We derive an exact expression for the celebrated backbone exponent for Bernoulli percolation in dimension two at criticality. It turns out to be a root of an elementary function. Contrary to previously known arm exponents for this model, which are all rational, it has a transcendental value. Our derivation relies on the connection to the SLE$_κ$ bubble measure, the coupling between SLE and Liouville quantum gravity, and the integrability of Liouville conformal field theory. Along the way, we derive a formula not only for $κ=6$ (corresponding to percolation), but for all $κ\in (4,8)$.