof that The Kinks always had deep ties to the queer community.
His final question was blunt: 6“Why is Moby being so rude about this simple song? We’re not transphobic. Why does he have to have a go at us?”
Ray Davies Had the Best Response of All
2 When Rolling Stone spoke to Dave Davies to hear more on the subject, he revealed that he just talked on the phone with his brother, Kinks frontman Ray Davies. “Ray said to me, ‘Who the f*** is Moby?'”
That single line became the headline across music publications worldwide.
2 Dave said he told Ray, “He’s someone who does quite well. I don’t know anything about the guy.” 2 After the chat, Davies sat down and listened to Moby’s 2000 hit “South Side” and some of his other songs. “I don’t like to criticize anybody,” Davies said. “But I didn’t particularly like his music. And I don’t like him because he’s throwing all this shit up about something that shouldn’t bother him.”
Still, Dave showed grace. 2“I do love animals. I appreciate Moby’s work for animals. But he’s misinterpreting us, really.”
Trans Icon Jayne County Defends ‘Lola’
Perhaps the most powerful pushback against Moby came from someone inside the transgender community itself.
2 Dave Davies shared a supportive, unreleased essay that the groundbreaking transgender artist Jayne County submitted for the 50th anniversary Lola Versus Powerman box set in 2020.
Here is what County, 78, wrote about the track:
1 “When I heard the song I was both thrilled and amazed that The Kinks would be singing a song about a trans person and wondered if anyone else had picked up on it!”
4 “Lola broke down the doors of narrow mindedness and I will always be grateful and happy that The Kinks gave me this incredible song with such a great story! Being Trans myself this will always be a very special song for me.”
County’s words directly contradicted Moby’s claim. The very people the song was supposedly offending were celebrating it as a barrier-breaking anthem.
2 Dave Davies also pointed out that Soft Cell frontman Marc Almond defended the song on Instagram. “Oh for God’s sake,” Almond wrote, “a brilliant, funny, affectionate, sweet and actually groundbreaking song telling a Soho story of a naive guy in the city, one of my all-time favorites. Chill out.”
The Real Story Behind ‘Lola’
To understand why Moby’s criticism fell flat, you need to know how the song was born.
5 Ray Davies later told Q magazine in 2016: “The song came out of an experience in a club in Paris. I was dancing with this beautiful blonde, then we went out into the daylight and I saw her stubble. So I drew on that but coloured it in, made it more interesting lyrically.” 19 Kinks drummer Mick Avory offered another origin story, saying a fashion publicist named Michael McGrath “used to have this place in Earl’s Court, and he used to invite me to all these drag queen acts and transsexual pubs. They were like secret clubs. And that’s where Ray got the idea for Lola.” 3 Ray himself said in a 50-year retrospective: “I did a bit of research with drag queens. I admire anyone who can get up and be what they want to be.”
Key facts about “Lola” and its legacy:
- Released in 1970 as the lead single from Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One
- 19 It reached number two in Britain and number nine in the United States
- 19 The single also topped the charts in Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa
- 26 It has appeared on the 500 greatest songs of all time lists by both Rolling Stone and NME
- 19 Some radio stations faded the track out before implications of Lola’s gender were revealed
- 23 It opened the door for artists like Lou Reed and David Bowie to explore gender fluidity in rock music
11 The Kinks had half a foot in the LGBTQ community long before “Lola.” Five years earlier, they had released “See My Friends,” a song about a young man unsure of his sexual identity. And Dave Davies himself had a bisexual affair in the 1960s, when homosexuality was still illegal in the UK. In modern terms, the Kinks would have probably been thought of as “allies.”
The irony here is hard to miss. A song written out of admiration, embraced by trans icons, and celebrated for over half a century as a groundbreaking step forward for LGBTQ+ visibility was called “unevolved” by an artist promoting a new album. 10Moby has not publicly responded to the Davies brothers’ remarks. 10Social media reaction was sharply divided, with some users echoing Moby’s criticism while others defended “Lola” as a groundbreaking song. But one thing is certain. When the people a song is supposed to offend call it a gift, maybe the real problem is the person pointing fingers. Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
