Sufjan Stevens facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sufjan Stevens
Stevens performing at Pitchfork Music Festival in July 2016
Background information
Born	(1975-07-01) July 1, 1975 (age 50) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres	Indie folk chamber pop folktronica indie rock electronica
Occupation(s)	Musician singer songwriter
Instruments	Vocals · guitar · banjo · guitalin · keyboard · woodwinds · percussion
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Asthmatic Kitty Sounds Familyre Orchard

Sufjan Stevens (born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who plays many instruments. He has released many albums by himself and with other artists. Sufjan has even been nominated for big awards like the Grammy and Academy Awards!

His first album, A Sun Came, came out in 2000. It was released on the Asthmatic Kitty label, which he started with his stepfather. He became very well-known for his 2005 album Illinois. This album reached number one on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. The song "Chicago" from that album was also very popular.

Later, Sufjan helped create the music for the 2017 movie Call Me by Your Name. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. He also received a Grammy nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media for the song "Mystery of Love" from the movie.

Stevens has released albums with many different music styles. These include the electronic sounds of The Age of Adz and the simple folk music of Seven Swans. He also made the orchestral album Illinois and Christmas-themed songs in Songs for Christmas. He often plays many instruments himself on his recordings. Sufjan's music also explores different ideas, especially about faith and spirituality. His tenth studio album, Javelin, was released in October 2023.

Early Life and Education

Sufjan Stevens was born in Detroit, Michigan. He lived there until he was nine years old. Then, his family moved to Alanson, Michigan, in the northern part of Michigan. He was raised by his father, Rasjid, and his stepmother, Pat. He would visit his mother, Carrie, in Oregon sometimes. His mother later married Lowell Brams, who became the head of Sufjan's record label, Asthmatic Kitty. Sufjan has Lithuanian and Greek family roots. His first name, Sufjan, comes from Arabic or Persian. It was given to him by the founder of Subud, a spiritual group his parents belonged to.

Sufjan went to the Detroit Waldorf School and other public schools. He also attended Interlochen Arts Academy. He finished high school at Harbor Light Christian School. After that, he went to Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and then earned a degree in Creative Writing from The New School in New York City.

While in school, Sufjan learned to play the oboe and the English horn. He plays these instruments on his albums. He did not learn to play the guitar until he was at Hope College.

Music Career Highlights

Starting Out and the Fifty States Project (1995–2006)

Stevens performing at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Sufjan Stevens started his music journey in bands like Marzuki and Con Los Dudes. He also played instruments for the band Danielson Famile. During his last semester at Hope College, Sufjan wrote and recorded his first solo album, A Sun Came. He released it on Asthmatic Kitty Records. Later, he moved to New York City to study writing. While there, he became very interested in writing short stories. This led him back to writing songs.

In New York, Sufjan wrote and recorded his second album, Enjoy Your Rabbit. This album was a series of songs based on the animals of the Chinese zodiac. It explored electronic music.

After this, Sufjan released Michigan. This album was a collection of folk songs and instrumentals. It included songs about cities like Detroit and Flint. It also featured places like the Upper Peninsula and vacation spots. In this album, he also shared his feelings about faith, sadness, and love. With Michigan, Sufjan announced a big plan: to write an album for each of the 50 U.S. states. He called this the Fifty States Project.

After Michigan, Sufjan put together older songs into another album, Seven Swans, released in March 2004. Sufjan did not quit his job at Time Warner until he started touring for Seven Swans.

Next, he released the second album in his Fifty States Project, called Illinois. This album explored topics like the cities of Chicago and Decatur. It also mentioned the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 and the death of a friend. Sufjan spent time in 2004 researching and writing for this album. Like Michigan, Illinois used the state as a starting point for his personal thoughts on faith, family, and places.

The album was supposed to come out on July 5, 2005. However, it was delayed because of a legal issue. The original album cover had an image of Superman. On the first 5,000 vinyl copies, a balloon sticker was placed over Superman. Later printings had an empty space where Superman was, just like the CD release. Illinois was highly praised and was named the best album of 2005 by the website Metacritic. Sufjan won several awards for Illinois, including Album of the Year and Male Artist of the Year.

