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{{Short description|American rock musician (born 1995)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox musical artist
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Julien Baker
| name = Julien Baker
| image = Julien Baker by Sachyn Mital.jpg
| image = Boygenius - 53085336671.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| caption = Baker performing in 2023
| alt =
| birth_name = Julien Rose Baker
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1995|9|29}}
| caption = Julien Baker performing at Rough Trade NYC on January 25, 2016
| birth_place = [[Germantown, Tennessee]], U.S.
| background = solo_singer
| genre = {{hlist|[[Alternative rock]]|[[indie folk]]|[[slowcore]]|[[indie rock]]|[[post-rock]]}}
| birth_name =
| occupation = {{hlist|Musician|singer-songwriter}}
| alias =
| instrument = {{hlist|Vocal|guitar|keyboards|mandolin|bass|banjo|drums}}
| birth_date = {{September 29, 1995}}
| years_active = 2010–present
| birth_place = [[Memphis, Tennessee]], United States
| origin = [[Memphis, Tennessee]], United States
| label = {{hlist|[[Matador Records|Matador]]|6131 Records (former)}}
| current_member_of = [[Boygenius]]
| death_date = <!-- {{death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date 1st) -->
| death_place =
| website = {{official URL}}
| genre = Alternative rock
| occupation = Singer-songwriter
| instrument = Guitar, Piano, Mandolin
| years_active = <!-- YYYY–YYYY (or –present) -->
| label = 6131 Records
| associated_acts = Forrister
| website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| notable_instruments =
}}
}}
'''Julien Rose Baker''' (born September 1995<ref name="Julien Baker Arrives">{{Cite web|url = http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/julien-baker-arrives/Content?oid=4244620|title = Julien Baker Arrives|date = October 22, 2015|accessdate = December 30, 2015|website = Memphis Flyer|publisher = |last = Townsend|first = Eileen}}</ref>) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from [[Memphis, Tennessee]]. She is part of the alternative rock band, Forrister, and is also a successful solo artist. Her debut studio album, ''[[Sprained Ankle (album)|Sprained Ankle]]'', was well received in 2015. She is signed to 6131 Records.


'''Julien Rose Baker''' (born September 29, 1995) is an American indie rock singer and guitarist. Her music is noted for its moody quality and confessional lyrical style, as well as frank explorations of topics including [[Christianity]], [[addiction]], [[Mental disorder|mental illness]], and [[human nature]]. She has received six [[Grammy Award]] nominations and three wins as a member of [[Boygenius]].<ref>{{cite web |title=boygenius |url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/boygenius/54205 |website=Grammy}}</ref>
== Early life and education ==
Baker was born in [[Memphis, Tennessee]]<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/julien-baker/id1033453223|title = Julien Baker on iTunes|date = |accessdate = December 30, 2015|website = iTunes|publisher = |last = |first = }}</ref> and grew up in the Bluff City with her mother and father. They attended church regularly and faith became important to her.<ref name="The Best of What's Next">{{Cite web|url = http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/12/julien-baker-the-best-of-whats-next.html|title = Julien Baker: The Best of What's Next|date = December 1, 2015|accessdate = December 30, 2015|website = Paste Magazine|publisher = |last = Gokhman|first = Roman}}</ref> She learned guitar by playing her father's when he wasn't practicing and played [[Fall Out Boy]] covers often.<ref name="Hits New York">{{Cite web|url = http://wwd.com/eye/people/julien-baker-singer-cake-shop-10200835-10200835/|title = Singer-Songwriter Julien Baker Hits New York|date = August 11, 2015|accessdate = December 30, 2015|website = WWD|publisher = |last = Nordstrom|first = Leigh}}</ref> Her parents divorced but both supported her interest in punk music.<ref name="The Best of What's Next" /> She got her father to take her to punk shows in substance-free environments organized by [[Smithseven|Smith7 Records]], a Memphis non-profit organization.<ref name="Hits New York" /><ref name="Stereogum interview">{{Cite web|url = http://www.stereogum.com/1839442/read-an-interview-with-young-phenom-julien-baker-and-watch-her-sprained-ankle-video/franchises/interview/|title = Read An Interview With Young Phenom Julien Baker And Watch Her "Sprained Ankle" Video|date = October 26, 2015|accessdate = December 30, 2015|website = Stereogum|publisher = |last = Claymore|first = Gabriela Tully}}</ref>


Born and raised in suburban [[Memphis, Tennessee]], Baker released her debut album ''[[Sprained Ankle (album)|Sprained Ankle]]'' (2015) while she was a student at [[Middle Tennessee State University]]. The album received critical acclaim and appeared on several 2015 year-end lists. Baker subsequently signed to [[Matador Records]] and released her second studio album ''[[Turn Out the Lights (album)|Turn Out the Lights]]'' in 2017, to further critical success. Her third album, ''[[Little Oblivions]]'' (2021), embraced a more full-band sound and became Baker's first top 40 album on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] chart.
In 2010, Julien Baker and Matthew Gilliam started The Star Killers, who changed their name to Forrister in 2015. Baker is the band's vocalist; both she and Berlin Howell play guitar. Matthew Gilliam is the drummer, David "Creech" Creech is the bassist. <ref>{{Cite web|url = http://forristertn.tumblr.com/about|title = Forrister - Forrister|date = |accessdate = December 30, 2015|website = Tumblr|publisher = |last = |first = }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://mtsusidelines.com/2015/02/from-memphis-to-murfreesboro-musician-julien-baker-shares-her-passion/|title = From Memphis to Murfreesboro: Musician Julien Baker Shares Her Passion|date = February 23, 2015|accessdate = December 30, 2015|website = Sidelines|publisher = |last = Ladd|first = Olivia}}</ref> During Baker's performances with Forrister, she connected with musician Ryan Azada, who introduced her music to 6131 Records.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.popmatters.com/feature/julien-bakers-real-life-music-tugs-at-the-heartstrings/|title = Julien Baker's 'Real Life' Music Tugs at the Heartstrings|date = December 9, 2015|accessdate = December 30, 2015|website = PopMatters|publisher = |last = Chiu|first = David}}</ref>


In addition to her solo work, Baker is a member of the indie [[Supergroup (music)|supergroup]] Boygenius, alongside [[Phoebe Bridgers]] and [[Lucy Dacus]]. The group's debut [[Boygenius (EP)|eponymous EP]] was released in October 2018. Boygenius announced their reunion in January 2023, and their debut studio album ''[[The Record (Boygenius album)|The Record]]'' was released in March. Their newest release, titled ''[[The Rest (EP)|The Rest]]'', was released in October 2023.
She attends [[Middle Tennessee State University]]. Originally a recording engineering major, she switched to secondary education and literature so she could teach high school students.<ref name="Julien Baker Arrives" /><ref name="Hits New York" />


