Phoebe Bridgers Has Perfect Reaction to Grammy Shutout

Phoebe Bridgers finally broke through with the Grammys this year thanks to her acclaimed second solo album Punisher, only to go home empty-handed. The “Kyoto” singer had the perfect response to her surprising snub from the Recording Academy on her Instagram page. The 26-year-old was nominated for Best New Artist, Best Alternative Music Album, and Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for “Kyoto.”

Bridgers shared a photo of herself in the bejeweled version of the skeleton outfit she has worn while performing songs from Punisher, as well as a picture of herself getting ready for the Grammys. In the first picture, she was not holding anything, but she sarcastically wrote in the caption, “Me holding my Grammys.” Most of her fans made references to Elton John’s quote about hitting someone if Bridgers did not win a Grammy.

“Elton John is currently finding someone to punch,” one fan wrote. “Have you checked on Elton John recently,” another wrote. Others said Bridgers was “robbed” and reminded her that she is still a winner to them. “It’s okay Phoebe, you won in my heart,” one fan wrote.

Bridgers went with a “goth-glam” look, as Vanity Fair put it, for the awards. She sported dark lipstick and platinum blonde hair that her brother, Jackson Bridgers, matched on the red carpet. “I love the skeleton [dress]—all her looks are quite goth, so it’s fun makeup-wise to play in that realm as well,” Bridgers’ hair and makeup artist, Nicole Maguire, told Vanity Fair.

Bridgers had some tough competition in all four categories she was nominated in, so it was not a complete surprise that she went 0-for-4. Megan Thee Stallion won Best New Artist, while Fiona Apple beat Bridgers in both the Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Performance categories. The Best Rock Song Grammy went to Brittany Howard’s “Stay High.”

Although Bridgers has been working in the music industry since 2014, 2020 was her breakthrough year thanks to Punisher. She also attracted plenty of attention when she smashed her guitar on Saturday Night Live on Feb. 6. Although rock stars have been doing that since the 1960s, Bridgers was surprisingly criticized for it. She has no interest in apologizing and told Variety she stands by the move.

“The fact that it made people so mad is kind of what’s punk rock about it,” Bridgers told Variety. “No thought whatsoever went into what it represented or meant: I’d never done it before, so might as well do it [on SNL], where it’s gonna be immortalized. It’s hilarious to me that people care so much, but, I mean, there’s a video of a steamroller crushing a bunch of Gibson [guitars] as a tax write-off because they weren’t selling all of their stock — let that piss you off!”