Daniel Dodd Wilson (born May 20, 1961) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, visual artist, and record producer. He gained recognition in the late 1990’s with his band, Semisonic, and their single, "Closing Time." Wilson is a 7x Grammy nominee and 4x Grammy winner for his work as a co-writer and record producer. He received nominations for Best Rock Song, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year with Semisonic's "Closing Time" (1999), Taylor Swift's Red (2014), and Jon Batiste's "Butterfly" (2024) respectively. Wilson won Grammy awards for Song Of The Year with The Chicks' "Not Ready to Make Nice" (2007), Album Of The Year with Adele's "21" (2012), Best Country Song with Chris Stapleton's "White Horse" (2024), and Best Song Written For Visual Media with Jon Batiste's "It Never Went Away" (2025).
Referred to as the "songwriter's songwriter," Wilson has written with a broad range of songwriters across genres. His other collaborators include Laufey, Weezer, Suki Waterhouse, Noah Kahan, Keith Urban, Pink, Mitski, Leon Bridges, Nas, Panic! at the Disco, My Morning Jacket, John Legend, Brandy Clark, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and many others.
In addition to his Grammy nominations and awards, Wilson has received accolades from across the industry. In 2024, Wilson won the CMA Award for Song of the Year with Chris Stapleton's “White Horse.” Later that year, “It Never Went Away,” which he co-wrote with Batiste for the documentary American Symphony, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. He also received nominations from the Academy of Country Music for Song of the Year for Dierks Bentley's "Home" (2012) and Album of the Year for Taylor Swift's "Red" (2012). In 2021, Wilson produced the re-recorded version of Taylor Swift's "Treacherous” for the album, Red (Taylor's Version).
Besides fronting Semisonic, co-writing, and producing records, Wilson has released several solo recordings, including Re-Covered (2017), a cover album of some of his previously co-written songs. He was also a member of the Minneapolis based, psychedelic pop-rock band Trip Shakespeare.
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Early life and education
Wilson is a native of St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Wilson attended Harvard University, where he studied visual arts with a focus on printmaking and from which he graduated B.A. summa cum laude in Visual and Environmental Studies in 1983, while he resided in Dunster House. Wilson is an accomplished artist, and won the first Louis Sudler Prize for Outstanding Artistic Talent and Achievement in 1983. While in college, he began collaborating with his brother, singer-songwriter Matt Wilson, who also attended Harvard College. The Wilson brothers played in two bands, Animal Dance and the Love Monsters. After college, Wilson pursued his interest in drawing and painting, first in San Francisco and then in Minneapolis.
Career
Early career
In 1987, Wilson joined the Minneapolis band Trip Shakespeare, which his brother Matt Wilson had founded with bassist John Munson and drummer Elaine Harris. The original three members had already released one record, Applehead Man, and now as a quartet, with Wilson on guitar, piano, sharing lead vocal duties with Matt Wilson—with whom Wilson also co-wrote many of the songs—and Munson, the band released three more albums (Are You Shakespearienced?, 1988, Gark Records; Across the Universe, 1990, A&M Records; Lulu, 1991, A&M Records) and one EP (Volt, 1992, Twin Tone).
Since Trip Shakespeare's breakup in 1992, Wilson has continued to collaborate with his brother, including the release of two live albums (Minneapolis 2010 and Minneapolis 2013).
With Semisonic
After Trip Shakespeare's breakup in 1992, Wilson and Munson joined with drummer Jacob Slichter to form Pleasure, a trio that was later renamed Semisonic. Semisonic released one EP, three full-length albums, and one live album.
The band's first album, Great Divide, received critical acclaim. David Fricke wrote in a year-end Rolling Stone article on the notable albums of 1996, "Great Divide is that rare '96 beast, a record of simple but sparkling modern pop, rattling with power-trio vitality." It was their 1998 release, Feeling Strangely Fine, however, that brought the band to widespread national and then international attention and success. Powered by Wilson's songs "Closing Time", which was a number-one hit on the Modern Rock charts for thirteen weeks in the spring and summer of 1998, the follow-up single "Singing in My Sleep", and "Secret Smile", a breakthrough hit for the band internationally, Feeling Strangely Fine attained platinum sales status in the U.S. and U.K. "Closing Time" received a 1999 Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song and has become an enduring pop-culture reference point for the late 1990s. It was a focal point of the plot and soundtrack of the 2011 film Friends with Benefits.
Semisonic's third album, All About Chemistry, was released in 2001, and featured Wilson's song "Chemistry", the album's first single, and also included "One True Love", a song Wilson co-wrote with Carole King.
Semisonic stopped touring in August 2001 but continued to perform on occasion. Slichter's memoir, So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star, provides a detailed account of the band's adventures and misadventures in the music business.
On June 26, 2020, Semisonic released their first single in nearly 20 years, "You're Not Alone," followed by an EP of the same name on September 18, 2020.
