Boygenius is an American indie rocksupergroup[1][2][3][4] consisting of American singer-songwriters Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus.[5][6] They debuted with their self-titled EP in 2018,[7][8][9] and then returned after a hiatus with their debut studio album, The Record (2023), which was both a critical and commercial success, winning the members three Grammy Awards and one Brit Award. Labeled an "instant classic" by NME,[10] it topped the charts in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands, and peaked at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200. Their second EP, The Rest, was released on October 13, 2023.[11] The group is currently on hiatus.[12]
Bridgers called the formation of the group "kind of an accident," wherein each of the members were simply fans of each other's work and then became friends.[4] Both Dacus and Bridgers had opened for Baker on separate tours in 2016, and they all ran in similar circles as young up-and-coming performers navigating the indie scene.[13][14]
The three became close and shared frustrations of constantly being compared to each other as "women in rock" despite their considerably different musical styles.[15] Dacus has commented that the idea of women in music "should not be remarkable whatsoever," with Bridgers adding, "it's not a genre."[15] Each has spoken on the tendency of the music industry to pit women against each other, and the group was formed in part to reject this.[4][15] "I hope people see the three of us and know there isn't competition," Dacus has said. "You don't have to compete with your contemporaries. You can make something good with people you admire."[16]
Baker had joked to Dacus years before about a "pipe dream" that they could one day all form a band.[17] The three decided to book a co-headlining tour in early 2018, and they originally planned to record a single or cover so that they could perform something together on stage.[4] Upon meeting up that summer, they found themselves overwhelmed with ideas, and they ended up forming the band, writing, recording, and self-producing the BoygeniusEP in four days, with the process involving almost exclusively women.[16][18]
Each brought one full song and one incomplete idea with them to the group.[19] They sought to create an environment free of the competitiveness and "bravado" they had often encountered in previous experiences, and they have remarked that the absence of men in the process proved significant, allowing them to relate to each other openly without constantly having to explain themselves.[4][18] The record was met with universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike; it was named the 12th best album of 2018 by NPR Music, despite being only an EP.[20] Their subsequent tour that November saw them performing all across the U.S., as well as on Late Night with Seth Meyers and the Tiny Desk.[17][21][22]
2019–2021: Continuing collaborations
The group was slated to perform in summer 2019 at Woodstock 50, before its cancellation due to a series of production issues.[23][24] In 2020, they were featured on Hayley Williams' "Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris" from her EP Petals for Armor II, and also reunited on backing vocals for numerous songs from each other's solo projects: "Graceland Too" and "I Know the End" from Bridgers' Grammy-nominated Punisher, Baker's Little Oblivions single "Favor", and Dacus's "Please Stay" and "Going Going Gone" on Home Video.[25] With the releases scattered throughout the year, all of these were actually recorded on the same day, a process Dacus said "had the same atmosphere as when we recorded the boygenius EP[...] a natural result of being together, easy as can be."[25]
In July 2020, the trio released a handful of demos from their Boygenius recording sessions on Bandcamp to raise money for charitable organizations in their respective hometowns, raising over $23,000 for the Downtown Women's Center of Los Angeles, OUTMemphis, and Mutual Aid Distribution Richmond.[26][27] After reuniting on stage for occasional surprise appearances at one another's solo tours throughout 2021, the group performed their first full show together since 2018 as the headliner of Bread and Roses Presents' annual benefit concert in San Francisco on November 19, 2021.[28]
In January 2022, Boygenius recorded their debut studio album, The Record, at Shangri-La in Malibu, California.[1] In January 2023, the band announced the album, with a release date of March 31, 2023. The album artwork and three singles from the album, "$20," "Emily I'm Sorry," and "True Blue" were released alongside the album's initial announcement.[29] The three videos from the singles were all directed by Kristen Stewart, and were combined into a single promotional short film called The Film.[30] On January 31, 2023, AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group) Presents announced that the band would be one of three headline acts at the inaugural Re:SET Concert Series.[31] In April 2023, the group played at the Coachella Music Festival.[32]
Boygenius in July 2023
The band then embarked on an international tour, dubbed The Tour. The tour dates started as early as April 12, and ending on August 27 featuring special guests Carly Rae Jepsen, Bartees Strange, Claud, Broken Social Scene and Illuminati Hotties.[33] The band then later announced an additional 5 tour dates in the fall of 2023. These dates were joined with special guests Palehound, Samia, and Muna.[34] When asked if this tour was the greatest tour the bandmembers have ever been on, Bridgers replied "Yeah... yeah 100 percent" immediately, stating the band only had one bad day on tour.[35]
On February 2, 2024, the band announced an indefinite hiatus during a secret show in Los Angeles.[41] They said the hiatus would last for the foreseeable future. Before the final song of their set, Dacus said "this is the last song" and Baker added "not ever".[42] On the red carpet of the Grammys, the band was asked what this meant for their future, with Dacus stating that she is "not convinced" followed by Baker adding, "How do you know a meteor is not going to crash into earth tomorrow?"[43]
Band name
The group has been vocal about the origins of their name, which began as a joke and a way to encourage each other in the studio.[18] All three had shared negative experiences with overconfident male collaborators—as Baker put it, "the archetype of the tortured genius, [a] specifically male artist who has been told since birth that their every thought is not only worthwhile but brilliant."[19] Dacus described the "boy genius" trope as "boys and men we know who've been told that they are geniuses since they could hear, basically," and has detailed how they attempted to channel that energy while making the EP. "If one person was having a thought—'I don't know if this is good, it's probably terrible'—it was like, 'No! Be the boy genius! Your every thought is worthwhile, just spit it out.'"[18]
The group occasionally writes their name as "xboygeniusx", such as on social media and their website.[44][45] This is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the X symbol of the straight-edge punk subculture, which Baker was somewhat involved in as a teen. She noted that they had all joked about boygenius being a hardcore band, and when creating their social media they thought it would be funny to stylize themselves as extremely punk when it wasn't characteristic of any of their music at the time.[46]
↑ Martoccio, Angie (January 18, 2023). "Boygenius Are Back in Town to Save 2023". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 19, 2023. Well, the wait is over:The indie supergroup — consisting of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus — will finally release a full-length debut, titled The Record, slated for March 31 via Interscope!
↑ Zhang, Cat (January 18, 2023). "boygenius: "$20" Track Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 19, 2023. The supergroup announces its long-awaited return with a three-song sampler.
1 2 3 4 5 Read, Bridget (October 31, 2018). "A Brief Oral History of Boygenius". Vogue. Retrieved January 19, 2023. When the band was announced earlier this summer, Boygenius (styled "boygenius") instantly became the Infinity War of female-led indie-rock outfits: Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker, and Phoebe Bridgers, having been lassoed into the same Spotify playlists and genre profiles for the past few years anyway, decided to combine their efforts into one supergroup.
For "Without You Without Them", "Cool About It", "Revolution 0" and "Letter to an Old Poet": "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. April 10, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
For songs from The Rest: "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. October 23, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
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