This is a list of recordings by American singer and actor Will Oldham (a.k.a. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Palace Music, etc.).
This is a list of recordings by American singer and actor Will Oldham (a.k.a. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Palace Music, etc.).
The nature of Oldham's work, with constant changes in backing musicians and even the names under which he records, can make for a confusing discography. Below are his releases in as simplified a form as possible.
A few of these albums are credited to another artist alongside Will Oldham but with Oldham providing vocals throughout each of the tracks they clearly belong on a list of Oldham albums.
| Year | Album | Released As | Additional Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You | Palace Brothers | |
| 1994 | Days in the Wake | Palace Brothers | Original release had eponymous album title: Palace Brothers |
| 1995 | Viva Last Blues | Palace Music | |
| 1996 | Arise Therefore | Palace Music | Re-released through iTunes as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. |
| 1997 | Joya | Will Oldham | Re-released through iTunes as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. |
| Year | Album | Released As | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Album Chart | US Billboard 200 | US Heatseekers | |||
| 1999 | I See a Darkness | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | 151 [1] | - | - |
| 2001 | Ease Down the Road | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | 88 [1] | - | - |
| 2003 | Master and Everyone | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | 48 [1] | - | - |
| 2004 | Sings Greatest Palace Music | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | 63 [1] | - | - |
| 2005 | Superwolf | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Matt Sweeney | 114 [2] | - | - |
| 2006 | The Brave and the Bold | Tortoise & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | 101 [3] | - | - |
| 2006 | The Letting Go | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | 70 [1] | 194 | 8 |
| 2007 | Wai Notes | Dawn McCarthy & Bonny Billy | - | - | - |
| 2008 | Lie Down in the Light | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | 122 [1] | - | 10 |
| 2009 | Beware | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | 71 [1] | 114 | 2 |
| 2010 | The Wonder Show of the World | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & The Cairo Gang | 170 [1] | - | 16 |
| 2011 | Wolfroy Goes to Town | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | 150 [4] | - | - |
| 2012 | The Marble Downs | Trembling Bells & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | - | - | - |
| 2013 | What the Brothers Sang | Dawn McCarthy & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | - | - | - |
| 2013 | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | - | - | - |
| 2014 | Singer's Grave – A Sea of Tongues | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | - | - | - |
| 2016 | Fanatic Voyage[tribute to The Mekons] | Chivalrous Amoekons | - | - | - |
| 2017 | Best Troubador | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | - | - | - |
| 2017 | Wolf of the Cosmos | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | - | - | - |
| 2018 | Songs of Love and Horror | Will Oldham | - | - | - |
| 2019 | I Made a Place | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | - | - | - |
| 2021 | Superwolves [5] | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Matt Sweeney | - | - | - |
| 2022 | Blind Date Party [6] [7] | Bill Callahan & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | - | - | - |
| 2023 | Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You [8] | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | - | - | - |
This section again contains several releases which are credited to Oldham alongside another artist or which are credited to a group other than Palace/Palace Brothers/Palace Music/Palace Songs. In these cases Oldham's contribution is such that they merit mention in his own discography rather than in the collaborations section.