In April 2006, Sufjan announced that 21 songs from the Illinois recording sessions would be on a new album. This album, called The Avalanche, was released on July 11, 2006. On November 21, 2006, a five-CD box set called Songs for Christmas was released. It contained original songs and Christmas classics that Sufjan had recorded every year since 2001. He started this project to help himself appreciate Christmas more.

Even though people thought Sufjan would continue his "States" project, he later said it was more of a "promotional gimmick." He admitted that he didn't seriously plan to finish all 50 states. In 2009, he said he had less faith in his work than before, but thought it was healthy. This allowed him to be less strict about how he worked and wrote.

Soundtracks and Collaborations (2007–2009)

During the 2005 winter holidays, Sufjan recorded an album with Rosie Thomas and Denison Witmer. He played banjo and sang on it. These songs were released digitally in December 2006 as a Rosie Thomas album called These Friends of Mine.

In May 2007, Sufjan announced a new project called The BQE. This was a "symphonic and cinematic exploration" of New York City's Brooklyn–Queens Expressway. The BQE included a film made by Sufjan, with him and an orchestra playing the music live. The performance had 36 musicians and even hula hoopers. There were no lyrics in the music. The BQE was performed for three nights in November 2007 and sold out without any advertising. It won the 2008 Brendan Gill Prize.

Sufjan has also written essays for Asthmatic Kitty Records and Topic Magazine. He wrote an introduction for a book called The Best American Nonrequired Reading in 2007. It was a short story about his early childhood and learning to read. That winter, he held a "Xmas Song Exchange Contest." The winner, Alec Duffy, won exclusive rights to Sufjan's song "Lonely Man of Winter." This song could only be heard at private listening parties until 2018.

Sufjan has worked with many other musicians. He played piano on The National's album Boxer in 2007. He also produced and played instruments on Rosie Thomas's album These Friends of Mine. He played oboe and sang on David Garland's 2007 album Noise in You.

He has also covered songs by other artists like Tim Buckley, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan. His versions of "Free Man in Paris" and "What Goes On" are special because he kept only the lyrics but changed the melody and music. His version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" also has a new melody and a new verse.

His songs "The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders" and "All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands" were in the 2006 British movie Driving Lessons. In 2008, he produced Welcome to The Welcome Wagon, the first album by the duo The Welcome Wagon.

In February 2009, Sufjan contributed "You Are the Blood" to the AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night. In April 2009, he put a song online about director Sofia Coppola. This song was part of a series of songs he wrote about names when he was in college.

Solo Albums and Tours (2009–2011)

Stevens in 2011, after returning to recording and touring

In September 2009, Sufjan started playing four new songs on his fall tour. These songs were "All Delighted People," "Impossible Soul," "Too Much," and "Age of Adz." That year, Sufjan also worked on an album with his stepfather, Lowell Brams, called Music for Insomnia. It was released in December 2009. In October 2009, Sufjan's label, Asthmatic Kitty Records, released an album of his 2001 album Enjoy Your Rabbit rearranged for strings. It was performed by the Osso String Quartet and called Run Rabbit Run.

In 2010, Sufjan was featured on The National's album High Violet. He sang backing vocals for the band on the Late Show with David Letterman. The band's lead singer, Matt Berninger, mentioned that Sufjan was recording a new album in their studio. In August, Sufjan announced many tour dates across North America. On August 20, 2010, Sufjan suddenly released a new collection of songs, the All Delighted People EP, for digital download. This EP surprisingly reached #27 on the Billboard 200 just from digital sales. On August 26, Asthmatic Kitty announced that Sufjan would release his newest full album, The Age of Adz, on October 12.

These two albums had many different musical styles, from orchestral to electronic. The songs were also much longer. For example, "Djohariah" from All Delighted People is 17 minutes long, and "Impossible Soul" from The Age of Adz is 25 minutes long. The albums also featured styles from disco to folk music.

Sufjan has said in interviews that in 2009 and 2010, he had a mysterious illness that affected his nervous system. He felt constant pain and had to stop working on music for several months. He explained that The Age of Adz was partly a result of dealing with these health issues.

