Bon Iver snubbed Grammy gig

Written by . Published: February 05 2012

Cult rockers Bon Iver turned down the chance to perform at the 2012 Grammy Awards after organisers demanded the band team up with a more well-known act.


The Blood Bank hitmakers, who are nominated for four Grammys this year (12), were told they would have to agree to a collaboration if they wanted to play at music's most prestigious prizegiving.


Frontman Justin Vernon tells Billboard.com, "We wanted to play our music, but were told that we couldn't play. We had to do a collaboration with someone else. And we just felt like it was such a large stage - we're getting nominated for this record that we made... We were given accolades for it, and all of a sudden we were being asked to play music that had nothing to do with that. We kind of said 'f**k you' a little bit, and they sort of acted like they wanted us to play, but I don't think they wanted us to play."


Vernon, who has previously recorded with Kanye West, admits the potential collaborators put forward were "awesome people" but he turned down the offer on principle.


He adds, "(The suggested collaborators were) awesome people. People that I would love to play a song with. But you know what? F**kin' rock 'n' roll should not be decided by people that have that job. Rock 'n' roll should be the f**king people with guitars around their backs. And their friends. And their managers."