Singer-songwriter Aimee Mann says she was dumped as an opening act on Steely Dan’s summer tour.
“I just found out that they took me off the bill. No one is entirely sure why, but it seems they thought their audience wouldn’t like a female singer-songwriter?,” she revealed in a hand-drawn comic on Instagram.
“As it happens, Steely Dan is the one band that I 100% love, with no reservations, so it really sucks. But you know what? People are allowed to not like you, for whatever reason.”
Mann, 62, added: “Good luck to all bands.”
Steely Dan and Steve Winwood announced the tour as a double-bill but Winwood later dropped out. Last month, Steely Dan said Snarky Puppy would be the warm-up act for the first half of the tour (May 20 to June 19) and Mann would open shows in the second half (June 21 to July 3).
On Wednesday, Mann joked in a tweet: “All is forgiven if Donald [Fagen] just tells me what Brooklyn is about” – referring to the 1972 Steely Dan track “Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)."
Fagen, in a statement to Rolling Stone said “the idea that I would make any decision based on the gender of a performer is ridiculous. That’s something that would never even occur to me.” He explained: “Although I have the greatest respect for Aimee as a writer and performer, I thought it might not be the best matchup in terms of musical style. … I apologize for any distress this has caused Aimee and her fans.”
This article has been updated since it was first published.