Fiona Apple and Shirley Manson respond in song to Grammys President’s urge for females to “step up”

Fiona Apple joined Garbage’s Shirley Manson last night in a special guest performance targeting Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow. The pair covered Lesley Gore’s 1963 hit “You Don’t Own Me” and dedicated its defiant message to Portnow following his ill-advised comments at the Grammys (which is ran by the Recording Academy). Addressing the lack of awards for females at the ceremony, he called for women to “step up” and combat the unequal balances of power inherent in the industry, despite also recognising he doesn’t have “personal experience of those kinds of brick walls that [women] face.” Apple gets a cut at Portnow by way of her t-shirt too, on which she wrote “Kneel, Portnow”. Others like Pink, Sheryl Crow and Charli XCX have called for his resignation since the Grammys interview.

The passionate performance came during Manson’s headlining set at Girlschool, a festival and initiative that celebrates artists who identify as female. Fiona Apple has not shied away from getting overtly political with her music, particularly in this past year. She condemned Donald Trump in her protest chant 'Tiny Hands', which was then used at the 2017 Women’s March, with lyrics repeating "We don't want your tiny hands / anywhere near our underpants".

Portnow has apologised for what he insists were words taken out of context.