On October 12, 2010, Sufjan began his North American tour in Montreal. The tour lasted about a month. Sufjan also toured Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the United Kingdom in 2011. His shows mostly featured new music, but he also played older songs from Seven Swans and Illinois.

More Collaborations (2012–2014)

Stevens performing in Providence, Rhode Island, as part of his "The Sirfjam Stephanapolous Christmas Sing-a-Long Seasonal Affective Disorder Spectacular Music Pageant Variety Show Disaster" tour in 2012

In February 2012, it was announced that Sufjan would release an album called Beak & Claw. He worked on this with artists Son Lux and Serengeti under the name S / S / S. Sufjan also released a record with his friend Rosie Thomas for Record Store Day 2012. He also worked with choreographer Justin Peck on two ballets for the New York City Ballet: Year of the Rabbit (2012) and Everywhere We Go (2014).

Sufjan, along with musicians Nico Muhly and Bryce Dessner, started performing their classical project Planetarium. This was a song-cycle about the planets in our solar system. They performed it in different countries from March to July 2012.

In October 2012, it was announced that Sufjan would release a second set of Christmas albums. These were called Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6–10 and came out in November 2012. Silver & Gold has 58 songs, making a total of 100 Christmas songs when combined with his first set. To support this release, Sufjan performed in 24 cities in the United States for his 2012 tour. In December 2012, Sufjan released Chopped and Scrooged, a Christmas-themed hip-hop mixtape with music from Silver & Gold.

In 2013, Sufjan and Cat Martino recorded the single "Take the Time." Martino has worked on many of Sufjan's past projects. In March 2014, Sufjan released the album Sisyphus with Son Lux and rapper Serengeti.

Carrie and Lowell and Other Projects (2015–2017)

In January 2015, Asthmatic Kitty Records announced that Sufjan would release a new album called Carrie & Lowell. He shared the first song from the album, "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross", in February 2015. Carrie & Lowell was released on March 31, 2015. The album received great reviews when it came out.

The album explores the ups and downs of life with Sufjan's mother, Carrie. It also includes his stepfather, Lowell Brams. Sufjan said that he wrote the songs for the album while dealing with his feelings after his mother's death in 2012. In January 2015, a tour of North America was announced to go along with the new album. Sufjan also performed at the End of the Road Festival in the United Kingdom.

After Sufjan performed new songs about the solar system in 2012, it was reported in March 2017 that he, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, and James McAlister would make an album. This "80-minute concept album," titled Planetarium, was released in July 2017. In April 2017, a live album and concert film, Carrie & Lowell Live, was released. It featured new versions of songs from Carrie & Lowell. Sufjan also announced another companion piece for Carrie & Lowell, called The Greatest Gift, released in November. It includes four unreleased songs from the album sessions, plus remixes and a demo.

Film Music and New Songs (2017–2019)

In January 2017, it was announced that Sufjan would write and record original songs for the movie Call Me by Your Name. The movie was released in November 2017. The soundtrack features two new songs and a remix of an older song by Sufjan. These include "Visions of Gideon" and "Mystery of Love". In January 2018, "Mystery of Love" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Later, the song received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media. The song was also used in the second season of the Netflix show Sex Education.

In December 2017, Sufjan released two versions of "Tonya Harding," a song about the famous figure skater. The song's video shows a clip of the skater performing. Sufjan said he had wanted to write a song about Tonya Harding since 1991. He felt she was a complex person to write about because her life was so unusual and American. Sufjan offered the song to the makers of the movie I, Tonya, but they decided not to include it.

In October 2018, Sufjan performed and recorded a song with indie folk musician Angelo De Augustine. In May 2019, Sufjan released two new songs, "Love Yourself" and "With My Whole Heart." He also designed T-shirts related to the singles. In October 2019, Sufjan released an album called The Decalogue with pianist Timo Andres. It is based on a ballet of the same name by Justin Peck, with music composed by Sufjan.

Recent Albums (2020–Present)

On March 24, 2020, Sufjan released an album with his stepfather, Lowell Brams, called Aporia. In June, Sufjan announced his eighth solo album, The Ascension. The first song from the album, "America", was released in July. The album's second song, "Video Game," came out in August, and "Sugar" in September. The Ascension was fully released on September 25.

On May 6, 2021, Sufjan released a five-volume album of meditation music, called Convocations. In July 2021, Sufjan announced a collaborative album called A Beginner's Mind. He recorded it with fellow singer-songwriter Angelo De Augustine. They also shared the album cover and two songs, "Reach Out" and "Olympus." A Beginner's Mind is a concept album, where each song is inspired by a different movie.

On April 18, 2023, Sufjan announced the album Reflections. This album contains piano pieces he wrote for the Houston Ballet. Along with the announcement, Sufjan released the first song, "Ekstasis," performed by pianists Timo Andres and Conor Hanick. Reflections was released on May 19, 2023.

On August 14, 2023, Sufjan released the song "So You Are Tired." He also announced an album to be released in October 2023, called Javelin. This album is described as his first "singer-songwriter" album since 2015's Carrie & Lowell. It includes contributions from other musicians like Adrienne Maree Brown and the National's Bryce Dessner.

In January 2024, a musical called Illinoise debuted in Chicago. It is based on Sufjan's album Illinois. Sufjan also added new music and lyrics to the show. It was directed and choreographed by Justin Peck. The story was written by Peck and Jackie Sibblies Drury. In March, it was announced that the show would move to Broadway in New York City. This production received four nominations at the 77th Tony Awards, winning one for Best Choreography for Justin Peck.

Sufjan's Musical Style

Stevens touring in 2012, performing Christmas music in the Sufjan Stevens Christmas Sing-a-Long: Seasonal Affective Disorder Yuletide Disaster Pageant on Ice

Sufjan Stevens' music is often described as indie folk, alternative rock, indie rock, and electronica. He plays many instruments, which makes him a multi-instrumentalist. He is well-known for playing the banjo often. He also plays guitar, piano, drums, woodwind instruments, and many others on his recordings. He uses a technique called multitrack recording to layer these instruments.

Themes in Sufjan's Music

Sufjan's songs often explore themes of love, outer space, and sadness.

Even though many of his songs have spiritual ideas, Sufjan does not call himself a contemporary Christian music artist. He also does not often talk about religion with the press. He once told The Village Voice: "I don't think music media is the real place for deep talks about faith. I think I've said and sung things that might not have been right for this kind of platform. And I just feel like it's not my job to make big claims because it's often misunderstood."

In a 2004 interview, when asked about how important faith was to his music, he said, "I don't like talking about that stuff in public because I think certain ideas and beliefs are meant for personal conversations." In a 2006 interview, he said, "It's not so much that faith influences us as it lives in us. In every situation (giving a speech or tying my shoes), I am living and moving and being."

Personal Life

Sufjan Stevens has lived in Upstate New York near the Catskill Mountains since 2019. Before that, he lived in New York City for 20 years. He is a Christian. In 2005, Sufjan also stated that he attended an Anglo-Catholic Episcopal church.

In September 2023, Sufjan shared on Instagram that he had been in the hospital the month before. He was diagnosed with a health condition and was undergoing physical therapy to learn how to walk again.

Awards and Nominations

Discography

Studio Albums

• A Sun Came (2000)
• Enjoy Your Rabbit (2001)
• Michigan (2003)
• Seven Swans (2004)
• Illinois (2005)
• The Age of Adz (2010)
• Carrie & Lowell (2015)
• The Ascension (2020)
• Convocations (2021)
• Javelin (2023)

Collaborative Albums

• Sisyphus (2014), with Serengeti and Son Lux as Sisyphus
• Planetarium (2017), with Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, and James McAlister
• The Decalogue (2019), with Timo Andres
• Aporia (2020), with Lowell Brams
• A Beginner's Mind (2021), with Angelo De Augustine
• Reflections (2023), with Timo Andres and Conor Hanick

Compilations and Additional Releases

• The Avalanche (2006)
• Songs for Christmas (2006)
• The BQE (2009) (soundtrack)
• All Delighted People (2010)
• Silver & Gold (2012)

See also

In Spanish: Sufjan Stevens para niños