== Career ==
== Early life ==
Baker was born on September 29, 1995, in [[Germantown, Tennessee|Germantown]], and raised in [[Bartlett, Tennessee]], a suburb of [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]].<ref name="thecommercialappeal">{{cite web |last1=Mehr |first1=Bob |title=Ascendant Julien Baker overcame darkness to find light of success |url=https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/04/28/ascendant-julien-baker-overcame-darkness-to-find-light-of-success/90512780/ |website=[[The Commercial Appeal]] |date=April 28, 2016 |access-date=August 21, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Julien Baker Arrives">{{Cite web |last=Townsend |first=Eileen |date=October 22, 2015 |title=Julien Baker Arrives |url=http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/julien-baker-arrives/Content?oid=4244620 |access-date=December 30, 2015 |website=[[Memphis Flyer]]}}{{dead link|date=April 2024}}</ref> Her parents both worked in the field of [[physical therapy]]. She has spoken of being inspired by her father who, after an accident in his twenties resulting in the amputation of his leg, dedicated his life to making experimental [[prosthetic limbs]].<ref name="JBUndertheRadarMag">{{cite web |last1=Fink |first1=Matt |title=Julien Baker - The Under the Radar Cover Story |url=http://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/julien_baker_-_the_under_the_radar_cover_story/ |website=[[Under the Radar (magazine)|Under the Radar]]|date=December 22, 2017 |access-date=December 24, 2021}}</ref> Baker's parents separated while she was in elementary school.<ref name=NYTWilliams>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/books/julien-baker-sad-songs-that-whisper-and-howl.html|title=Julien Baker: Sad Songs That Whisper and Howl|last=Williams|first=John|date=April 26, 2016|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 24, 2021}}</ref>
Baker was separated from Forrister during her freshman year at MTSU and began writing songs on her own.<ref name="The Best of What's Next" /><ref name="Stereogum interview" /> She self-released an EP in the winter of 2014 on [[Bandcamp]].<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=3735972|title = Julien Baker - 11/10/15|date = November 11, 2015|accessdate = December 30, 2015|website = AbsolutePunk.net|publisher = |last = Mook|first = Aaron}}</ref> It would later become her debut studio album ''[[Sprained Ankle (album)|Sprained Ankle]]'', being re-released on October 23, 2015 through 6131 Records.

Baker grew up in a devout [[Baptists|Baptist]] family, and her early exposure to music involved playing at her church.<ref name="thecommercialappeal"/><ref name="Pareles 2017">{{cite web |last1=Pareles |first1=Jon |title=Julien Baker Bravely Confronts Her Traumas and Fears |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/22/arts/music/julien-baker-turn-out-the-lights.html |website=The New York Times |url-access=subscription |access-date=22 November 2020 |date=22 October 2017}}</ref> After seeing [[Green Day]] on television, she was inspired to explore more alternative music and started listening to bands like [[My Chemical Romance]] and [[Death Cab for Cutie]].<ref name="JBUndertheRadarMag" /><ref name="TurnedOutaPunk">{{cite web |last1=Turned Out a Punk Podcast |title=Episode 197: Julien Baker |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-197-julien-baker-boygenius/id940288964?i=1000427726489 |website=Apple Podcasts}}</ref> She subsequently became captivated by the [[Punk subculture|punk]], [[Hardcore punk|hardcore]], [[metalcore]], and [[screamo]] scenes, and has said some of her favorite bands were [[mewithoutYou]], [[Underoath]], [[The Chariot (band)|The Chariot]], [[Norma Jean (band)|Norma Jean]], and [[Whitechapel (band)|Whitechapel]].<ref name="JBUndertheRadarMag" /><ref name="TurnedOutaPunk" /> She struggled with substance abuse as a young teen, but found support in the community surrounding [[House concert|house shows]] in Memphis, and became inspired by the [[straight edge]] punk subculture.<ref name="JBUndertheRadarMag" /><ref name="JBStraightEdge">{{cite web |last1=88Nine Radio Milwaukee |title=Interview with Julien Baker |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n-Ap0qL5dM |website=YouTube}}</ref> While in high school in 2010, Baker co-founded the band the Star Killers, who renamed themselves Forrister in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://forristertn.tumblr.com/about|title = Forrister – Forrister|access-date = December 30, 2015|website =Forristertn.tumblr.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://mtsusidelines.com/2015/02/from-memphis-to-murfreesboro-musician-julien-baker-shares-her-passion/|title = From Memphis to Murfreesboro: Musician Julien Baker Shares Her Passion|date = February 23, 2015|access-date = December 30, 2015|website = Mtusidelines.com|last = Ladd|first = Olivia}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url = http://www.popmatters.com/feature/julien-bakers-real-life-music-tugs-at-the-heartstrings/|title = Julien Baker's 'Real Life' Music Tugs at the Heartstrings|date = December 9, 2015|access-date = December 30, 2015|website = PopMatters.com|last = Chiu|first = David}}</ref>

Baker attended [[Arlington High School (Tennessee)|Arlington High School]] and then [[Middle Tennessee State University]], where she had a campus job in the [[Audiovisual|A/V]] department and initially studied audio engineering, before switching to literature and secondary education.<ref name="Julien Baker Arrives" /><ref name="memphisflyer">{{cite web |last1=Cannon |first1=Joshua |last2=Shaw |first2=Chris |title=Beale Street Music Fest: On the Road, On the Beach, On the Rise |url=https://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/beale-street-music-fest-on-the-road-on-the-beach-on-the-rise/Content?oid=4616788 |publisher=[[Memphis Flyer]] |access-date=17 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="NZHerald">{{cite news|last1=Fenwick|first1=George|title=Julien Baker on queerness, the power of music and making people cry|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11892125|access-date=July 26, 2017|newspaper=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|date=July 20, 2017}}</ref><ref name="JBStereogum">{{cite web |last1=Claymore |first1=Gabriela Tully |title=An Interview with Young Phenom Julien Baker |url=https://www.stereogum.com/1839442/read-an-interview-with-young-phenom-julien-baker-and-watch-her-sprained-ankle-video/interviews/ |website=Stereogum|date=October 26, 2015 }}</ref> She eventually left school to tour full-time after the release of ''[[Sprained Ankle (album)|Sprained Ankle]]'', but returned to campus in the fall of 2019 to complete her degree in literature.<ref name="RollingStoneStillLearning">{{cite magazine |last1=Bernstein |first1=Jonathan |title=Julien Baker is Still Learning |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/julien-baker-new-album-interview-little-oblivions-1075596/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |date = October 21, 2020 |access-date = December 24, 2021}}</ref>

==Career==
===2015–2017: ''Sprained Ankle'' and ''Turn Out the Lights''===
[[File:Julien Baker by Sachyn Mital.jpg|left|thumb|Baker performing at Rough Trade NYC in 2016|258x258px]]
During her first year at [[MTSU]], Baker began writing songs on her own, often utilizing the university practice rooms that stayed open late at night.<ref name="The Best of What's Next">{{Cite web|url=http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/12/julien-baker-the-best-of-whats-next.html|title=Julien Baker: The Best of What's Next|last=Gokhman|first=Roman|date=December 1, 2015|website=Pastemagazine.com|access-date=December 30, 2015}}</ref> She wrote what would become ''[[Sprained Ankle (album)|Sprained Ankle]]'' in her dorm room and recorded it on free studio time that a friend of hers had gotten from an internship. She has said that she never thought the EP would be heard by a wide audience; she put it on [[Bandcamp]] so that her friends could hear it.<ref name="JBEntertainmentWeekly">{{cite magazine |last1=Hughes |first1=Hilary |title=Julien Baker is Just Being Honest |url=https://ew.com/music/julien-baker-little-oblivions/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}</ref>