| Year | Title | Artist | Label/Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | "Ohio River Boat Song" / "Drinking Woman" | Palace Brothers | Drag City DC25 |
| 1993 | "Come In" / "Trudy Dies" | Palace | Drag City DC37 |
| 1994 | "Horses" / "Stable Will" | Palace Songs | Drag City DC47 |
| 1994 | "O How I Enjoy the Light" / "Marriage" | Palace Songs | Drag City DC64 |
| 1994 | "West Palm Beach" / "Gulf Shores" | Palace | Drag City DC61 |
| 1995 | "The Mountain" / "(End of) Travelling" | Palace | Drag City DC71 |
| 1995 | "Gezundheit" / "Let the Wires Ring" | Palace | Hausmusik 12 |
| 1995 | "Black/Rich Tune" / "You Have Cum in Your Hair..." | Palace Music | Drag City (no Cat. No.) |
| 1996 | "Every Mother's Son" / "No More Rides" | Palace | Drag City DC83 |
| 1996 | "For the Mekons et al." (Live) / "Stable Will" (Live) | Palace Live | Palace Records PR13 |
| 1996 | "Little Blue Eyes" / "The Spider's Dude Is Often There" | Palace Music | Drag City DC91 |
| 1997 | "Patience" / "Take However Long You Want" | Will Oldham | Drag City DC118 |
| 1997 | Little Joya: "Prologue" / "Joya" / "Exit Music (for a Dick)" | Will Oldham | Drag City DC107X |
| 1997 | "In My Mind" (split 7-inch single with Rising Shotgun) | Will Oldham | Palace Records PR18 |
| 1997 | "Big Balls" (split 7-inch single titled "Sides 5-6") | Palace Contribution | Skin Graft GR26 |
| 1998 | "I Am Drinking Again" / "Dreaming My Dreams" (CD) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Domino Rug 67 cd |
| 1998 | "Black Dissimulation" / "No Such As What I Want" (7-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billie | All City Nomad |
| 1998 | "The Sun Shines Down On Me" / "I Confess" | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | LowFly LF075 |
| 1998 | "One With the Birds" / "Southside of the World" | Bonnie 'Prince' Billie | Palace Records PR20 |
| 1999 | "Let's Start a Family (Blacks)" / "A Whorehouse Is Any House" | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Sub Pop SP 462 |
| 2000 | "Little Boy Blue" / "Little Boy Blue 2" / "Blue Boy" | Bonnie 'Blue' Billy | Western Vinyl WEST009 |
| 2001 | "Just to See My Holly Home" | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Domino (promo) |
| 2002 | "Forest Time" (one sided 10-inch single) | Will Oldham | Artimo 01 |
| 2002 | "Brother Warrior" (split 7-inch single with rainYwood) | Bonny Billy | Palace Records PR27 |
| 2002 | "We All, Us Three, Will Ride" / "Barcelona" | Will Oldham | Isota SODY005 |
| 2003 | "Happy Child" / "Forest Time" | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC232 |
| 2004 | "Agnes, Queen of Sorrow" / "Blokbuster" (7-inch version) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC278 – UK #69 [1] |
| 2004 | "Agnes, Queen of Sorrow" / "Blokbuster" / "Pussyfooting" (CD Version) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC278 – UK #69 [1] |
| 2004 | "No More Workhorse Blues" / "The Color of My Dreams, If I Had Dreams" (7-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC285 – UK #87 [1] |
| 2004 | "No More Workhorse Blues" / "The Color of My Dreams, If I Had Dreams" / "The Kiss" (CD) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC285 – UK #87 [1] |
| 2005 | "Puff the Magic Dragon" (split 7-inch single) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Lucky Dog 03 |
| 2005 | "I Gave You" / "Four Screams" | Bonny/Sweeney | Drag City DC298 – UK #210 [1] |
| 2006 | "His Hands" | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | iTunes (US only) |
| 2006 | "Cursed Sleep" / "The Signifying Wolf" / "God's Small Song" | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC316 – UK #133 [1] |
| 2006 | "Cold & Wet" / "Buried Treasure" (7-inch Version) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Domino RUG235 – UK #186 [1] |
| 2006 | "Cold & Wet" / "The Way" / "Buried Treasure" (12-inch/CD) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC318 |
| 2007 | "Lay & Love" / "Going to Acapulco" (7-inch version) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Domino RUG246 |
| 2007 | "Lay & Love" / "Señor" / "Going to Acapulco" (12-inch/CD) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC329 |
| 2007 | "John the Baptist" / "Strange Form of Life" (7-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Self-released / Tour Only |
| 2007 | "Strange Form of Life" / "The Seedling" | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Domino RUG248 |
| 2008 | "Notes For Future Lovers" / "¿Dónde Está Prufrock?" (7-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Gold Robot GRR006 |
| 2009 | "One Day At A Time" (iTunes Digital Single) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & the Bewarers | |
