PinkPantheress Almost Cancelled ‘Tiny Desk Concert’ Because She Couldn’t Use Autotune

PinkPantheress admitted that she nearly cancelled her appearance on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series after learning she couldn’t digitally tune her vocals during her performance.

During the singer’s debut on the esteemed platform, PinkPantheress sang stripped-down versions of her songs that, she said, usually feature digitally pitch corrected vocals (sometimes referred to as “AutoTuned,” though it’s unclear if she uses that specific software or one of its competitors), even when she performs them live. The singer admitted during it that she contemplated backing out of the NPR gig, but decided to stick with it.

“This is my first performance I’ve done with no tuning,” she said during the show (around the 6:29 mark). “I’ve never sung with no tuning before, so this is really scary. I nearly didn’t do this because the NPR people were like, ‘You can’t use anything.’ Then I was like, ‘Let me try to figure it out and see how it goes.’”

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It turns out, she didn’t need any help. PinkPantheress, backed by a six-piece band, performed an eight-song set that featured “Pain,” “Tonight,” and her viral TikTok hit “Illegal.”

In August, Tiny Desk Concert producer Bobby Carter eased everyone’s worries that the show would be coming to an end after the news that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is shutting down after 50 years of federal support.

”I’ve heard from many friends, family, and audience members who are worried that NPR/Tiny Desk is shutting down. It is not,” Carter confirmed in a social media post. “Unfortunately, CPB is shutting down. I encourage everyone to support Public Media and donate. I appreciate all the calls, texts, and messages. They have been overwhelming and heartwarming. Thank y’all.”

On Aug. 1, the CPB announced that it would begin the “orderly wind-down of its operations” after the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a package of spending cuts on July 31 that rescinded $1.1 billion in funding for the private, nonprofit corporation.

In an executive order from May 1 of this year, President Donald Trump criticized NPR and PBS for “political bias,” stating, “No media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies.”

The president’s order cited the nonprofit organization’s statutory requirement for impartiality and claimed that it had failed to meet that standard.