Sufjan Stevens

One of the darlings of '00s indie pop and folk, Detroit-born New York resident Sufjan Stevens produced a long string of wildly eclectic albums, all displaying his unique melodic sense. Raised by his parents in the Subud faith, Stevens turned to Christianity and developed the spirituality that would inform his music. He graduated from the progressive Christian school Hope College before getting a fine arts master's degree at New School in New York. While at Hope he formed his first band, Marzuki (named for his brother who is a marathon runner, not a musician) and also began a longtime association with the outsider rock-gospel group, the Danielson Famile. His first solo album, "A Sun Came" was also recorded while at Hope. More lo-fi than later work, it drew from Middle Eastern folk and featured him on a variety of instruments including sitar, banjo and xylophone. These instruments, along with his tape loop experiments, would reappear on later albums. He picked up his recording career after moving to New York, first with "Enjoy Your Rabbit," an instrumental album based on the Chinese Zodiac, whose sound was more electronic and cinematic. This and all future albums were released on Asthmatic Kitty, the label he cofounded. He'd attract more attention with the next release, "Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lake State," which he claimed was the first of 50 albums devoted to each of the states. (As it turned out, there was only one other.) The album combined the ethereal folk and pop of his first album with the sweeping electronics of the second, and became an underground and critical hit. The cult grew with the 2003's "Seven Swans," a gentler acoustic album, and the elaborately conceptual "Illinoise" the second in the states series. The cover art, referencing Slade's hit "Cum On Feel the Noize," was perhaps the clearest example of Stevens' sense of humor. Continuing his musical explorations, Stevens scored his second album (now retitled "Run Rabbit Run") for string quartet, and in 2009 unveiled a multimedia performance piece, "The BQE," based on his surreal views of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Stevens also released a series of ten Christmas EPs, with both original and traditional songs, which were collected in two boxed sets. Though there were no new albums for the next five years, Stevens undertook a series of collaborative projects, including two ballets with choreographer Justin Peck and a hip-hop project with indie musician Son Lux and rapper Serengeti, under the name Sisyphus. Stevens reappeared in 2015 with "Carrie & Lowell," dedicated to his mother who died of stomach cancer three years earlier. Though one of his darker and more personal albums, it continued his longstanding themes of faith and redemption. In 2017, Stevens announced he would be providing songs for the soundtrack for the romantic drama film "Call Me by Your Name" (2017). In 2019, Stevens released "Love Yourself" and "With My Whole Heart" in celebration of Pride Month, and also designed corresponding T-shirts. Stevens donated a portion of the proceeds from the songs and shirts to organizations that help LGBTQ youth. In 2021, he released "Convocations," a five-volume album of ambient meditation music. Not one to sit idle, Stevens announced the album "Reflections" in 2023, and released the single "So You Are Tired," promoting the album "Javelin" just months later. Several years in the making, the musical "Illinoise" debuted at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in 2024. The show then moved to the St. James Theatre in New York City and received four Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical.