I haven’t written about Pink in a long time. I’m not sure this is the story I wanted to come back with. Rolling Stone Magazine decided to put out a retrospective and list their opinion on the 25 Best Performances from the Grammys. The Grammys have been televised for 49 years (they’ve been around since 1959 but were not televised until 1973). That’s a lot of performances to pass judgment on. One would think if anyone is qualified to do it, it would be a music-devoted publication such as Rolling Stone. Pink does not agree. In possibly related news, Pink did not appear anywhere on their list of the 25 Best Performances. When RS posted their list to Instagram, Pink decided to respond to the snub in the comments by calling them irrelevant and sellouts.
“Bahahahaha you guys have been irrelevant since 1990,” she wrote in the comments on an Instagram post promoting the article.
She continued in the comments, “This is the magazine that used to feature people like John Lennon and Muddy Waters. Hunter S Thompson wrote political pieces- they put Tina Turner on their cover. Then they sold out and all credibility went to s**t when ‘style over substance’ and ‘revenue over authenticity’ went into play.”
Pink criticized the magazine for their current coverage and content, including writing about reality TV stars.
“That’s when Snooki became acceptable coverage. Give me a f–king break. Do your homework. You don’t have to like me or my music or anything about me- and believe me I could give a s–t- but this is the biggest sellout in f–king history when it comes to a publication we all once trusted,” she said.
“F–k rolling stone. And I’ve felt that way for decades as so many of my favorite artists and my peers have,” she added. “This isn’t just about their horrendous opinion of ‘rating Grammy performances’. It’s decades of wasting Trees and people’s time.”
I think there are a couple of things true here. Rolling Stone is not the magazine it once was. It used to have some of the best counter cultural writing in circulation, on par with Playboy for its interviews and articles. The content today is more mainstream and, although not bad writing, pablum for the masses. And even though I am certainly not an expert in Grammy performances, I know that Pink has turned in a few memorable ones. I’m sure she deserves a spot on the list. There are others who probably should be there as well. But even though her rant has merit, placing it in the comments on a Best Of list she’s been conspicuously left off of looks like sour grapes. To be clear, it doesn’t bother me that Pink is p*ssed off. I would be too if I’d given a Cirque du Soleil performance while still singing not to even get an honorable mention. But Pink’s trying to say RS’s opinion doesn’t matter because they’re irrelevant and wasting people’s time. One might argue expending this much energy over not being recognized by them gives them relevance.
Following her comments, Pink posted the photo below of her performance at the 2016 Grammys. Like I said, many things are true here. 1) RS made a subjective list that neglected people who deserved to be on it. 2) RS is not the magazine it once was. 3) Pink has turned in great Grammy performances and deserves a spot on the list. 4) Pink absolutely cares that she was not included on the list. 5) Covering Snooki is not the reason RS is irrelevant – she’s actually kind of fun so there’s no reason to pick on her to trash RS.
Photo credit: Instagram and Avalon Red
She should have sat there and ate her food.
If you can’t make your point without dragging in someone who has nothing to do with your argument, you don’t have a point at all. Dragging Snooki in is some crass behavior AND and outdated reference to boot.
I agree. Why does she have to bash on Snooki?
Who??!!!!!!!!
Sit down. Stop it.
If you’re asking, “Who?!!!!!!” your comment is irrelevant.
That was shade.
Please Alecia, lets talk about how you used R&B music as a step stone to make your mediocre pop music. Grow up girl.
Pink is admitting both that she pays attention to Rolling Stone, a magazine that she considers irrelevant, and that the most relevant pop culture reference she can come up with is from 2010.
I like Pink’s music, but this is not the sick burn she thinks it is.
Seriously. As far as I can tell, RS is not required reading, so the only person whose time is wasted is Pink’s.
Famous people care so, so much about this stuff. You’d kind of think after winning nearly every other award possible, making millions because people love your artistic output, and generally being thought of as Cool, Pink would not be so angry about being left off one list in a magazine she supposedly does not care about.
Then again I’d probably be even worse and obsessive if I myself was famous so…
I agree, but her criticism of RS is absolutely on point. No need to bring Snooki into things, but it’s been a crap magazine for the longest time, probably about the time they switched from a bimonthly, newsprint magazine to a monthly glossy.
I haven’t bought a copy of Rolling Stone in….oh, eons now. You’re totally right, it needs to evolve with the times.
I mean, she’s been doing the whole Cirque du Soleil performance for a while now, right? Alecia, if you want to make headlines, you’re gonna have to change it up babe.
It has been said that if you go to a Pink concert and she doesn’t do an aerial wire act, did you even really go to a Pink concert? Lol.
she did it A LOT for a minute and I’m poking a bit of fun at her but honestly, if I could spin around in the air on giant curtains and twirl like a gymnastic Tinkerbell, I’d do it every chance I got too.
Pink is problematic (see the early stages of her career, for example) and vastly overestimates her talent. She can take several seats.
If Pink feels so strongly about Rolling Stone being irrelevant, then why is she so mad that she’s not on a list they created?
Her unnecessary put down of Snooki reminds me of her song “Stupid Girls,” which at the time was meant to be empowering for “not like the other girls” girls and is now a cringy, anti-feminist mess.
That song is catchy but it aged so bad, Pink always came across as resentful to me for not bejng considered the pretty, populr girl, tbh, from her feud with Xtina to Stupid Girls.
I always wondered if resentment from sexism, plus other artists annoyance, and also the cost of staging her acrobatic shows were in part of the undermining of Pink’s performances and career. Apart from the long ago rightwing banning of her ‘Dear Mr president’ phase, a few artists seemed kinda resentful at her later full-on 2000’s female showmanship (paraphrasing – ‘now we have to do THAT as well as sing’) and there always seemed something grudging about any appreciation of Pink, like she was just another pop-punk version of Britney that didn’t go under conservatorship.
Didn’t see anyone resenting her for “full on” performances at a time Beyonce and Lady Gaga were making that exact form of performance the standard. She wasn’t the first to give a high-powered performance and get nothing back? Remember when Beyonce performed Love Drought and defied gravity in that chair while heavily pregnant? She was also massively snubbed on THAT SAME NIGHT, but she kept it cool. You sit down, eat your food and go home. You don’t start screaming about how you deserve more or people who don’t see you are “evil” or “sellouts”. You just seem like you care too much about your image.
True, up to a point! I’m not completely all in about Pink being too 25, maybe top 30, but I think she has a point to argue hard for her performance as being up there. Especially because why I’d Dua lipa/St Vincent is so high at 25th and Taylor Swift at 4th and why Harry?!
Rob Sheffield is absolutely terrible, and makes Rolling Stone worse every time he writes an album. His obsession with Harry Styles makes me laugh because I knew the kid would be on the list. Pink has a point but man she ruined it by going off the way she did.
You’re so right, Rob is literally in Harry’s pocket lol. My friend met him on harry’s most recent tour.
RS left off one of the best Grammy performances of all time, Alanis Morrisette doing an accoustic version of You Otta Know. It was amazing.
I like you, Pink, but get over yourself.
I would be madder at Pink if that list wasn’t so horribly, laughably bad. Taylor Swift warbling off-key at number 4? The whole top-ten is kind of whack, IMO.
She does deserve to be on this list but her reaction seems pretty and tantrum-esque.
Personally, I think Shakira’s Grammy performance of Ojos Asi also deserve to be on this list.
She swearing so much. And Iam surprise that her huisband less swearibg i his instagram.
Don’t really know much about Pink’s music or performing, but attending one of her shows sounds like great fun. Appreciate her donating $500K to Temple University Hospital Emergency Fund and $500K to City of L.A. Mayor’s Emergency COVID-19 Crisis Fund after she and son tested positive for COVID.