| 2009 | "Forever and Ever" / "In Spite of Ourselves" (7-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Susanna | Self-released / Tour Only |
| 2009 | "Stay" / "People Living" (7-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC422/ Palace Records PR43 |
| 2010 | "New Year's Eve's The Loneliest Night Of The Year" (split 7-inch with Mike Heron) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Trembling Bells | Honest Johns HJP51 |
| 2011 | "Island Brothers" / "New Wonder" (10-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & the Cairo Gang | Drag City DC468 |
| 2011 | "Must Be Blind" / "Life in Muscle" (10-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Matt Sweeney | Drag City DC481 |
| 2011 | "There Is No God" / "God Is Love" (10-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC483 |
| 2012 | "I am a Floozy"/"Remember the Terror Time" (book & cd "Afternoon" [9] ) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Black Tent Press |
| 2012 | "The b-sides for Time To Be Clear" (7-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC515 |
| 2012 | "Storms" (split 7-inch with Billy F. Gibbons) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Matt Sweeney | Drag City DC546 |
| 2012 | "Christmas Eve Can Kill You" / "Walking the Dog" (7-inch) | Dawn McCarthy & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC547 |
| 2013 | "Sixty-One / Sixty Minute Man" (10-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Dogfish Head (brewery); Barcode: 72410124371 |
| 2013 | "That's My Kind of Night" (iTunes Digital Single) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC587 |
| 2013 | "Better Than I Used To Be" (iTunes Digital Single) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC587 |
| 2013 | "Let Me Love You" (iTunes Digital Single) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC587 |
| 2014 | "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" (iTunes Digital Single) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC587 |
| 2014 | "Lovin' You Is Fun" (iTunes Digital Single) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC587 |
| 2014 | "Die Young" (iTunes Digital Single) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City DC587 |
| 2014 | "Am I Not A Weaker Soldier?" (7-inch) | Alexis Taylor vs. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Domino Records RUG629 |
| 2014 | "New Black Rich (Tusks)" (7-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City Records DC609 |
| 2014 | "Quail And Dumplings" (7-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City Records DC608 |
| 2014 | "We Love Our Hole / I'll Be Alright" (7-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & The Cairo Gang | Empty Cellar Records EMP022 |
| 2014 | "New Trip On The Old Wine / Lay It Down" (7-inch) | Trembling Bells & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Tin Angel Records TARRSD1 |
| 2015 | "Mindlessness" (7-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City Records DC607 |
| 2015 | "The Devil Is People" (12-inch) | "Bonnie Stillwatter" (Will Oldham & Watter) | Temporary Residence Limited |
| 2015 | "Gloria/Drie Vragen" (7-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Broeder Dieleman | Snowstar Records 15-062 |
| 2017 | "Conquer / You Have Been Seen (7-inch) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Slowboy Records BOY 25 |
| 2017 | "Mama Tried" (free digital download) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Drag City Records |
| 2020 | "This Is Far From Over" (digital download) | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Domino RUG1116 |
| 2022 | "Niagra" | Fences & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | [10] |
| 2022 | "Friends of Devil" | Andrew Rinehart and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy | [11] |
This section lists Will Oldham songs which have appeared exclusively on multi-artist compilations.
| Year | Title | Artist | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Simply Beautiful" | Briana Corrigan | When My Arms Wrap You Round | Eastwest |
| 1996 | "I Put My Arms Out To You (Acoustic)" | Briana Corrigan | Love Me Now | Eastwest |
| 1996 | "More Brother (Inbred Version)" | Ice vs. Palace | Macrodub Infection Vol. 2 | Gyroscope |
| 1996 | "More Brother Dub" | Ice vs. Palace | Organized Sound | Jazz Fudge Recordings |
| 1997 | "Untitled" | The Continental OP | Sounds Of The Geographically Challenged Vol.2 | The Temporary Residence |
| 1997 | "Spotlight" | Rising Shotgun | David Allan Coe's In My Mind 7-inch | Palace Records |
| 1997 | "Tom" | The Anomoanon | Mother Goose | Palace Records |
| 2000 | "I See a Darkness" | Johnny Cash | American III: Solitary Man | American |