It was picked up by 6131 Records, who released the album ''[[Sprained Ankle (album)|Sprained Ankle]]'' in October 2015.<ref name=":0" /> ''Sprained Ankle'' ended up topping many 2015 year-end lists, and its success led to features in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' and ''[[The New York Times]]'', with various critics calling it "heartbreaking," "hypnotic," and "striking."<ref name="NewYorkerBelievesinGod">{{cite magazine |last1=Syme |first1=Rachel |title=Julien Baker Believes in God |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/julien-baker-believes-in-god |magazine=The New Yorker |date = April 29, 2016 | access-date = December 23, 2021}}</ref><ref name="JBUndertheRadarMag" /><ref name=NYTWilliams/>
In March 2016, Baker gave an [[Tiny Desk Concerts|NPR Tiny Desk]] performance, the first of an eventual four appearances at the desk.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tADWPTqR_4A|title=Julien Baker: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert|last=NPR Music|date=March 7, 2016|access-date=October 27, 2017|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}</ref><ref name="TOTLTinyDesk">{{cite web |last1=Boilen |first1=Bob |title=Julien Baker: Turn Out the Lights Tiny Desk Concert |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/01/10/576767428/julien-baker-tiny-desk-concert |website=NPR.org|date=January 10, 2018 }}</ref><ref name="BoygeniusTinyDesk">{{cite web |last1=Boilen |first1=Bob |title=Boygenius: Tiny Desk Concert |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/11/15/668198418/boygenius-tiny-desk-concert |website=NPR.org|date=November 16, 2018 }}</ref><ref name="HayleyWilliamsTinyDesk">{{cite web |last1=Gotrich |first1=Lars |title=Hayley Williams: Tiny Desk Concert |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/12/09/943962875/hayley-williams-tiny-desk-home-concert |website=NPR.org|date=December 9, 2020 }}</ref> She also played at that year's [[South by Southwest]] and [[Newport Folk Festival|Newport Folk]] festivals.<ref name="JBSXSW">{{cite web |title=Julien Baker: SXSW 2016 Event Schedule |url=https://schedule.sxsw.com/2016/2016/events/event_MS34325 |website=SXSW.com}}</ref><ref name="JBNewportFolk">{{cite web |last1=Horn |first1=Rachel |title=Julien Baker, Live In Concert: Newport Folk 2016 |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/08/03/488354526/julien-baker-live-in-concert-newport-folk-2016 |website=NPR.org}}</ref> Her performances from this period have been called "hushed, reverential events," with the audience often remaining quiet and emotional.<ref name="NewYorkerBelievesinGod" />

In October 2016, she contributed to ''Say Yes! A Tribute to [[Elliott Smith]]'', covering "Ballad of Big Nothing".<ref name="JBElliottSmith">{{cite web |last1=Aycock |first1=Dylan |title=Hear Julien Baker's "Ballad Of Big Nothing" Cover For Elliott Smith Tribute |url=https://americansongwriter.com/hear-julian-bakers-ballad-of-big-nothing-elliott-smith-tribute/ |website=American Songwriter|date=April 5, 2016 }}</ref>

In 2017, she signed to [[Matador Records]], and released a [[Single (music)#7-inch format|7-inch single]] consisting of the songs "Funeral Pyre" (previously called "Sad Song 11") and "Distant Solar Systems."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.matadorrecords.com/|title=Matador Records|website=Matadorecords.com|access-date=October 27, 2017}}</ref><ref name="julienbaker.bandcamp.com">{{cite web|url=https://julienbaker.bandcamp.com/track/funeral-pyre|title=Funeral Pyre, by Julien Baker|website=Julienbaker.bandcamp.com|access-date=October 27, 2017}}</ref>

Her second album, ''[[Turn Out the Lights (album)|Turn Out the Lights]]'', was recorded with engineer and producer Calvin Lauber at [[Ardent Studios]] in Memphis, and released on October 27, 2017, to further acclaim. She spent the following year touring across the U.S. and internationally, performing alongside artists including [[The National (band)|The National]], [[Father John Misty]], [[Half Waif]], [[Adam Torres (singer)|Adam Torres]], and [[Lucy Dacus]], and appearing on ''[[CBS This Morning]]'' and ''[[The Late Show with Stephen Colbert]]''.<ref name="JBSongkick">{{cite web |title=Julien Baker Tour Dates & Concerts |url=https://www.songkick.com/artists/8559849-julien-baker |website=SongKick|date=March 21, 2023 }}</ref><ref name="JBExclaim">{{cite web |last1=Slingerland |first1=Calum |title=The National Announce Toronto Show with Father John Misty, Jenny Lewis, Julien Baker |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/the_national_plot_toronto_show_with_father_john_misty_jenny_lewis_julien_baker |website=Exclaim}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Yoo |first1=Noah |title=Watch Julien Baker Perform "Turn Out the Lights" on "Colbert" |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-julien-baker-perform-turn-out-the-lights-on-colbert/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=22 November 2020 |date=4 January 2018}}</ref>

Baker has opened for or collaborated with a wide range of artists, including [[Death Cab for Cutie]], [[Conor Oberst]], [[Paramore]] and [[Hayley Williams]], [[The National (band)|The National]], [[The Decemberists]], [[Belle & Sebastian]], [[Frightened Rabbit]], [[The Front Bottoms]], [[Touche Amore]], [[Manchester Orchestra]], and [[Bright Eyes (band)|Bright Eyes]]. During Eaux Claire in July 2018, she performed with a poet [[Hanif Abdurraqib]], mixing "Claws in Your in Your Back" from ''Turn Out the Lights'' with a poem from Abdurraqib's "How Can Black People Write About Flowers at a Time Like This" poems.<ref>{{cite web |title=Claws in Your Back by Julien Baker with poetry from Hanif Abdurraqib at Eaux Claires IV |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=AJuhqqHfAYU |website=YouTube }}</ref><ref>{{Cite Instagram |user=nifmuhammad |postid=Bk6dOKJA_Nt |title=also at Eaux Claire's today: during Julien Baker's evening set, I joined her on stage for a collaborative song/poem thing. We decided last night that we would combine her song "Claws In Your Back" with a poem cycle from the "How Can Black People Write About Flowers at a Time Like This" poems. It wasn't particularly rehearsed beyond talking through the blending of the song and the poem. It was really special, and something I'll hold onto for a long while. There's only a single faraway picture to document the moment (for now) thanks to @natedemars. A flood of gratitude for Julien and the space our wild ideas found to lock arms with each other. |date=July 7, 2018}}</ref>

