Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen responds to Aimee Mann about dropping her from tour

Aimee Mann recently said that she was dropped as an opener from Steely Dan's upcoming tour, writing, "No one is entirely sure why, but it seems they thought their audience wouldn’t like a female singer-songwriter?"

Now, Steely Dan's Donald Fagen has spoken about the decision to Rolling Stone, denying that gender had anything to do with it. "Well, first of all, the idea that I would make any decision based on the gender of a performer is ridiculous," he said. "That’s something that would never even occur to me."

"There was a communication problem on our end," Fagen continued. "I was misinformed as to how firm the commitment was to any particular opening act. And, 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. 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." Rolling Stone also says Donald Fagen noted that female singer/songwriters like Phoebe Snow and Rickie Lee Jones had opened for Steely Dan in the past.

A rep for Aimee Mann said to Rolling Stone, "Her illustration says it all." Aimee also since tweeted this: