Recording Academy president Neil Portnow at the 2018 Grammy Awards show (Getty Images)

Recording Academy president/CEO Neil Portnow, who drew criticism for saying that female artists need to “step up” to fix the gender imbalance in the music industry, will now launch a task force aimed at improving chances of “female advancement in the music community.”

In a statement issued Thursday, Portnow acknowledged his “poor choice of words” that were “not reflective of my beliefs.”

“The Recording Academy is establishing an independent task force to review every aspect of what we do as an organization and identify where we can do more to overcome the explicit barriers and unconscious biases that impede female advancement in the music community,” the statement reads. “We will also place ourselves under a microscope and tackle whatever truths are revealed.”

Also Read: Moby Calls Out Grammys Artists: 'Musicians, You Have a Voice, An Audience, And You're Wasting it'

Portnow continued, “I appreciate that the issue of gender bias needs to be addressed in our industry, and share in the urgency to attack it head on. We as an organization, and I as its leader, pledge our commitment to doing that. We will share more information about the steps we are taking in the coming weeks.”

Read the full statement below.

Also Read: Grammys Settle for 19.8 Million Viewers, Down 24 Percent From Last Year

After hearing from many friends and colleagues, I understand the hurt that my poor choice of words following last Sunday’s GRAMMY telecast has caused. I also now realize that it’s about more than just my words. Because those words, while not reflective of my beliefs, echo the real experience of too many women. I’d like to help make that right.

The Recording Academy is establishing an independent task force to review every aspect of what we do as an organization and identify where we can do more to overcome the explicit barriers and unconscious biases that impede female advancement in the music community. We will also place ourselves under a microscope and tackle whatever truths are revealed.

I appreciate that the issue of gender bias needs to be addressed in our industry, and share in the urgency to attack it head on. We as an organization, and I as its leader, pledge our commitment to doing that. We will share more information about the steps we are taking in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,
Neil Portnow
President/CEO of the Recording Academy

All 20 Grammys Musical Performances Ranked, From Kendrick to Kesha and Beyond (Photos)

The 2018 Grammys were a powerful event full of powerful performance, but it also had some extreme lows. Scroll through to see who we thought gave the best and worst performances of the evening.
Getty Images
20. Eric Church, Maren Morris and the Brothers Osborne turned what should have been an incredibly touching moment -- in which they paid tribute to those killed at concerts in England and Las Vegas -- into the joke of the evening with an excruciating rendition of Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven."
Getty Images
19. Sting and Shaggy represented a cycle that seemingly occurred over and over again throughout the Grammys: a couple of great performances would make the show feel like it was really moving, and then an incredibly boring performance would ruin the flow. Sting and Shaggy were perfect representatives of the wrong part of that cycle.
Getty Images
18. Ben Platt paid tribute to Leonard Bernstein, and it was wholly out of place.
Getty Images
17. Sam Smith's performance of "Pray" was just, like -- we don't even know. In a vacuum it was probably fine. In the context of this show it was extremely lackluster.
Getty Images
16. By the time Chris Stapleton and Emmylou Harris took the stage to play "Wild Flower" late in the show, we were simply not in the mood.
Getty Images
15. Little Big Town gave probably the least memorable performance of the evening. We're not even sure this really happened.
Getty Images
14. We have no technical complaints with Pink's performance of "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken," but it just felt like something was missing. It lacked the power we usually expect from Pink.
Getty Images
13. I'm not sure how Patti LuPone performing "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" fit into the show, but it's Patti LuPone so we'll allow it.
Getty Images
12. Elton John and Miley Cyrus performing a duet of "Tiny Dancer" represented the right kind of change of pace in between powerful anthems and energetic dance numbers: just a regular fun, unexhausting rendition of a song we all like, by artists we all like.
Getty Images
11. Jon Batiste and Gary Clark Jr, likewise, gave a breezy tribute to Chuck Berry and Fats Domino that was just an all around pleasant time.
Getty Images
10. SZA was a blast as always. Better than good, but not quite reaching the heights of those who are higher on this list. We bet she'll move up next year, though.
Getty Images
9. On the tail end of an inspiring speech from Camila Cabello about Dreamers, which concluded with her reading the poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, U2 performed "Get Out of Your Own Way" on an outdoor stage with Lady Liberty in the background. It was as impeccable as every U2 performance is, and the context Cabello provided added some meaningful heft to the whole thing.
Getty Images
8. Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi performed "Despacito" without Justin Bieber... and it was kinda better that way?
Getty Images
7. Rihanna, DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller performed "Wild Thoughts" in what was one of the more delightfully fun showcases of the evening.
Getty Images
6. Lady Gaga's performance of "Million Reasons" was the first of many heartfelt performances Sunday night, and it shouldn't be forgotten just because 73 hours of Grammy performances came after it.
Getty Images
5. Cardi B and Bruno Mars crushed the performance of their almost too-good-to-be-true New Jack Swing revival track, and at any other Grammys, it would have been the night's standout. Much respect for the dope rhymes and period-authentic, knee-destroying gymnastics.
Getty Images
4. Logic, Alessia Cara and Khalid delivered the climax of the Grammys after the In Memoriam with Logic's anti-suicide anthem "1-800-273-8255." That the performance came after the In Memoriam concluded with Chester Bennington, who committed suicide last year, inspired chills.
Getty Images
3. Childish Gambino gave a performance that was so strong it's tough for us to articulate it without sounding idiotic. It's just one of those you really needed to have seen to understand its power.
Getty Images
2. Kendrick Lamar's Grammy ceremony opener was one for the ages that even a brief, pompous appearance by Bono and the Edge couldn't mar. "Damn." didn't win Album of the year but some small consolation is that he blew away nearly everyone else who took the stage Sunday night with this performance.
Getty Images
1. What can we even say about Kesha's emotional performance of her survivor anthem "Praying"? We can't do it justice, so we'll just say this: about 30 seconds into the performance we knew that none of the other artists would be able to create a moment like this one.
Getty Images

1 of 21

This year’s Grammys featured performances that spanned the full spectrum from awful to absolutely and thoroughly mindblowing

The 2018 Grammys were a powerful event full of powerful performance, but it also had some extreme lows. Scroll through to see who we thought gave the best and worst performances of the evening.

View In Gallery

Grammy Boss Neil Portnow Launches Task Force to Focus on ‘Female Advancement’

All 20 Grammys Musical Performances Ranked, From Kendrick to Kesha and Beyond (Photos)

Bill Maher Heckles Adult Comic Book Lovers for Mourning Stan Lee’s Death

‘Making a Murderer’ Attorney Kathleen Zellner Shares New Info ‘You Didn’t See in the Show’

Here’s What You Need to Know About The Talking Zombie on ‘The Walking Dead’

Is There a New ‘SNL’ Episode Airing This Week?

Kellyanne Conway’s Husband Calls Trump Administration a ‘S—show in a Dumpster Fire’

All 20 Grammys Musical Performances Ranked, From Kendrick to Kesha and Beyond (Photos)

Related Content