Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood is not a fan of reality singing competition shows like American Idol and The Voice — but not for the reasons you might think.

As he explained in comments published by NME, Wood's negative feelings about the genre have nothing to do with the usual complaints regarding the slick pop and pre-packaged groups it tends to produce; instead, he takes issue with the massive amounts of pressure they place on the performers — many of them young and relatively inexperienced — who put themselves in position to be judged by celebrity panels, studio audiences and the viewers at home.

"Apart from being nervous and playing in front of a panel, they play in front of millions and millions of people. It's bad for their ego if they don't make it, or if they make a mistake, I mean, it's magnified so much more," he pointed out. "I'm amazed more people don't commit suicide, do you know what I mean?"

As the NME report notes, Wood isn't a stranger to televised singing competitions, having performed with One Direction during an appearance on X Factor, but he hasn't forgotten how he felt when he was starting out and trying to make a name for himself. Saying he sometimes looks at his early career as "one long audition" to join the Stones, he contrasted those years against the make-or-break experience faced by TV contestants.

"The thought of being in the Stones is what gave me the drive to carry on," mused Wood. "It was the atmosphere that lured me as much as the music, the raggedness, the glory, the image – it looked like a good job."

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