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Phoebe Bridgers — news, coverage & facts — IJR

2014–2018: Early beginnings and Stranger in the Alps

Bridgers was a member of various groups while in high school, including Einstein's Dirty Secrets and Sloppy Jane, and frequently played solo shows around Los Angeles. After deciding not to attend college to focus on her career, her growing presence in the L.A. music scene led to her befriending producer Tony Berg, who began working with her on her first album for free. Making an Apple commercial with Sloppy Jane had given her some financial security, so she planned to complete her record and then sell it to a label, rather than try to get signed first. This allowed her much more time and creative freedom to create what became Stranger in the Alps. Around this time, Bridgers met American singer-songwriter Ryan Adams through mutual collaborators, and he put out her EP Killer on his label PAX AM. Bridgers also supported Julien Baker on her 2016 tour of the East Coast.

In January 2017, Bridgers released the single "Smoke Signals" and opened for Conor Oberst on his European tour. The two had met the previous summer at a secret showcase Oberst organized at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles. He and his Bright Eyes bandmate, Mike Mogis, contributed vocals and production to Stranger in the Alps. Bridgers joined The Joy Formidable and Adams for select dates on their respective U.S. tours before playing at South by Southwest in March 2017. In June 2017, Bridgers signed to independent label Dead Oceans.

In September 2017, Bridgers released her debut studio album, Stranger in the Alps, to critical acclaim. The album was produced by Tony Berg, Ethan Gruska, and Rob Moose, all of whom became consistent collaborators with Bridgers. To promote the album, Bridgers performed on CBS This Morning and the NPR Tiny Desk. In 2018, many songs from the record appeared in television productions, including Switched at Birth, Castle, Burden of Truth, Lethal Weapon, and Trinkets.

Bridgers has been called a "serial collaborator", and has either been featured on or co-released tracks with Lord Huron, Fiona Apple, Matt Berninger and the National, Andrew Bird, Manchester Orchestra, the 1975, Maggie Rogers, Kid Cudi, Taylor Swift, and SZA, among others. She has participated in full-album projects with Oberst, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus.

2020–2022: Punisher

On February 26, 2020, Bridgers released the single "Garden Song" alongside its music video. In April, the 1975 released the song "Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America" with Bridgers, ahead of their studio album Notes on a Conditional Form, which features Bridgers on three tracks. She was slated to tour with them in summer 2020 before the tour's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 9, 2020, Bridgers released "Kyoto" and announced on Instagram that her second album Punisher would be released on June 19, 2020. Bridgers released the album a day earlier than stated, stating: "I'm not [delaying] the record until things go back to 'normal' because I don't think they should. Here it is a little early." The album received widespread positive reviews. In July 2020, Bridgers released the music video for her single "I Know the End". While working on Punisher, Bridgers also produced Christian Lee Hutson's album Beginners, which was released on Anti- Records in May 2020. That September, she played to an all-virtual audience of 4 million at Red Rocks Amphitheatre as part of their Unpaused Concert Series. In October, Bridgers announced the formation of her own label Saddest Factory, an imprint of Dead Oceans.

While awaiting the results of the 2020 United States presidential election on November 3, Bridgers tweeted that she would cover "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls if then-president Donald Trump lost. The cover, which was recorded as a duet with Maggie Rogers under the name Phoebe & Maggie, was released exclusively on Bridgers' Bandcamp page for one day only on November 13. The song received 28,000 downloads with proceeds going to Stacey Abrams' Fair Fight Action organization to promote fair elections both in the state of Georgia and nationwide. On November 10, Bridgers announced an EP of four reworked tracks from Punisher, entitled Copycat Killer, in collaboration with Rob Moose. Copycat Killer was released digitally on November 20, 2020. On November 23, she released a cover of Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December", with proceeds going to LA's Downtown Women's Center.

Bridgers garnered four nominations at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song and Best Alternative Music Album. In December 2020, she released a music video for the song "Savior Complex", directed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and starring Paul Mescal. That same month Bridgers also featured on Kid Cudi's track "Lovin Me", on his album Man on the Moon III: The Chosen (2020), and sang backing vocals on two songs by Charlie Hickey.

Bridgers was a musical guest on the eleventh episode of the 46th season of Saturday Night Live, playing "Kyoto" and "I Know the End" and closing the performance by smashing her guitar on a fake stage monitor. On March 9, 2021, Bridgers released a second Spotify Singles session featuring a cover of John Prine's "Summer's End" and a version of "Kyoto" featuring vocals from Jackson Browne. In August 2021 it was announced that Bridgers would appear on The Killers' album Pressure Machine on the track "Runaway Horses", released August 13. That same month, she released a cover of Metallica's 1991 song "Nothing Else Matters"; the song appeared on the cover album The Metallica Blacklist released the following month as one of 12 covers of the song. She also provided background vocals on five tracks from Lorde's third album, Solar Power, released on August 20.