| 2001 | "Happy Child" | Tweaker | The Attraction to All Things Uncertain | Six Degrees/Ryko |
| 2002 | "How Can I Tell You I Love You" | Papa M | Sonic Youth presents All Tomorrow's Parties 1.1 | Bearded Music |
| 2002 | "One That Got Away" | The Anomoanon | Asleep Many Years in the Wood | Temporary Residence |
| 2004 | "Valentine" | Bobby Bare Jr.'s Young Criminals Starvation League | From the End of Your Leash | Munich Records |
| 2004 | "Ruby" | Tweaker | 2 a.m. Wakeup Call | iMUSIC/Waxploitation |
| 2005 | "Sea Lion" | Sage Francis | Sea Lion 12-inch | Epitaph |
| 2005 | "Don't Create a Ditch" "He Was A Friend Of Mine" "Nothin' to Celebrate" | Red | Nothin' To Celebrate | Universal Music |
| 2005 | "Gratitude" | Björk | Drawing Restraint 9 | Polydor |
| 2005 | "Punks in the Beerlight" | The Silver Jews | Tanglewood Numbers | Drag City |
| 2006 | "Lowlight" | Wrinkle Neck Mules | Pull The Brake | Shut Eye |
| 2006 | "His Hands" | Candi Staton | His Hands | Honest Jons/Astralwerks |
| 2006 | "Idumæa" | Current 93 | Black Ships Ate the Sky | Durtro Jnana |
| 2006 | "Leave It Behind" | Homesick Hank | Leave It Behind | Playground |
| 2006 | "BTK Blues" "Danny" "Don't Ever Change" | Pink Nasty | Mold the Gold | Self Released |
| 2007 | "Knoxville Girl" | Charlie Louvin | s/t | Tompkins Square |
| 2007 | "Through My Sails" | Soulsavers | It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land | V2 |
| 2007 | "Idumæa (live)" | Current 93 | Birdsong in the Empire | Durtro Jnana |
| 2007 | "La Chambre" | Soy Un Caballo | Les Heures De Raison | Matamore |
| 2007 | "Evolution of Waters" "Kin" | Valgeir Sigurdsson | Ekvilibrium | Bedroom Community |
| 2007 | "Do You Want to be Buried With My People" "Kiss" "River of No Return" "Comfort You" | Scout Niblett | This Fool Can Now Die | Too Pure |
| 2008 | "Unlit Hallway" "Like the River" | Sun Kil Moon | April | Caldo Verde |
| 2008 | "Bury the Ghost" | Dosh | Wolves and Wishes | anticon. |
| 2008 | "Would You?" | Holly Throsby | A Loud Call | Spunk |
| 2009 | "Sunrise" | Soulsavers | Broken | V2 / Cooperative Music. |
Domino Recording Company, or simply Domino, is a British independent record label based in London. There is also a wing of the label based in Brooklyn, New York that handles releases in the United States, as well as a German division called Domino Deutschland and a French division called Domino France. In addition, Stephen Pastel presides over the subsidiary label Geographic Music, which releases more 'unusual' music from Britain and outside of the Western world. In 2011, the company announced that it was beginning a book publishing division, The Domino Press.
Joseph Will Oldham is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace. After briefly publishing music under his own name, in 1998 he adopted Bonnie "Prince" Billy as the name for most of his work.
I See a Darkness is the sixth album by American musician Will Oldham, released on Palace Records on January 19, 1999, as the first album under the name Bonnie "Prince" Billy. The album features appearances from Bob Arellano, Colin Gagon, Paul Oldham, David Pajo, and Peter Townsend.
Matt Sweeney is an American musician and record producer best known as a guitarist of Skunk, Chavez, and supergroup Zwan.
Superwolf is a 2005 collaborative studio album by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Matt Sweeney. It was released on Drag City.
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Sings Greatest Palace Music is a 2004 studio album by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. It features new recordings of songs from his Palace Music era (1993–1997), recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with a large group of country session musicians. Guest musicians include Eddie Bayers, Stuart Duncan, Mark Fain, Mike Johnson, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, Andrew Bird and Bruce Watkins.
Chavez is an American band from New York City, formed in 1993. After a period of inactivity, the band re-formed in 2006. They released two independent non-charting albums in the mid-1990s.
I Gave You by Bonny / Sweeney is a CD EP released, July 26, 2005 on Drag City in the US, and Domino in Europe. The title track is taken from the album Superwolf (2005), a collaboration between Will Oldham and Matt Sweeney. The disc is an Enhanced CD, and contains the music video of "I Gave You" directed by Mike Piscitelli.
Ease Down the Road is the seventh studio album by American musician Will Oldham, and the second under his moniker Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. It was released on Palace Records on March 19, 2001.
