Singer David Byrne apologized Monday for being “part of the problem” after he was called out on social media for not collaborating enough with females on his latest album.
“I recently posted a piece and a playlist about the various folks who collaborated on my new album. There have been some responses and some have pointed out the lack of women among the group,” the 65-year-old singer wrote on Instagram.
“I’d like to thank those of you who wrote for calling attention to this–this matters a lot to me. This lack of representation is something that is problematic and wide-spread in our industry,” he added. “I regret not hiring and collaborating with women for this album–it’s ridiculous, it’s not who I am and it certainly doesn’t match how I’ve worked in the past.”
“It doesn’t represent my current live show, which has a slew of diverse creators and collaborators, making this even more negligent on my part,” he continued.
He then said he was glad we “live in a time” where this conversation is happening.
“It’s hard to realize that no matter how much effort you spend nudging the world in what you hope is the right direction, sometimes you are part of the problem,” Bryne shared. “I never thought of myself as being ‘one of those guys,’ but I guess to some extent I am.”
His album titled, “American Utopia” comes out Friday and will be the Talking Heads singer’s first solo album in 14 years.