This Is the Frustrating Reason Best Album Nominee Lorde Won't Be Performing at the Grammys
The Grammys are tonight, and both celebrities and us normals watching from our couches are gearing up for the big event. After all, awards shows are way better when your favorite artists are performing. But one artist, nominated for Album of the Year, won’t be heading up on stage to wow us—and the circumstances are pretty surprising.
Lorde is the only female up for Album of the Year (Melodrama) this year, but Variety reported on Saturday that she wasn’t offered a chance to give a solo performance up on stage. Every other nominee—who are, again, all male—was given the opportunity and will be singing on stage, according to the magazine.
According to Variety‘s source (who’s “close to the situation”), the Grammys reached out to Lorde about performing as part of a group—reportedly a tribute to Tom Petty—which she declined. She wasn’t asked to sing solo, and so she’s decided not to perform at all.
It’s not like her voice is gone or anything, as Variety points out: She did two flawless gigs on Wednesday and Friday—so no issues there. But it’s worth noting that, in a year of #MeToos, for an event that has a chronic history of ignoring women’s contributions to music to conspicuously oust her from performing isn’t a good look. Throughout Grammys past, there have been 457 male nominees and winners for Best Album—but only 90 female nominees (and from there, just 21 winners).
Lorde’s mom, Sonya Yelich, was thinking along the same lines: She posted a photo to Twitter on Friday with an excerpt from a New York Times article circled. “This says it all,” she captioned the tweet.
Lorde didn’t sing during her VMAs performance last August, either—but that was for an entirely different reason called the flu. Unfortunately this time, we won’t get treated to any of her slick dance moves either.
Related Stories:
–The Grammys Did Not Give Enough Shine to These Women This Year
–These 5 Graphics Show How Few Women Have Been Nominated in Key Categories at the Grammys Since 1959
–Why Lorde Didn’t Sing During Her 2017 VMAs Performance