Just like fire. Pink was quick to respond when Recording Academy president Neil Portnow said that women in music need to “step up” in the industry.
“Women in music don’t need to ‘step up’ — women have been stepping since the beginning of time,” Pink, 38, wrote in a handwritten message, in which she posted on social media on Monday, January 29. “Stepping up, and also stepping aside women OWNED music this year. They’ve been KILLING IT. And every year before this. When we celebrate and honor that talent and accomplishments of women, and how much women STEP UP every year, against all odds, we show the next generation of women and girls and boys and men what it means to be equal, and what it looks like to be fair.”
— P!nk (@Pink) January 29, 2018
Portnow’s comments came hours after the 60th annual Grammy Awards aired on Sunday night, in which only one woman won in a major category. (Alessia Cara for Best New Artist.)
“I think it has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls — who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, who want to be producers, who want to be part of the industry on the executive level — to step up,” Portnow told Variety, as #GrammysSoMale trended on Twitter.
“Because I think they would be welcome. I don’t have personal experience of those kinds of brick walls that you face, but I think it’s really a combination,” he continued. “Us as an industry making the welcome mat very obvious, creating mentorships, creating opportunities not only for women but all people who want to be creative and really paying it forward and creating that next generation of artists who feel like they can do anything, they can say anything.”
Pink, meanwhile performed during the star-studded event. Other women to take the stage included Lady Gaga and Kesha. Lorde, however, was the only female Best Album nominee who didn’t perform. (The others in the category were men.)
“These shows are always a matter of choices, and we know we have a box and the box gets full and filled up,” Grammys executive producer Ken Elrich told reporters, via Billboard. “She had a great album, album of the year is a big honor, but there’s no way we can really deal with everybody. Sometimes people get left out that shouldn’t, but on the other hand, we did the best we can to make sure that it’s a representative and balanced show.”
Lorde’s response to not having a set? “IF YOU’RE DEBATING WHETHER OR NOT I CAN MURDER A STAGE… COME SEE IT FOR URSELF,” she tweeted on Monday.