As a solo artist
Wilson's solo debut, Free Life, was released in 2007 by American Recordings. Produced with Rick Rubin, Free Life was recorded in Minneapolis and Los Angeles and includes performances by Tracy Bonham, Sheryl Crow, Jason Lader, Gary Louris, Natalie Maines, Benmont Tench, and a number of Minneapolis-based musicians including multi-instrumentalist and frequent Semisonic sideman Ken Chastain, Eric Fawcett, John Hermanson, Joanna James, Mason Jennings, Steve Rhoem, Joe Savage, as well as Wilson's Semisonic bandmates Munson and Slichter.
Free Life helped establish Wilson's reputation as a songwriter, with The A.V. Club writing, "the star of the show here is Wilson's remarkable instinct for creating gorgeous songs, and his unabashed, obvious joy in doing so. For anyone worried that songcraft is an endangered species, Free Life should ease those fears."
The song Breathless became a big hit in Greece (and other Balkan countries) and Dan Wilson performed it at the 2009 MAD Video Music Awards.
Wilson's second solo album, Love Without Fear, was released on April 15, 2014 and includes performances by Sara Bareilles, Missy Higgins, Lissie, Natalie Maines, Blake Mills, Sara Watkins, and Sean Watkins. The first recording from Love Without Fear, "Disappearing" (with a cover of Neil Young's "Out on the Weekend" included as a b-side) was released on November 7, 2013 and was the debut release of the new singles label, Canvasclub.
In describing the album, Wilson said, "The songs are about being left alone, not wanting to lose someone, about desperately wishing for connection and togetherness. The sound of the record lives at the intersection of Americana and Beatles- influenced rock and roll. A little bit of twang and a lot of cinematic emotion." The album received largely favourable reviews emphasizing Wilson's reputation as a songwriter. "Dan Wilson's career is proof positive that smart, elegant songwriting has a place in music... [Love Without Fear] is a lovely amalgamation of chamber rock, gentle country, gooey '70s pop and snappy soul."
Wilson's third solo studio album, Re-Covered, was released on August 4, 2017. The album is a collection of reinterpretations of songs Wilson wrote for other artists, both big hits and "songs that I always wished were big hits, but weren't." The album includes "Someone Like You" (written with Adele), "Not Ready To Make Nice" (written with Dixie Chicks), "Home" (written with Dierks Bentley and Brett Beavers), and "When The Stars Come Out" (written with Chris Stapleton).
As a songwriter and producer
As a songwriter and producer, Wilson has collaborated with a number of artists. Two of these collaborations have earned him Grammy Awards.
A number of artists have described Wilson's ability to help put their feelings and ideas into song. Speaking of her experience of working with him, Pink said, in an online interview, "He is brilliant, and he's a thoughtful songwriter. And he's a song crafter . . . like old-school. He crafts songs and he thinks about them. And I learned a lot from working with him." In describing her co-writing with Wilson, Adele said, "Dan had me on my hands and knees, crying my eyes out - there's just something about him that made me completely open up as a composer."
Wilson co-wrote six of the songs on the Dixie Chicks multiple-Grammy-winning album Taking the Long Way, including the title song and "Not Ready to Make Nice", which earned Wilson and the Dixie Chicks the 2007 Grammy for Song of the Year. In the 2006 film Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing, Wilson speaks on camera about his experience as a co-writer on this album, especially in regard to helping the Dixie Chicks make an artistic response to their rejection by radio and a large swath of their fans in the wake of the band's statements about President Bush and the Iraq War.
One of the songs he co-wrote for this album, "Easy Silence", appears on Free Life, with Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines singing harmonies.
Wilson co-wrote three of the songs on Adele's multiple-Grammy-winning 21, "Don't You Remember", "One and Only", and, most notably, "Someone Like You", which became a number one hit in the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand was a top ten hit around the globe. As a producer of this track, on which he also played piano, Wilson shared in the 2012 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
In an interview with American Songwriter, Wilson recounted the writing and recording of "Someone Like You":
The recording on the album was intended as a demo. I was thinking, "Oh, they're going to make a big version of this, strings and angelic choirs, like a big Chrissie Hynde power-ballad." But by the end of the first day, the demo was sounding lovely, and very affecting, but it was only half-written, there were no words on the second verse or the bridge as I remember. Adele came to the studio the next day and said, "I played it for my manager and me Mum." I was a little nervous about this because I don't like people to hear works-in-progress. I asked her what they thought of the song. "My manager loves it and me Mum cried."
As a visual artist
Wilson's career as a painter, illustrator, and calligrapher is less widely known, but his artwork has often intersected with his music career. He was represented by Thomas Barry Fine Arts in Minneapolis, and his works are included in numerous private and corporate collections.
Wilson's paintings are featured on the artwork for two of Trip Shakespeare's albums, Are You Shakespearienced? and Lulu, as well as on the cover of his first solo album, Free Life.
Wilson created all of the artwork for his 2014 album Love Without Fear. Most notably, a hand illustrated 24-page hardcover Deluxe Album Book/CD. The package includes Wilson's own calligraphy, sketches, and handwritten lyrics for each song on the album. The official lyric videos for his singles from the album, "Disappearing" and "A Song Can Be About Anything" are also made entirely from his own illustrations.
