Phoebe Bridgers Became a Star in 2020
How did Phoebe Bridgers turn from an indie darling to one of 2020's biggest breakout stars?
The first time I saw a photo of Phoebe Bridgers, she was standing in a graveyard, glaring at the camera.
It was 2017. The photo had been posted by Julien Baker, one third of the trio she and Bridgers would later form and an artist I was obsessed with at the time. Phoebe was opening for Julien then. She had only one EP out—a collection of acoustic recordings that featured the original version of "Killer," which I still think is one of Bridgers' best tracks.
"Sometimes I think I'm a killer," sang Bridgers in that song, going on to sing about Jeffrey Dahmer and death. Discovering her also coincided with the later end of my serial killer obsession, so I was instantly hooked. What I didn't realize was that Bridgers was on the brink of blowing up.
Now, Bridgers is topping best-of-the-year lists. Her song was voted number one song of the year by a poll of Pitchfork readers. She's name-dropped by President Obama and Grammy-nominated. She's worked with some of the biggest artists out there. She is one of the biggest artists out there.
How did it all happen? How did Bridgers soar from an indie darling to a near-icon so quickly?
Years of Work
Part of Bridgers' fame stems from the fact that she's been massively productive and willing to put in the work. She's been playing music and networking in LA for years, and you can find old projects and appearances of hers scattered around the internet. She even appeared in a Taco Bell and an Apple commercial. Hey, you do what you gotta do to get your foot in the door.
In 2018, Bridgers collaborated with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, forming boygenius, a power-trio that made mournful indie folk and cemented Bridgers at the heart of the indie scene. She released her delicate and devastating first album "Stranger In the Alps." Then she formed Better Oblivion Community Center with indie icon Conor Oberst, releasing their debut in 2019. But 2020 was the year Bridgers really went for the stratosphere.
Collaborations
Bridgers' talent for collaboration is also part of what has led to her world domination. On April 3, Bridgers released a collaboration with the 1975 called "Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America." Bridgers has always been amazing, virtuosic even, at collaboration, and this one was no exception; she had introduced herself to the 1975's legions of fans, who were unknowingly poised to love her music.
Amazing Music
Over that terrible spring, Bridgers released two excellent singles—the eerie, gentle "Garden Song" and the powerful "Kyoto," an angsty but not jaded lament about her father. Bridgers' second album Punisher was released on June 18, 2020, and its apocalyptic messaging only hit harder in the midst of all the chaos. Her songwriting and music has been much-lauded, and it's really quite exceptional in every respect. After hearing her song "Funeral," John Mayer tweeted that the song was the "arrival of a giant." And here Phoebe is, towering above us all.
Live Performances
This year, Bridgers should've been celebrating Punisher's release by going on world tours, gracing stadiums across the globe. But she worked musical performances in 2020 to her favor better than almost anyone, releasing countless charming DIY videos that perfectly fit the quarantine aesthetic while also showing off her talents.
In March, she pioneered the at-home concert genre with an at-home stream for Pitchfork.
In April, she performed Kyoto from her bathtub on Kimmel.
She performed "ICU" on the Late Late Show with James Corden from her car.
She played a Tiny Desk concert against a green screen of the Oval Office.
In November, she graced Seth Meyers and an empty concert hall with a performance of "I Know The End."
She performed a beautiful, Christmas-themed version of "Savior Complex" on Fallon.
In between, there were countless features, interviews, performances, and profiles. There was a collaboration with Carmen Maria Machado in "Playboy" and at-home livestreams and so, so much more.
Ongoing Projects
In May, Bridgers launched a contest challenging fans to create their own videos for "Garden Song." It spawned some incredible works of art.
In October, Bridgers announced the debut of her very own record label, Saddest Factory, signing the artist Claud Mintz. Of course, she didn't stop there. She released iconic merch, including a shirt with a cop car on fire. She also released a pair of sweatpants with the message "Phoebe Bridgers" on the a**, leading her countless fans to show them off while proclaim to the internet: "Phoebe Bridgers owns my a**."
On November 3 Bridgers announced she would cover the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" if Biden won; she and Maggie Rogers released a cover on November 13th and raised thousands of dollars for Stacey Abrams' Fair Fight organization in Georgia.
But she wasn't done yet. Bridgers has traditionally released Christmas music each year and this year was no different; she dropped a cover of Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December" and donated the proceeds to the Los Angeles's Downtown Women's Shelter.
Endless Accolades
Bridgers' music has constantly been praised across the Internet. Her song "Motion Sickness" went viral on TikTok in 2020, becoming popular in certain queer and cottagecore spaces. Then she was nominated for four Grammys, including Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Alternative Music Album. Then on December 1st she released a video for her song "Savior Complex" starring Normal People's Paul Mescal and directed by Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Then came the flood of best-of-the-year lists; Bridgers graced nearly all of them. Obama referenced "Kyoto" as one of his top songs of the year and Pitchfork's readers ranked "Kyoto" as song of the year and "I Know the End" as #4.
Twitter Spats
Bridgers made it through the year with remarkably little controversy, but she did garner some critics on Twitter after she mercilessly came for Eric Clapton, calling his music "extremely mediocre." She also called The Strokes an "industry plant."Her digital presence—unfiltered, NSFW, aggressively bisexual and always absurdly funny—is certainly part of her appeal, though one has to wonder what will happen in the future as Bridgers inevitably grows more famous.
Sad the Whole Time
Throughout it all, Bridgers has remained as sad as ever. That's part of what's made her music so widely beloved. She has a way of writing about the sadness and futility of existence that shone brighter than ever in the desolation of 2020.
What's next for Bridgers? Grammys and more accolades, certainly. High-profile collaborations, probably (a collaboration with Taylor Swift could be in the works; Bridgers continues to refer to an album called f**klore on Twitter). A major stadium tour filled with sad girls screaming along to "I Know The End," definitely. A string of murders as she predicted in "Killer"? Unlikely, but fame definitely does tend to mess with people's heads.
In "Garden Song," she sings, "No I'm not afraid of hard work / I get everything I want," and judging by this year, that is all certainly true. But the question is: What does she actually want?
"I hopped the fence when I was 17 / I knew what I wanted then," she sings. Now she's gotten everything and the sky is the limit, but where is the queen of sadness to go next in a broken world now that she's hacked its algorithm and convinced everyone to fall in love with her?
It seems like right now, she's been spending a lot of time cleaning, which makes a weird sort of sense and feels straight out of a Bridgers song.