===2018–2023: Boygenius and ''Little Oblivions''===
In 2018, Baker formed the rock [[Supergroup (music)|supergroup]] [[Boygenius]] with fellow [[Independent music|indie]] singer-songwriters [[Phoebe Bridgers]] and [[Lucy Dacus]], both of whom she had toured with previously. The group released three songs in August of that year and subsequently announced an eponymous EP, ''[[Boygenius (EP)|Boygenius]]'', which was released on October 26, 2018, to widespread critical acclaim.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8471478/boygenius-announces-ep-tour-new-songs|title=Julian Baker, Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers Form Boygenius, Release Three Singles From EP: Listen|last=Rincón|first=Alessandra|date=August 21, 2018|website=Billboard.com|access-date=November 5, 2018}}</ref> The band spent that November touring the U.S., and performed "Me & My Dog" on ''[[Late Night with Seth Meyers]]''.<ref name="BoygeniusLateNightSethMyers">{{cite web |last1=Yoo |first1=Noah |title=Watch boygenius Perform "Me & My Dog" on "Seth Meyers" |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-boygenius-perform-me-and-my-dog-on-seth-meyers/ |website=Pitchfork |date=November 6, 2018 |publisher=Conde Nast}}</ref> The trio has continued to collaborate on each other's solo work since the release of their EP, lending backing vocals to two songs from Bridgers' [[Grammy Award|Grammy]]-nominated ''[[Punisher (album)|Punisher]]'' (2020), "Please Stay" from Dacus' ''[[Home Video (album)|Home Video]]'' (2021), and "Favor" from Baker's ''[[Little Oblivions]]'' (2021), as well as [[Hayley Williams]]' ''[[Petals for Armor]]'' (2020) single "Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris."<ref name="FavorVulture">{{cite web |last1=Curto |first1=Justin |title=Julien Baker Drops New Song 'Favor' with Boygenius |url=https://www.vulture.com/2021/02/julien-baker-favor-boygenius.html |website=Vulture|date=February 3, 2021 }}</ref>
In 2019, Baker put out two [[Single (music)#7-inch format|7-inch singles]]. The first, released in June, featured songs "Red Door" and "Conversation Piece," and the second in October featured "Tokyo" and "Sucker Punch" as part of the [[Sub Pop]] singles series.<ref name="AtwoodMag">{{cite web |last1=Meadows |first1=James |title=Review: Julien Baker's Modern Gospel in "Red Door"/"Conversation Piece" |url=https://atwoodmagazine.com/jbrdcp-julien-baker-red-door-conversation-piece-review/ |website=Atwood Magazine|date=June 26, 2019 }}</ref> All four songs had a slightly more produced sound than her previous work and were received very positively.<ref name="PitchforkTokyo">{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Abby |title="Tokyo" by Julien Baker Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/julien-baker-tokyo/ |website=Pitchfork |publisher=Conde Nast}}</ref> She also contributed to ''[[Frightened_Rabbit#Sixth_album_plans_and_death_of_Scott_Hutchison_(2018–2019)|Tiny Changes: A Celebration of Frightened Rabbit's 'The Midnight Organ Fight']]'', covering "The Modern Leper".<ref name="PitchforkModerLeper">{{cite web |last1=Bloom |first1=Madison |title=Listen to Julien Baker, Ben Gibbard, More Cover Frightened Rabbit on Live Tribute Album |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/listen-to-julien-baker-ben-gibbard-more-cover-frightened-rabbit-on-live-tribute-album/ |website=Pitchfork |date=March 22, 2019 |publisher=Conde Nast}}</ref>

On October 21, 2020, Baker announced her third studio album, ''[[Little Oblivions]]'', accompanied by the lead single "Faith Healer" and an essay by poet [[Hanif Abdurraqib]].<ref name="StereogumFaithHealer">{{cite web |last1=Leas |first1=Ryan |title=Julien Baker – "Faith Healer" |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2102881/julien-baker-little-oblivions-faith-healer/music/ |website=Stereogum|date=October 21, 2020 }}</ref> ''Little Oblivions'' was released February 26, 2021, and was preceded by additional singles "Hardline" and "Favor."<ref name="FavorVulture" /> It was written mostly over the course of 2019, a difficult and formative year for Baker as she had to cancel various tour dates, struggled with her sobriety and mental health, and eventually returned to school to finish her degree at MTSU.<ref name="RollingStoneStillLearning" /> In January, she appeared on ''[[The Late Show with Stephen Colbert]]'', performing "Faith Healer."<ref name="JBLateShowFaithHealer">{{cite web |last1=The Late Show with Stephen Colbert |title=Julien Baker "Faith Healer" |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHIqOZRYQjg |website=YouTube}}</ref>

In 2022, Baker released a B-Side EP to ''Little Oblivions'' and shared the single "Guthrie".<ref>{{cite web|last=Bloom|first=Madison|title=Julien Baker Announces New B-Sides EP, Shares New Song:Listen|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=July 7, 2022 |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/julien-baker-announces-new-b-sides-ep-shares-new-song-listen/}}</ref>

===2023–present: ''The Record''===
In March 2023, [[Boygenius]] released their debut studio album, ''[[The Record (Boygenius album)|The Record]]'', to universal acclaim.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/the-record/boygenius | title=The record by boygenius | website=[[Metacritic]] }}</ref> The band played [[Coachella 2023]] in April. They then embarked on the [[Re:SET Concert Series]] and joined member Phoebe Bridgers for some opening sets on [[Taylor Swift]]'s [[The Eras Tour]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://uproxx.com/indie/phoebe-bridgers-boygenius-eras-tour/ | title=Phoebe Bridgers Brought Out Boygenius During Her First 'Eras' Show | date=May 6, 2023 }}</ref> In June 2023, the band performed in drag in Baker's home state of Tennessee in protest of [[Tennessee Senate Bill 3|anti-drag legislation]] that state governor [[Bill Lee (Tennessee politician)|Bill Lee]] signed into law that was blocked in federal court.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.billboard.com/culture/pride/boygenius-wear-drag-slam-governor-bill-lee-1235361347/ | title=Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus & Julien Baker Wear Drag at Nashville Boygenius Show: 'F–k Bill Lee' | magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] }}</ref> After a North America leg, they toured Europe, before returning to the USA for the second half of the tour.

In October 2023, the band released a second EP, ''[[The Rest (EP)|The Rest]].''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boygenius: The Rest EP |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/boygenius-the-rest-ep/ |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref> During the second leg of their ''[[The Record (Boygenius album)|The Record]]'' tour they debuted the songs night by night. Baker features most prominently on the last song of the collection, "Powers."<ref>{{Cite web |title=the rest by boygenius |url=https://genius.com/albums/Boygenius/The-rest |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=Genius |language=en}}</ref> The band's album, [[The Record (Boygenius album)|The Record]] received six nominations at the [[66th Annual Grammy Awards]] including [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]] and [[Record of the Year]], ultimately winning three, including [[Best Alternative Music Album]]. As of the 1st of February 2024, Boygenius is on hiatus, describing the situation as 'going away for the foreseeable future'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MSN |url=https://www.msn.com/ |access-date=2024-02-05 |website=www.msn.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Is Boygenius breaking up? Memphis-native Julien Baker's band surprise audience during secret show. What we know. |url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/02/02/is-boygenius-breaking-up-what-we-know-after-band-plays-last-show/72449964007/ |access-date=2024-02-05 |website=The Tennessean |language=en-US}}</ref>