Mick Turner is an Australian musician and artist. He is the founding mainstay guitarist for Dirty Three and has had art exhibitions around Australia and internationally. Previously he was a member of the Sick Things, the Moodists (1983–84) and Venom P. Stinger. He has released four solo studio albums, Tren Phantasma (1997), Marlan Rosa (1999), Moth (2003) and Don't tell the Driver (2013).
Joya is the fifth studio album by American musician Will Oldham. It was released on Drag City in 1997 as the first album billed to his name, rather than the Palace or Bonnie "Prince" Billy monikers. It also features Bob Arellano, Colin Gagon, and David Pajo.
Kamila Thompson, more commonly known as Kami Thompson, is a singer-songwriter based in London and New York. She has toured with Bonny Prince Billy, Teddy Thompson, Sean Lennon and others, as well as appearing with the family of Loudon Wainwright III at Carnegie Hall, She has also played at Hal Willner's "Came So Far for Beauty" Leonard Cohen tribute in Dublin. Her debut recording, an EP Bad Marriage, was released in June 2010. Her debut album Love Lies was released in the UK on Warner Music in 2011. Thompson also performs and records as part of the band The Rails with husband James Walbourne. The band's first EP Habit was released on Edwyn Collins' AED Records in early 2012, and their debut album Fair Warning was released on Island Records' pink label on 5 May 2014.
Blue Lotus Feet is the name of a Bonnie 'Prince' Billy EP released on UK record label Domino Records in 1998. It consists of the "One with the Birds" / "Southside of the World" single, as well as five mantras, first performed live by Oldham during a session for VPRO's "De Avonden" broadcast on Dutch radio on 15 October 1998. The English translation of the mantras is taken from "Cosmic Chants" by Paramahansa Yogananda, as originally sung and recorded by the Monks Of The Self-Realization Order.
Peter Townsend is an American drummer from Louisville, Kentucky now living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has recorded and performed with Will Oldham in the bands Palace, Superwolf and Bonnie "Prince" Billy. He has also been featured on recordings and tours with King Kong, Nathan Bell, Human Bell, Nicolai Dunger, David Pajo, Brightblack Morning Light and many others.
The Wonder Show of the World is a collaborative studio album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy & The Cairo Gang. It was released on Drag City in 2010.
The Phantom Family Halo is an American indie rock band from Louisville in Kentucky notable for music described as having a "post-metal state of ungodly loudness" while managing to achieve a "neat creepy B-movie horror feel." The six-member band, currently based in Brooklyn, has performed with bands such as Black Angels, Black Mountain, Dead Meadow, USAisamonster, Hawkwind, Slint, Damo Suzuki, Acid Mothers Guru Guru, Stormtrippers, Russian Circles, Young Widows, Sapat, The For Carnation, and Bonnie "Prince" Billy. The band signed a recording contract with Knitting Factory Records in 2011.
Wolfroy Goes to Town is a studio album by Will Oldham. It was released under the name Bonnie "Prince" Billy on Drag City in 2011.
Emmett Kelly is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is the primary songwriter and recording artist of The Cairo Gang, one half of The Double alongside drummer Jim White, one third of The CIA and a founding member of Clinamen. He has contributed vocal and instrumental work to a variety of international musical projects, appearing on recordings by the likes of Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Ty Segall, Angel Olsen, Azita, Joan of Arc, Edith Frost, Women and Children, John Webster Johns, Jeff Harms, Chicago poet/singer Marvin Tate, Matteah Baim, Japanese musician Takuma Watanabe, Earth Girl Helen Brown, Joshua Abrams and Rob Mazurek. Kelly has toured in several of the aforementioned acts in addition to with Baby Dee, CFM, Mikal Cronin, Sonny Smith, Beth Orton, and Terry Reid; and in other instances, performed live with Chan Marshall, Scott Tuma, Joan of Arc, and Pillars and Tongues. He is also one half of the band The Surf, The Sundried, and a founding member of Chicago's Psychojail.
I Made a Place is a 2019 album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy, the stage name of American indie folk musician Will Oldham. It was released to positive critical reception.
Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You is the twenty-first studio album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy, the stage name of American indie folk musician Will Oldham. It was released on August 11, 2023, through Drag City. The album was recorded in Oldham's home in Louisville, Kentucky, and preceded by the lead single "Bananas".