Phoebe Bridgers Tells Former Grammy CEO Neil Portnow to ‘Rot in Piss’ Backstage at 2024 Awards Show
Written by Lyndsey Havens on February 5, 2024
As Music’s Biggest Night came to a close, Grammy winners boygenius came backstage to celebrate — and deliver a crucial message.
But first, the trio addressed the recent news of its hiatus. “This is funny because I guess we just didn’t tell anybody, but we told each other at the beginning of this project that it would have a finite date, like a finite amount of time devoted to it,” Phoebe Bridgers explained. “And we completed that time, and now we walk into the sunset.”
“It feels nice to have a cap on what we’ve done,” added Julien Baker. “We put the record into the world and that’s enough. You know?”
“That’s why we’ve been showing up and working so hard, is we knew that we didn’t have to sustain it,” said Lucy Dacus. “And it’s like, this was our chance. So, glad we took it.”
And as it turned out, Bridgers saw another chance backstage and didn’t hesitate to take that too.
When asked about the future of rock music and how women are dominating the space right now, she replied: “I have something to say about women. The ex-president of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, said that if women want to be nominated and win Grammys, that they should ‘step up.’ He’s also being accused of sexual violence. So to him, I’d like to say, ‘I know you’re not dead yet. But when you are, rot in piss.’”
Baker was quick to have her back, adding: “That’s pretty rock and roll.”
boygenius took home a trio of awards during the Grammy Premiere Ceremony earlier on Sunday: best rock performance and best rock song for “Not Strong Enough” and best alternative music album for the record.