In October 2023, Baker released the track "Thick Skull" (Re: Julien Baker) on ''[[This Is Why#Re: This Is Why|Re: This Is Why]]'', a remixed version of [[Paramore]]'s ''[[This Is Why]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Minsker |first=Evan |date=October 4, 2023 |title=Paramore Detail This Is Why Remix Album Featuring Panda Bear, Romy, Bartees Strange, and More |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/paramore-detail-this-is-why-remix-album-featuring-panda-bear-romy-bartees-strange/ |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US |access-date=October 4, 2023}}</ref>

==Artistry==
[[File:Julien Baker - Palace Theatre - St. Paul (36443218242).jpg|thumb|Baker performing at the [[Palace Theatre (St. Paul)|Palace Theatre]] in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]], in 2017|257x257px|left]]

Baker is known for her personal, confessional songwriting, and her music has been categorized as a mix of [[indie rock]], [[indie folk]], [[Alternative rock|alternative]], and [[Emo music|emo]].<ref name="JBOnestoWatch">{{cite web |title=Julien Baker: Ones to Watch |url=https://www.onestowatch.com/artist/julien-baker |website=Ones to Watch}}</ref> The sparse arrangements on her "fragile, gentle" 2015 debut, ''[[Sprained Ankle (album)|Sprained Ankle]]'', feature only her voice, guitar, and occasional piano, and her stage performances for many years consisted of her alone, utilizing a [[loop pedal]].<ref name="PitchforkTOTL">{{cite web |last1=Geffen |first1=Sasha |title=Julien Baker: Turn Out the Lights Album Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/julien-baker-turn-out-the-lights/ |website=Pitchfork |publisher=Conde Nast}}</ref> 2017's ''[[Turn Out the Lights (album)|Turn Out the Lights]]'' saw the addition of occasional violin, as well as organs and "cavernous-sounding production."<ref name="PitchforkTOTL" /><ref name="JBViceNew">{{cite web |last1=O'Neill |first1=Lauren |title=The New Era of Julien Baker |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3gjzk/julien-baker-little-oblivions-interview-2021 |website=Vice|date=February 22, 2021 }}</ref> Her performances from this period have been called "hushed, reverential events," with the audience often remaining quiet and emotional.<ref name="NewYorkerBelievesinGod" />

Baker experimented with a more full-band sound for her 2021 release ''[[Little Oblivions]]'', and has commented on feeling limited by expectations to adhere to her established style.<ref name="JBViceNew" /> The album newly featured drums, bass, keyboards, [[mandolin]], and [[banjo]], all played by Baker on the recording.<ref name="JBBandcamp">{{cite web |title=Little Oblivions|url=https://julienbaker.bandcamp.com/album/little-oblivions |website=Bandcamp}}</ref> On tour following its release, she played with a full band and debuted new, multi-instrument arrangements of her previous work, describing the band's sound as "[[post-rock]]."<ref name="NJtourreview">{{cite web |last1=Olivier |first1=Bobby |title=Julien Baker spins delicate darkness into full-band emo on tour: review |url=https://www.nj.com/entertainment/2021/09/julien-baker-spins-delicate-darkness-into-full-band-emo-on-tour-review.html |website=NJ.com|date=September 15, 2021 }}</ref><ref name="JBtweet">{{cite web |last1=Baker |first1=Julien |title=be warned we're a post rock band now |url=https://twitter.com/julienrbaker/status/1362815859836739586 |website=Twitter}}</ref>

{{quote box|width=35%
|quote="Baker's gentle touch [...] evok[es] an entire world — of suffering and healing, eagerness and fear, loneliness and companionship, distance and intimacy — in its search for a more human truth."
|author=— Marissa Lorusso |source="The 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women", ''[[NPR]]''<ref>{{cite web |title=The 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women+ |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/07/30/627395449/turning-the-tables-the-200-greatest-songs-by-21st-century-women-part-1 |website=NPR |access-date=16 March 2024}}</ref>}}

Baker's writing is infused with religious themes, and it often is noted for its occasionally violent imagery.<ref name="PitchforkTOTL" /><ref name="JBRollingStoneFall20">{{cite magazine |last1=Bernstein |first1=Jonathan |title=Julien Baker is Still Learning |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/julien-baker-new-album-interview-little-oblivions-1075596/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=October 21, 2020 |publisher=Penske Media Corporation}}</ref> Hope, redemption, love, addiction, shame, self-loathing, and direct appeals to God are all prominent motifs throughout her work.<ref name="PitchforkSprainedAnkle">{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Ian |title=Julien Baker: Sprained Ankle Album Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21260-sprained-ankle/ |website=Pitchfork |publisher=Conde Nast}}</ref> Her music often features frank explorations of addiction and sobriety, and she has been open in discussing her experiences with substance abuse and mental illness.<ref name="Music Heals: Julien Baker on Addiction and Finding Your Place in the World">{{cite web |title=Music Heals: Julien Baker on Addiction and Finding Your Place in the World |url=https://www.kexp.org/read/2018/5/24/music-heals-julien-baker-addicition-and-finding-your-place-world/ |website=KEXP.org |publisher=KEXP-FM |access-date=6 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gq.com/story/clean-musicians|title=9 Musicians on How They Thrive Creatively Without Drugs or Booze|first=Chris|last=Heath|website=Gq.com|date=January 15, 2019 }}</ref><ref name="Julien Baker on Living With Depression and OCD">{{cite web |title=Julien Baker on Living With Depression and OCD |url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2021/01/going-there-julien-baker/ |website=Consequence of Sound |date=January 19, 2021 |access-date=6 February 2021}}</ref>

Poet [[Hanif Abdurraqib]] delineated Baker’s body of work as follows:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2102881/julien-baker-little-oblivions-faith-healer/music/|title=Julien Baker - "Faith Healer"|date=21 October 2020}}</ref>
{{blockquote|The grand project of Julien Baker, as I have always projected it onto myself, is the central question of what someone does with the many calamities of a life they didn’t ask for, but want to make the most out of. I have long been done with the idea of hope in such a brutal and unforgiving world, but I’d like to think that this music drags me closer to the old idea I once clung to. But these are songs of survival, and songs of reimagining a better self, and what is that if not hope? Hope that on the other side of our wreckage — self-fashioned or otherwise — there might be a door. And through the opening of that door, a tree spilling its shade over something we love. A bench and upon it, a jacket that once belonged to someone we’d buried. Birds who ask us to be an audience to their singing. A small and generous corner of the earth that has not yet burned down or disappeared. I can be convinced of this kind of hope, even as I fight against it. To hear someone wrestling with and still thankful for the circumstances of a life that might reveal some brilliance if any of us just stick around long enough.}}

