Pink has condemned Grammys boss Neil Portnow after he argued women need to “step up” in the music industry.

The Recording Academy president was pressed about criticism men ruled the 60th annual Grammy Awards ceremony. Just one female - Alessia Cara for best new artist - won a gong during the televised ceremony.

Responding to the gender imbalance in the results, Portnow told Variety: “I think it has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls - who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, who want to be producers, who want to be part of the industry on the executive level - to step up”.

Pink, who performed at the awards and lost out in the pop solo performance category to Ed Sheeran, released a handwritten statement addressing Portnow’s controversial explanation of why there were few female winners this year.

“Women in music don’t need to ‘step up’ - women have been stepping since the beginning of time,” she said. “Stepping up, and also stepping aside. Women OWNED music this year. They’ve been KILLING IT.”

“And every year before this. When we celebrate and honour the talent and accomplishments of women, and how much women STEP UP every year, and how much women STEP UP every year, against all odds, we show the next generation of women and girls and boys and men what it means to be equal, and what it looks like to be fair.”

Ahead of Sunday’s show, presenter Janelle Monaé shared a statistic from a University of Southern California study on Twitter demonstrating the high proportion of male nominees at the Grammys.

“A total of 90.7 per cent of nominees between 2013 and 2018 were male, meaning just 9.3 per cent were women. #TimesUp #Grammys," it read.

Grammys 2018 - in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 Grammys 2018 - in pictures Grammys 2018 - in pictures Lady GaGa arrives on the red carpet REUTERS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Miley Cyrus holds a white rose in her mouth in solidarity with the Times Up movement AFP/Getty Images Grammys 2018 - in pictures Cardi B and Hennessy Carolina arrives for the 60th Grammy Awards AFP/Getty Images Grammys 2018 - in pictures Chrissy Teigen (and John Legend arrive for the 60th Grammy Awards AFP/Getty Images Grammys 2018 - in pictures Jaden Smith arrives for the 60th Grammy Awards AFP/Getty Images Grammys 2018 - in pictures Kendrick Lamar (L) and Rihanna, winners of Best Rap/Sung Performance for 'LOYALTY.' pose during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Kendrick Lamar performs onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Recording artist Lady Gaga performs onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018 in New York City Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Luis Fonsi (L) and Daddy Yankee perform onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018 in New York City. Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Childish Gambino (L) and JD McCrary perform onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Pink performs onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Jay-Z, Blue Ivy and Beyonce attend the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Actor Katie Holmes poses backstage at the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Kendrick Lamar attends the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018 in New York City Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Recording artist Cardi B poses backstage at the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018 in New York City Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures T.J. Osborne, John Osborne, Maren Morris, and Eric Church perform onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Rihanna performs during the 60th Annual Grammy Awards show on January 28, 2018, in New York AFP/Getty Images Grammys 2018 - in pictures Jay-Z, Blue Ivy, Beyonce and Alicia Keys attends the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Kesha performs onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Kesha (unseen) is hugged by Bebe Rexha, Cindy Lauper, Camila Cabello and Andra Day during the 60th Annual Grammy Awards AFP/Getty Images Grammys 2018 - in pictures Host James Corden (L) and actor Hailee Steinfeld attend the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures anelle Monae poses backstage at the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Camila Cabello performs during the 60th Annual Grammy Awards show AFP/Getty Images Grammys 2018 - in pictures The Edge, Bono, Larry Mullen Jr and Adam Clayton of U2 perform remotely from the Statue of Liberty to pay tribute to America's immigrants Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Sir Elton John (L) and Miley Cyrus perform onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Ben Platt performs onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Willow Hart, Rihanna and Pink backstage at the 60th Annual GRAMMY awards Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Patti LuPone performs on stage the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Khalid, Logic and Alessia Cara perform onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards Getty Images for NARAS Grammys 2018 - in pictures Bruno Mars accepts album of the year for '24k Magic' Getty Images for NARAS

Nine-time Grammy winner Sheryl Crow also hit out at Portnow’s response, saying: “I wish the Grammys would return to female/male categories.”

“Who will young girls be inspired by to pick up a guitar and rock, when most every category is filled with men? I’m not sure it is about women needing to ‘step up’, (as said by the male in charge).”

Out of the 86 Grammy Awards handed out on Sunday, just 17 of them were given to women or female-fronted bands. Lorde was the only female nominated artist for best album and was also the only act in the category who was not asked if she wanted to perform solo on the night.