On September 3, 2021, Bridgers embarked on the Reunion Tour, starting in St. Louis, Missouri. She featured on Muna's single "Silk Chiffon", released September 7 on Saddest Factory. She also featured on the song "Atlantis" from Noah Gundersen's album, A Pillar of Salt, released in October 2021. On October 13, Bridgers' version of Bo Burnham's "That Funny Feeling" opened at No. 2 on both the Rock & Alternative Digital Song Sales, and Alternative Digital Song Sales charts.

On November 12, 2021, Bridgers appeared on Taylor Swift's second re-recorded album Red (Taylor's Version) on the track "Nothing New". The song debuted and peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Bridgers' highest-peaking entry on the chart. On November 30, she released a cover of "Day After Tomorrow" by Tom Waits, continuing her tradition of releasing a cover for the holidays. Proceeds from the release were donated to an organization supporting refugees and human trafficking victims in California. On December 15, 2021, Bridgers appeared on the true crime comedy podcast My Favorite Murder to discuss her "hometown" crime story: the murder of 16-year-old Marissa Mathy-Zvaifler at the Sunshine Theater.

On April 15, 2022, Bridgers released "Sidelines", a song featured on Conversations with Friends, a Hulu adaptation of Sally Rooney's novel of the same name. On July 8, she released a cover of The Carpenters' 1972 single "Goodbye to Love" for the Minions: The Rise of Gru soundtrack, and on July 12 was announced to be featured on a song titled 'Stonecatcher' on Marcus Mumford's new solo album, Self-Titled. In August 2022, it was announced that Bridgers would star in I Saw the TV Glow, an A24 horror film directed by Jane Schoenbrun and produced by Emma Stone and Dave McCary. Bridgers performed as an opening act on multiple shows of the US leg of Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour. On November 18, 2022, she covered the Handsome Family's song "So Much Wine" on her tradition of releasing a cover for the holidays, with proceeds from the single to benefit the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The song was provided with vocals from Andrew Bird, organist Ethan Gruska, guitarist Harrison Whitford and Bridgers' then-partner, actor Paul Mescal. On December 9, 2022, Bridgers appeared on the track "Ghost in the Machine" with SZA, on her second album SOS. The track would give her her first Grammy award, for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. In the same month, she performed at two of Danny Elfman's concerts of The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack, taking the part of Sally.

Politics and activism

Bridgers is associated with American progressivism. Bridgers, Fiona Apple, and Matt Berninger released a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's 1966 song "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" updated to reflect events in 2019, including the murder of Botham Jean, the opioid epidemic in the United States, and the testimony of Mick Mulvaney in President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial.

In 2020, Bridgers expressed support for and encouraged people to give donations to racial justice charities via her website and called for the abolition of police during Punisher's release amid the George Floyd protests and released her and Maggie Rogers's cover of "Iris" as a single to raise money for Stacey Abrams's Fair Fight Action, having vowed to release the cover if Trump lost the 2020 United States presidential election.

In October 2020, Bridgers performed as part of the virtual fundraiser festival "Village of Love" benefiting Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles and New York. At SXSW in 2022, Bridgers and Caleb Hearon criticized Greg Abbott's position on gender-affirming care for children and invited progressive politician Greg Casar to the stage. At a May 2022 concert in Florida after the passage of Florida House Bill 1557, Bridgers repeatedly expressed disdain for Ron DeSantis.

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, Bridgers shared a post from another account on Instagram that mourned the victims of colonialism during the queen's reign while calling her a war criminal.

At Coachella in April 2023, Boygenius spoke in support of trans rights following bills proposed in states like Florida and Missouri.

Bridgers advocates for abortion legality. In a 2022 interview with Teen Vogue, she expressed disdain for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.In May 2022, following the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, she said that she had an abortion in October 2021 and said everyone should have the right to do so.

After winning multiple awards at the 66th Grammy Awards, Bridgers called out Neil Portnow, ex-president of the Recording Academy, criticizing his remarks about women musical artists and highlighting accusations he engaged in sexual violence. In closing, she said "to him, I'd like to say I know you're not dead yet, but when you are, rot in piss." Also at the 66th Grammy Awards, Bridgers's red carpet outfit, coordinated with the other members of Boygenius, featured Artists4Ceasefire pins calling for a ceasefire in the Israeli invasion of Gaza.