One of the many mini-controversies of Sunday night’s Grammy Awards was the shafting of Lorde, who was the only female nominee for Album of the Year, and yet also the only of those nominees not invited to do a solo performance at the ceremony. The people who made that decision unsurprisingly whiffed the response; the show’s producer, Ken Ehrlich, shrugged, “There’s no way we can really deal with everybody,” and Recording Academy president Neil Portnow advised women who want to be part of the industry to “step up because I think they would be welcome,” prompting scores of female singers, songwriters, producers, and engineers to slap themselves in the forehead for never thinking to “step up.” Problem solved!
But Lorde herself chose to go with a positive message about the evening. In a handwritten note, published as a full-page advertisement in The New Zealand Herald, the 21-year-old singer/songwriter/producer wrote to her fans, “Last night I saw a lot of crazy & wonderful things. I just wanted to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for loving & embracing Melodrama the way you did. My nomination belongs to you. Thank you, also, for believing in female musicians. You set a beautiful precedent!”
The paper’s managing editor, Shayne Currie, shared the ad on Twitter:
Lorde will do a spring swing through America, beginning March 1 in Milwaukee, and is also set to play a handful of European festival in the summer.