==Personal life==
Baker is a [[lesbian]], and her fraught experiences with organized [[Christianity]] inform much of her work.<ref name="NewYorkerBelievesinGod" /><ref>{{cite magazine |first=Jia |last=Tolentino |author-link=Jia Tolentino |title=The Raw Devotion of Julien Baker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-raw-devotion-of-julien-baker |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=October 27, 2017|access-date=January 4, 2018}}</ref> She came out to her parents at age 17, after years of being [[closeted]] and watching friends get sent to [[conversion therapy]] or kicked out of their homes. However, she found her family was "radically accepting."<ref name="NewYorkerBelievesinGod" /> She previously referred to herself as a [[Christian socialism|Christian socialist]], but has spoken on how being constantly labelled the "sober queer Christian" early in her career was damaging to her understanding of her identity, and led to her questioning and reevaluating many foundational aspects of her life.<ref>{{cite web |title=Julien Baker Is a Queer, Christian, Socialist&nbsp;– We Had to Talk to Her |url=https://soundcloud.com/religioussocialism/julien-baker-is-a-queer-christian-socialist-we-had-to-talk-to-her |department=Religion and Socialism Podcast |access-date=February 7, 2019 |website=SoundCloud.com}}</ref><ref name="JBIrishTimes">{{cite news |last1=Power |first1=Ed |title='I just want to be an artist. I don't want to be the queer Christian artist' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/i-just-want-to-be-an-artist-i-don-t-want-to-be-the-queer-christian-artist-1.3433646 |date=23 March 2018 |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref><ref name="JBMotherTeresa">{{cite web |last1=Carson |first1=Sarah |title=Julien Baker: 'The Church made me feel powerless. Even if I was Mother Teresa, I'd still be gay' |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/julien-baker-little-oblivions-interview-877407 |website=iNews UK|date=February 18, 2021 }}</ref><ref name="RollingStoneStillLearning" /> She has since discussed the ever-changing nature of her relationship to faith, saying she is no longer interested in labeling her beliefs so rigidly and that she is trying to adopt a less dichotomous worldview than the one she was raised with, calling the realization "freeing".<ref name="GodShameandRedemption">{{cite web |last1=Eloise |first1=Marianne |title=God, shame and redemption: how Julien Baker just wrote her best album yet |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/god-shame-and-redemption-how-julien-baker-wrote-her-best-album-yet |website=Louder Sound|date=February 4, 2021 }}</ref><ref name="JBNewStatesman">{{cite web |last1=Pierson-Hagger |first1=Ellen |title=Julien Baker: 'I saw music as religion' |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/julien-baker-little-oblivions-faith-songwriting-interview |website=The New Statesman|date=February 17, 2021 }}</ref><ref name="JBMotherTeresa" />

In February of 2024, Baker was named an Honorary Professor of Recording Industry at Middle Tennessee State University.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oppman |first1=Andrew |title=MTSU celebrates achievements of nominees in Cali ahead of Grammy Awards |url=https://mtsunews.com/grammy-nominees-baker-bell-keith-2024/ |website=MTSU News |publisher=Middle Tennessee State University |access-date=17 May 2024}}</ref>
Baker resides part-time in [[Nashville, Tennessee]] and [[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]].<ref name="WNXP">{{cite web |last1=Hight |first1=Jewly |title=How Julien Baker Took A Break From Her Reputation And Let Herself Make Noise |url=https://wnxp.org/how-julien-baker-took-a-break-from-her-reputation-and-let-herself-make-noise/ |website=WNXP.org |date=February 25, 2021 |publisher=Nashville Public Radio}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=boygenius: 'the rest' EP, Tour, & Balancing Solo Careers {{!}} Apple Music |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0ghVhf9WO4 |access-date=2023-10-22 |language=en}}</ref>


==Discography==
==Discography==
{{Infobox artist discography
| Artist = Julien Baker
| Studio = 3
| EP = 5
| Singles = 16
}}


;Studio albums
===Studio albums===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:10em;"| Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"| Album details
! scope="col" colspan="10"| Peak chart positions
|-
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[Billboard 200|US]]<br /><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/julien-baker/chart-history/tlp|title=Julien Baker Chart History: Billboard 200|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[Alternative Albums|US<br />Alt]]<br /><ref>{{cite magazine|url= https://www.billboard.com/artist/julien-baker/chart-history/alt|title=Julien Baker Chart History: Alternative Albums|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[Americana/Folk Albums|US<br />Folk]]<br /><ref>{{cite magazine|url= https://www.billboard.com/artist/julien-baker/chart-history/flk|title=Julien Baker Chart History: Folk Albums|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[Independent Albums|US<br />Indie]]<br /><ref name="billboard.com">{{cite magazine|url= https://www.billboard.com/artist/julien-baker/chart-history/ind|title=Julien Baker Chart History: Independent Albums|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[Top Rock Albums|US<br />Rock]]<br /><ref name="billboard.com"/>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[ARIA Charts|AUS]]<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aria.com.au/charts/albums-chart/2021-03-08|title=ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart|publisher=[[Australian Recording Industry Association]]|date=March 8, 2021|accessdate=March 6, 2021}}</ref>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[Ultratop Flanders|BEL<br>(FL)]]<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ultratop.be/nl/album/6d1d2/Julien-Baker-Little-Oblivions|title=Ultratop.be – Julien Baker – Little Oblivions|language=Dutch|publisher=Hung Medien|accessdate=March 14, 2021}}</ref>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[GfK Entertainment charts|GER]]<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/album-details-446930|title=Offiziellecharts.de – Julien Baker – Little Oblivions|language=German|publisher=GfK Entertainment Charts|accessdate=March 14, 2021}}</ref>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[Irish Albums Chart|IRE]]<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irma.ie/#chartTab2|title= Irish Albums Chart: 5 March 2021|publisher=Irish Recorded Music Association|accessdate=March 15, 2021}}</ref>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[UK Albums Chart|UK]]<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/51281/julien-baker/|title=Julien Baker {{!}} full Official Chart History|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|access-date=March 6, 2021}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" | ''[[Sprained Ankle (album)|Sprained Ankle]]''
|
* Released: October 23, 2015
* Label: 6131
* Format: [[LP record|LP]], [[Compact disc|CD]], [[music download|digital download]], [[streaming media|streaming]]
| —{{efn|group=upper-alpha|''Sprained Ankle'' did not enter the US Billboard 200 but did peak at number 23 on the [[Heatseekers Albums]] chart.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/julien-baker/chart-history/tln|title=Julien Baker Chart History - Heatseekers Albums|magazine=Billboard|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref>}} || ― || ― || ― || ― || ― || ― || ― || ― || ―
|-
! scope="row" | ''[[Turn Out the Lights (album)|Turn Out the Lights]]''
|
*Released: October 27, 2017
*Label: [[Matador Records|Matador]]
*Format: LP, CD, cassette, digital download, streaming
| 78 || 9 || 3 || 9 || 12 || ― || ― || ― || ― || ―
|-
! scope="row" | ''[[Little Oblivions]]''
|
*Released: February 26, 2021
*Label: Matador
*Format: LP, CD, digital download, streaming
| 39 || 5 || 1 || 6 || 4 || 21 || 71 || 37 || 74 || 51
|}


===Extended plays===
''[[Sprained Ankle (album)|Sprained Ankle]]'' (2015)
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col" style="width:10em;"| Title
! scope="col" style="width:16em;"| Album details
|-
!scope="row"|''Sprained Ankle''
|
*Released: 2014
*Label: Self-released
*Format: Digital download, CD
|-
!scope="row"|''Spotify Sessions''
|
*Released: May 20, 2016
*Label: 6131
*Format: Digital download, streaming
|-
!scope="row"|''Audiotree Live''
|
*Released: October 22, 2016<ref>{{cite web|url=https://julienbaker.bandcamp.com/album/julien-baker-audiotree-live|title=Julien Baker – Audiotree Live, by Julien Baker|website=Bandcamp|access-date=October 27, 2017}}</ref>
*Label: Audiotree Music
*Format: Digital download, streaming
|-
!scope="row"|''Little Oblivions: The Remixes''
|
* Released: September 1, 2021
* Label: Matador Records
* Format: Digital download, streaming.
|-
!scope="row"|''B-Sides''
|
* Released: July 21, 2022
* Label: Matador Records
* Format: Digital download, streaming.
|}