At his "Words and Music by Dan Wilson" shows, audience members receive illuminated set lists that are hand illustrated by Wilson. One of these set lists was featured on NPR's blog All Songs Considered.
Wilson's calligraphy and illustrations are featured in his Tumblr series, "DW's Sketchbook" and his musical cartoons have been featured in The Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy Blog.
Personal life
Wilson is married to Diane Espaldon. Wilson and his wife were contemporaries at Harvard University, where he studied visual arts and she studied government. Wilson's wife subsequently earned a M.A. from School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. Together, they have one biological daughter, Corazon ("Coco") (b. 1997), who was born prematurely and has disabilities and for whom "Closing Time" was written before her birth, and Lily (b. 2007), who was adopted at age two from the Philippines.
Discography
Singles
2025 "ventura"
2025 "laurel"
2025 "good night, deervale, moorpark, tujunga"
2022 "Dancing On The Moon"
2022 "On The Floor" - Perfume Genius cover
2021 "Under The Circumstances"
2020 "Try Love"
2020 "The Real Question"
2020 "Red Light"
2020 "Superfan"
2020 "Eventually"
2019 "Last December"
2019 "Sunshine"
2019 "Too Much ii"
2019 "A Modest Proposal"
2019 "The Rules"
2019 "Fly Safe"
2018 "Are You Lonely Tonight, Mrs. Claus?"
2018 "Christmassy"
2018 "Uncanny Valley"
2018 "We Ain't Telling"
2017 "What a Year for a New Year"
2016 "Yoko"
2015 "The Hottest Christmas Eve Ever"
2014 "Love Without Fear"
2014 "A Song Can Be About Anything"
Studio albums
2025 good night, los angeles
2022 Dancing On The Moon EP
2017 Re-Covered
2014 Love Without Fear
2008 Be Free EP digital release
2007 Free Life
Live albums
2009 Dan Wilson Live at the Pantages – A 2-CD document of Dan Wilson's concert at Minneapolis' Pantages Theater on December 13, 2008.
2008 Live at the Electric Fetus
2001 DW Live @ the CCC
1998 Dan Wilson Live @ Bryant Lake Bowl
with Semisonic
2026 Don't Give Up Yet (Single)
2023 Little Bit of Sun (LP)
2023 "Little Bit of Sun","Grow Your Own", "The Rope", & "Out of the Dirt" (singles)
2020 You're Not Alone (EP)
2018 Feeling Strangely Fine (20th Anniversary Reissue)
2003 One Night at First Avenue (live)
2001 All About Chemistry
1998 Feeling Strangely Fine
1996 Great Divide
1995 Pleasure EP (EP)
1993 Pleasure
Dan and Matt Wilson
2013 Dan & Matt Wilson Minneapolis 2013
2010 Dan & Matt Wilson Minneapolis 2010
Trip Shakespeare
1992 Volt (EP)
1991 Lulu
1990 Across the Universe
1989 Are You Shakespearienced?
1986 Applehead Man
The Love Monsters
1983 Kiss Away The Tears (7")
Film and TV soundtracks (as a performer)
2019 Big Little Lies Season 2 Soundtrack – "That Was Yesterday" (Leon Bridges)
2010 Dear John Soundtrack – "You Take My Troubles Away" (with Rachael Yamagata)
2009 All About Steve Soundtrack – "Sugar"
2001 Summer Catch – Semisonic's "Over My Head"
1999 American Pie Soundtrack – "Good Morning Baby"
1999 Together in Concert: Live, Bic Runga Featuring Dan Wilson
1999 Friends Again – Semisonic's "Delicious"
1999 10 Things I Hate About You – Semisonic's "FNT"
1999 Never Been Kissed Soundtrack – Semisonic's "Never You Mind"
1999 For the Love of the Game Soundtrack – Semisonic's "For the Love of the Game"
1996 The Long Kiss Goodnight Soundtrack – Semisonic's "FNT"
Film soundtracks (as a writer and producer)
2023 American Symphony – "It Never Went Away" (Jon Batiste)
2023 Love Again – "Love Again" (Celine Dion)
2014 The Fault In Our Stars – "Tee Shirt" and "Best Shot" (Birdy)
2013 Spark: A Burning Man Story – "We Ride" (Missy Higgins)
2013 Safe Haven – "We Both Know" (Colbie Caillat & Gavin DeGraw)
2010 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – "Ours" (The Bravery)
2010 The Kid – "Boy" (KT Tunstall)
Compilations
2013 Absolutely Cuckoo: Minnesota Covers the 69 Love Songs – "The Things We Did and Didn't Do"
2011 Minnesota Remembers Vic Chesnutt – "Soft Picasso"
2006 For New Orleans – "I Can't Hold You"
2002 For the Kids – "Willie the King"
2002 Maybe This Christmas – "What a Year for a New Year"