#GrammysSoMale: Recording Academy president asks women to step up

The 2018 Grammys have come and gone, but one thing that was odd in that star-studded event was the lack of female winners.

Alessia Cara, who won the Best New Artist, was the only woman to be presented with an award during the live show on Sunday night.

Speaking to the press backstage at Madison Square Garden, the show's producers responded to chatter about the underrepresentation of women, and in particular the absence of Lorde from the stage, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Recording Academy president Neil Portnow said, "It has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls -- who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, who want to be producers, who want to be part of the industry on the executive level -- to step up, because I think they would be welcome."

"I don't have personal experience of those kinds of brick walls that you face, but I think it's really a combination - it's us as an industry making the welcome mat very obvious, creating mentorships, creating opportunities not only for women but for all people who want to be creative and really paying it forward and creating that next generation of artists who feel like they can do anything and say anything," added Recording Academy president Neil Portnow.

As for whether it was a mistake to not give Album of the Year nominee Lorde an onstage moment, Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich noted, "I don't know if it was a mistake. These shows are a matter of choices. We have a box and it gets full. She had a great album. There's no way we can really deal with everybody."

However, Lisa Loeb, Reba McEntire, Aimee Mann, and Carrie Fisher were among the female winners during the pre-telecast ceremony.

Rihanna shared a win with Kendrick Lamar for best rap/sung performance for the song 'Loyalty'.

-ANI