===Singles===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" |Title
! rowspan="2" |Year
! colspan="2"| Peak chart positions
! rowspan="2" |Album
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| [[Adult Alternative Songs|US<br/>AAA]]<br/><ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Julien Baker Triple A Songs Chart History|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/julien-baker/chart-history/aaa|access-date=March 9, 2021|magazine=Billboard}}</ref>
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| [[Hot Singles Sales|US<br/>Sales]]<br/>{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}
|-
! scope="row" | "Funeral Pyre"<ref name="Funeral Pyre Distant Solar Systems">{{cite web | title=Funeral Pyre / Distant Solar Systems, by Julien Baker | website=Bandcamp | date=2020-12-04 | url=https://julienbaker.bandcamp.com/album/funeral-pyre-distant-solar-systems | access-date=2021-02-23}}</ref>
| rowspan="4" |2017
|— || 11
! scope="row" rowspan="2" {{n/a|Non-album singles}}
|-
! scope="row" | "Distant Solar Systems"<ref name="Funeral Pyre Distant Solar Systems" />
|— || —
|-
! scope="row" | "Appointments"
|— || —
|rowspan="2"|''Turn Out the Lights''
|-
! scope="row" | "Turn Out the Lights"
|— || —
|-
! scope="row" | "Bad Things to Such Good People"<br><small>(with [[Manchester Orchestra]])</small>
|2018
|— || —
|rowspan="3" {{n/a|Non-album singles}}
|-
! scope="row" | "Red Door"<ref name="Red Door Conversation Piece">{{cite web | title=Red Door / Conversation Piece, by Julien Baker | website=Bandcamp | date=2019-08-22 | url=https://julienbaker.bandcamp.com/album/red-door-conversation-piece | access-date=2021-02-23}}</ref>
| rowspan="5" |2019
|— || —
|-
! scope="row" | "Conversation Piece"<ref name="Red Door Conversation Piece" />
|— || —
|-
! scope="row" | "The Modern Leper"
|— || —
|''Tiny Changes: A Celebration of Frightened<br>Rabbit's 'The Midnight Organ Fight'''
|-
! scope="row" | "Tokyo"
|— || —
|rowspan="2" {{n/a|Non-album singles}}
|-
! scope="row" |"Sucker Punch"
|— || —
|-
! scope="row" | "Faith Healer"
| rowspan="2"|2020
|14 || —
|''Little Oblivions''
|-
! scope="row" | "A Dreamer's Holiday"<br>{{small|([[Spotify Singles]])}}
|— || —
|{{n/a|Non-album single}}
|-
! scope="row" | "Hardline"
|rowspan="3"|2021
|— || —
|rowspan="3"|''Little Oblivions''
|-
! scope="row" | "Favor"
|— || —
|-
! scope="row" | "Heatwave"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allaccess.com/triple-a/future-releases|title=Future Releases: Triple A|publisher=All Access Music Group|access-date=March 29, 2021}}</ref>
|27 || —
|-
! scope="row"|"Guthrie"
|2022
| — || —
|''B-Sides''
|-
| colspan="5" style="font-size:85%" | "—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
|}

===Guest appearances===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! scope="col"| Title
! scope="col"| Year
! scope="col"| Primary artist(s)
! scope="col"| Album
|-
! scope="row"| "[[Ballad of Big Nothing]]"
| rowspan="2"|2016
| {{n/a}}
| ''Say Yes! A Tribute to Elliott Smith''
|-
! scope="row"| "Skyscraper"
| [[Touché Amoré]]
| ''[[Stage Four]]''
|-
! scope="row"| "How It Gets In"
| 2017
|[[Frightened Rabbit]]
| ''Recorded Songs''
|-
! scope="row"| "All I Want"
| 2018
|[[Matt Berninger]], [[Stephen Altman]]
| ''7-Inches for Planned Parenthood, Vol. 2: Pt. 1''
|-
! scope="row"| "The Modern Leper"
| rowspan="2"|2019
| {{n/a}}
| ''Tiny Changes: A Celebration of Frightened Rabbit’s ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’''

|-
! scope="row"| "Bless This Hell"
|[[Mary Lambert (singer)|Mary Lambert]]
| ''Grief Creature''
|-
! scope="row"| "Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris"
|rowspan="5"|2020
|[[Hayley Williams]]
| ''[[Petals For Armor]]''
|-
! scope="row"|"First Time"
|[[Becca Mancari]]
| ''[[The Greatest Part]]''
|-
! scope="row"| "Graceland Too"
|rowspan="2"|[[Phoebe Bridgers]]
|rowspan="2"|''[[Punisher (album)|Punisher]]''
|-
! scope="row"| "[[I Know the End]]"
|-
! scope="row"| "Reminders"
| [[Touché Amoré]]
| ''[[Lament (Touché Amoré album)|Lament]]''
|-
! scope="row"| "Act Four"
| rowspan="8" |2021
| [[Fucked Up]]
| ''Year of the Horse''
|-
! scope="row"| "Neil Young On High"
| [[The Ophelias (Ohio band)|The Ophelias]]
| ''Neil Young On High''
|-
! scope="row"| "Going Going Gone"
|rowspan="3"|[[Lucy Dacus]]
|rowspan="3"|''[[Home Video (album)|Home Video]]''
|-
! scope="row"| "Please Stay"
|-
! scope="row"| "Triple Dog Dare"
|-
! scope="row"| "Underwater Boi"
|[[Turnstile (band)|Turnstile]]
|''[[Glow On]]''
|-
! scope="row"| "Marionette"
|[[Keaton Henson]]
|''Fragments''
|-
! scope="row"|"Kid Fears"<br>{{small|([[Indigo Girls]] cover)}}
|[[Jason Isbell|Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit]]
|[[Georgia Blue]]
|-
! scope="row"|"Hold My Hand"
|2022
|[[Wild Pink (band)|Wild Pink]]
|[[ILYSM (album)|ILYSM]]
|-
! scope="row"|"Over and Over"
| rowspan="4" |2023
|[[Becca Mancari]]
|''Left Hand''
|-
! scope="row"|"Sport of Form"
| rowspan="2 | [[The Armed]]
| rowspan="2 | ''[[Perfect Saviors|Perfect Saviours]]''
|-
! scope="row"|"In Heaven"
|-
! scope="row" |"Thick Skull"<br>{{small|(Re: Julien Baker)}}
| {{N/A}}
| ''[[This Is Why#Re: This Is Why|Re: This Is Why]]''
|}

