Recording Academy head walks back comments on women in music

NEW YORK (AP) — Recording Academy President Neil Portnow says his comments after the 60th annual Grammy Awards were taken out of context after he was criticized for saying women in the music industry need to "step up."

In a statement today to The Associated Press, Portnow says he regrettably used the words "step up" and the words were taken out of context and neither convey his beliefs nor the point he was trying to make. The show ended Sunday with only two female winners onstage. Lorde, the only woman nominated for album of the year, didn't perform.

He says the music industry must recognize that female musicians "face barriers that men have never faced."