Bon Iver

Bon Iver is the project of Justin Vernon, a singer, songwriter, and producer born in 1981 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. One of the most critically acclaimed and stylistically adventurous projects in contemporary American indie folk and art pop, Bon Iver began as an intimate bedroom recording and evolved into an expansive, genre-defying project that Vernon has used to explore the outer boundaries of folk, electronic music, classical composition, and hip-hop production. Having retreated to his father's cabin in rural Wisconsin following a series of personal setbacks — a broken relationship, a glandular fever illness, the dissolution of his previous band DeYarmond Edison — Vernon recorded *For Emma, Forever Ago* (2007) alone, playing all instruments, during three months of isolation. The album's hushed, layered falsetto vocals, spare acoustic arrangements, and raw emotional nakedness were like nothing else in contemporary folk, and its word-of-mouth spread from a self-released limited edition to a Jagjaguwar re-release that made it one of the most celebrated debut albums of its decade. *Bon Iver, Bon Iver* (2011) was a complete sonic reinvention — lush, orchestral, and dense with instrumentation including saxophone, pedal steel, and processed electronics. It won the Grammy for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album and demonstrated Vernon's refusal to repeat himself. '____45_____,' 'Holocene,' and 'Calgary' were career highlights of a different order to *For Emma*. *22, A Million* (2016) was a further radical departure — fractured, digitally processed, and drawing on hip-hop and electronic music in ways that divided some listeners while fascinating critics. *i,i* (2019), a warmer, more collaborative record featuring many of Vernon's regular collaborators, and his production work for artists including Kanye West, Taylor Swift, and Charli XCX demonstrated the breadth of his musical identity. Vernon's Eaux Claires music festival, his Gayngs and Volcano Choir side projects, and his advocacy for rural Wisconsin have made him a cultural as well as musical figure of significant standing.