Steely Dan's Donald Fagen Apologizes for 'Screwup' After Aimee Mann Said She Was Dropped from Tour
Mediapunch/Shutterstock; Mike Coppola/Getty Images Donald Fagen (L), Aimee Mann (R)
Steely Dan's Donald Fagen has issued an apology to Aimee Mann after she was removed from the band's upcoming tour, but squashed the singer's speculation that she was taken off the bill because she's a woman.
Mann, 61, raised eyebrows on Wednesday after she shared a comic strip to Instagram lamenting the fact that she'd been ousted as the opener for Steely Dan's upcoming summer tour.
"No one is entirely sure why, but it seems like they thought their audience wouldn't like a female singer-songwriter?" she wrote, captioning the post "Bummer." "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."
In response, Fagen, 74, denied Mann's line of thinking, and said that her gender had nothing to do with the decision.
"Well, first of all, the idea that I would make any decision based on the gender of a performer is ridiculous," he said in a statement shared with PEOPLE. "That's something that would never even occur to me."
The "Dirty Work" singer went on to admit that there was "a communication problem on our end," and said that he had been "misinformed as to how firm the commitment was to any particular opening act."
"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," he said. "But I can't pass the buck. I'll take the blame for the screwup. I apologize for any distress this has caused Aimee and her fans."
Despite her apparent disappointment, Mann seemed to take the development in stride, and joked on Twitter Wednesday night: "All is forgiven if Donald just tells me what Brooklyn is about."
Fagen is the sole official member of group following the death of his co-founder Walter Becker in 2017. Steely Dan's tour will begin in May with support from Snarky Puppy, and Mann will embark on a headlining tour of her own in April.
