Phoebe Bridgers started playing guitar at the age of 13.
Born in Pasadena, California, on August 17, 1994, Phoebe Bridgers took an interest in music at a young age. Although her mother encouraged her to play piano, she took to guitar instead.
โI fโing hated being forced to do something,โ Bridgers told The New Yorker in 2020. โReading music felt like math homework. Guitar was my rebellion.โ
At 15, Bridgers joined Sloppy Jane, a punk band comprised of all women. A few years later, she was accepted to the Berklee College of Music, but she opted to live and perform in Los Angeles instead.
She released her first album, โStranger in the Alps,โ in 2017 but it was her second album, โPunisherโ in 2020, that really made waves.
โPunisherโ earned her Grammy nominations for best new artist and best alternative music album in 2021. For her song โKyoto,โ a track on โPunisher,โ Bridgers was nominated for best rock performance and best rock song.
In 2020, Pitchfork called the album โmarvelous,โ while Rolling Stone said it was โvisionary.โ
Insiderโs Callie Ahlgrim named โPunisherโ as one of the best albums of 2020, calling it โan exquisite tapestry of emotions.โ
โThe album feels like a best friend holding your hand, and the most cleansing heart-to-heart youโve ever had on their bedroom floor,โ Ahlgrim wrote.
Before releasing โPunisher,โ which propelled her into mainstream fame, Bridgers also made music as a member of boygenius.
Bridgers formed boygenius in 2018 with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, who are solo artists, as well.
The band released its first EP, โboygenius,โ in 2018 after Bridgers, Baker, and Dacus recorded it over four days, according to The New York Times. In 2020, the band released demos on Bandcamp in an effort to raise money for three nonprofit organizations.
In January 2023, boygenius announced its upcoming studio album, releasing three songs along with the announcement. The upcoming album, โThe Record,โ is set to be released on March 31, 2023.
The three women frequently discuss their close friendships with one another in interviews.
โWeโre obsessed with each other. I like myself better around them,โ Bridgers told Rolling Stone in January 2023.
Bridgersโ biggest inspiration is the late artist Elliott Smith.
Itโs no secret that Bridgers idolizes Elliott Smith, the singer-songwriter who died in 2003.
In 2020, Bridgers told NPR, โIf someone doesnโt like [Smithโs] music, I actually feel like Iโm not going to agree with them about anything. It informs everything I like.โ
Bridgersโ music is frequently compared to that of Smith. In the same NPR profile, journalist Lindsay Zoladz commented on Smithโs and Bridgersโ similarly โevocative lyrics, melodious murmurs and stark, surprising bursts of bleak humor.โ
Sheโs known for her signature skeleton costume.
In the music video for one of her most popular and critically acclaimed songs, โKyoto,โ Bridgers wears a skeleton suit. She often wears variations to red-carpet events and performances.
At the Grammys in 2021, when she was nominated for four awards, she wore a Thom Brown outfit featuring a crystal-and-pearl skeleton.
She told E! News, โI wear a skeleton costume all the time, but one of the reasons I do is because I saw this Thom Browne dress forever ago and thought it was so cool. And I asked for it. I basically stole it.โ
Bridgers wore an abstract version of the skeleton suit when she performed on โSaturday Night Liveโ in 2021, in a memorable performance which culminated in her smashing her guitar.
Bridgers dated Oscar-nominated actor Paul Mescal from 2021 to late 2022.
Bridgers and Mescal were first acquainted via Twitter. In 2020, Bridgers posted a tweet in admiration of Mescalโs performance in Huluโs โNormal People,โ and Mescal responded. The two made their first public appearance as a couple at the LACMA Art+Film Gala in November 2021. They made other red-carpet appearances together, including at the 2022 Met Gala.
They collaborated in their creative work โ Mescal was featured in the music video for Bridgerโs song โSavior Complexโ and made a cameo in her music video for โSidelines.โ
In late 2022, reports of a potential split began to circulate, although Mescal โ who was nominated for best actor at the 2023 Oscars for his role in โAftersunโ โ declined to comment about it during a February 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Bridgers has also not commented on the breakup reports, but she has been spotted with comedian, actor, and director Bo Burnham on multiple occasions, sparking rumors that the two are romantically linked.
She collaborated with Taylor Swift on a song on Swiftโs remastered version of her 2012 album, โRed.โ
Swiftโs 2021 rerelease of โRed,โ renamed โRed (Taylorโs Version),โ contained a handful of never-before-released songs in addition to remastered tracks from the 2012 album. Swift reached out to Bridgers to feature her on โNothing New,โ Insiderโs Callie Ahlgrim previously reported.
Swift told Seth Meyers that she recalled sending Bridgers a โvery long textโ when she asked her to sing a verse on the track.
โWith Phoebe, I reached out and I sent her this song called โNothing New,โ which I wrote when I was 22,โ Swift said. โI sent it to Phoebe and said, โIt would mean the world to me if you would do this as a duet.’โ
Bridgers replied, โIโve been waiting for this text my entire life.โ
In 2021, Bridgers spoke to Billboard about the experience recording โNothing Newโ and her admiration of Swift.
โI just am so excited to have people take it at face value the day that it comes out because I got teary recording it,โ she said. โI just couldnโt be more excited.โ
Bridgers has recently collaborated with other artists as well, including MUNA and SZA.
Bridgers is set to open for seven shows on Taylor Swiftโs Eras Tour, which kicks off March 17. Bridgers will join her in May.
In an Instagram post on November 1, 2022, Bridgers subtly announced that sheโd be accompanying Swift on her highly anticipated Eras Tour for seven nights. She posted a slideshow that contained two photos of herself and Swift, and a graphic promoting the tour.
The two singer-songwriters are vocal admirers of one another. In January 2023, Bridgers told Rolling Stone, โ[Swift is] such a deep, wise human being, and has not sacrificed fun at all. She validates those boundaries that people have tried to take from her for her whole life.โ
To Seth Meyers, Swift referred to Bridgers as โone of my favorite artists in the world.โ
The Eras Tour started on Friday, March 17 in Glendale, Arizona, with Paramore opening for Swift.
Bridgers will accompany Swift at concerts in Nashville, Philadelphia, Foxborough in Massachusetts, and East Rutherford in New Jersey. Those shows start May 5 and wrap up May 28.
Other artists, including Haim, Girl in Red, and Gracie Abrams, are set to open for Swift for the rest of her tour.