===As part of Boygenius===
* ''[[Boygenius (EP)|Boygenius]]'' (2018)
* ''Boygenius Demos'' (2020)<ref name="Boygenius Demos Matablog">{{cite web | title=boygenius : demos EP (Bandcamp) (24 Hours Only) – Matablog | website=Matador Records | date=2020-07-02 | url=https://matablog.matadorrecords.com/2020/07/02/boygenius-demos-ep-bandcamp-24-hours-only/ | access-date=2021-02-23}}</ref>
* ''[[The Record (Boygenius album)|The Record]]'' (2023)
* ''[[The Rest (EP)|The Rest]]'' (2023)

===As part of Forrister===
* ''American Blues'' (2013) (as The Star Killers)<ref name="American Blues">{{cite web | title=American Blues, by The Star Killers | website=Bandcamp | date=2013-04-01 | url=https://thestarkillerstn.bandcamp.com/album/american-blues | access-date=2021-02-23}}</ref>
* "Esau" and "Black Poppy Wine" for ''Little Moses/The Star Killers Split'' (2014) (as The Star Killers)<ref name="Little Moses Star Killers Split">{{cite web | title=Little Moses/The Star Killers Split, by The Star Killers | website=Bandcamp | date=2014-07-31 | url=https://thestarkillerstn.bandcamp.com/album/little-moses-the-star-killers-split | access-date=2021-02-23}}</ref>
* "Choked Up" (2015)<ref name="The Star Killers Choked Up">{{cite web | title=Choked Up (Single), by The Star Killers | website= Bandcamp | date=2015-01-27 | url=https://thestarkillerstn.bandcamp.com/album/choked-up-single | access-date=2021-02-23}}</ref><ref name="Forrister Choked Up">{{cite web | title=Choked Up, by Forrister | website=Bandcamp | date=2015-03-03 | url=https://forrister.bandcamp.com/track/choked-up | access-date=2021-02-23}}</ref>

===Notes===
{{notelist-ua}}

==Awards and nominations==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Year
!Association
!Category
!Nominated Work
!Result
!Ref
|-
| 2016
|[[Libera Award]]
| [[Libera Award for Best Breakthrough Artist]]
|''Sprained Ankle''
| {{nom}}
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref>{{cite web|url=https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/soundexchange-presents-the-2016-a2im-libera-awards|title=SoundExchange Presents The 2016 A2IM Libera Awards|website=shoerefire|access-date=March 22, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| 2021
|[[AIM Awards]]
| Best Independent Video
|"Hardline"
| {{nom}}
| style="text-align:center;" |<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/awards/9584885/2021-aim-awards-nominations-arlo-parks/|title=Arlo Parks Leads 2021 AIM Awards Nominations|last=Grein|first=Paul|magazine=Billboard|date=June 6, 2021|access-date=October 27, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan=7|2024
| rowspan=6|[[66th Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy Awards]]{{efn|name=boyg|Nominated as a member of [[boygenius]].}}
|[[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]]
|rowspan=2 | ''[[The Record (Boygenius album)|the record]]''
|{{nom}}
|rowspan=6|<ref>{{cite news|first=Evan |last=Minsker| title=Grammy Nominations 2024: See the Full List Here|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/grammy-nominations-2024-see-the-full-list-here/ |work=Pitchfork |date= November 10, 2023 |accessdate=November 10, 2023}}</ref>
|-
|[[Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album|Best Alternative Music Album]]
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Grammy Award for Record of the Year|Record of the Year]]
| rowspan=3|"[[Not Strong Enough (Boygenius song)|Not Strong Enough]]"
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Grammy Award for Best Rock Song|Best Rock Song]]
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance|Best Rock Performance]]
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance|Best Alternative Music Performance]]
|"Cool About It"
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Brit Awards 2024|Brit Awards]]{{efn|name=boyg}}
|[[Brit Award for International Group|International Group]]
|[[boygenius]]
|{{won}}
|<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-03-02 |title=Brit Awards 2024: The compete list of winners and nominees |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-68458923 |access-date=2024-03-03 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
|}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{Official website}}

{{Julien Baker}}

{{Authority control}}


== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Julien}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Julien}}
[[Category:1995 births]]
[[Category:1995 births]]
[[Category:21st-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:21st-century Protestants]]
[[Category:21st-century American women singers]]
[[Category:21st-century American singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American Christian socialists]]
[[Category:American women singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American Protestants]]
[[Category:American feminist musicians]]
[[Category:Christians from Tennessee]]
[[Category:Female Christian socialists]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Guitarists from Tennessee]]
[[Category:American lesbian musicians]]
[[Category:LGBT people from Tennessee]]
[[Category:LGBT Protestants]]
[[Category:American LGBT singers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Murfreesboro, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Lesbian songwriters]]
[[Category:American guitarists]]
[[Category:American singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Middle Tennessee State University alumni]]
[[Category:Middle Tennessee State University alumni]]
[[Category:Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee]]
[[Category:People from Murfreesboro, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Tennessee]]
[[Category:Boygenius members]]
[[Category:Matador Records artists]]
[[Category:American multi-instrumentalists]]
[[Category:21st-century American women guitarists]]
[[Category:21st-century American LGBT people]]
[[Category:Lesbian Christians]]
[[Category:American women rock singers]]

Latest revision as of 03:20, 17 May 2024

Julien Baker
Baker performing in 2023
Background information
Birth nameJulien Rose Baker
Born (1995-09-29) September 29, 1995 (age 28)
Germantown, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)
  • Vocal
  • guitar
  • keyboards
  • mandolin
  • bass
  • banjo
  • drums
Years active2010–present
Labels
Member ofBoygenius
Websitejulienbaker.com Edit this at Wikidata

Julien Rose Baker (born September 29, 1995) is an American indie rock singer and guitarist. Her music is noted for its moody quality and confessional lyrical style, as well as frank explorations of topics including Christianity, addiction, mental illness, and human nature. She has received six Grammy Award nominations and three wins as a member of Boygenius.[1]

Born and raised in suburban Memphis, Tennessee, Baker released her debut album Sprained Ankle (2015) while she was a student at Middle Tennessee State University. The album received critical acclaim and appeared on several 2015 year-end lists. Baker subsequently signed to Matador Records and released her second studio album Turn Out the Lights in 2017, to further critical success. Her third album, Little Oblivions (2021), embraced a more full-band sound and became Baker's first top 40 album on the Billboard 200 chart.

In addition to her solo work, Baker is a member of the indie supergroup Boygenius, alongside Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. The group's debut eponymous EP was released in October 2018. Boygenius announced their reunion in January 2023, and their debut studio album The Record was released in March. Their newest release, titled The Rest, was released in October 2023.

Early life[edit]

Baker was born on September 29, 1995, in Germantown, and raised in Bartlett, Tennessee, a suburb of Memphis.[2][3] Her parents both worked in the field of physical therapy. She has spoken of being inspired by her father who, after an accident in his twenties resulting in the amputation of his leg, dedicated his life to making experimental prosthetic limbs.[4] Baker's parents separated while she was in elementary school.[5]

Baker grew up in a devout Baptist family, and her early exposure to music involved playing at her church.[2][6] After seeing Green Day on television, she was inspired to explore more alternative music and started listening to bands like My Chemical Romance and Death Cab for Cutie.[4][7] She subsequently became captivated by the punk, hardcore, metalcore, and screamo scenes, and has said some of her favorite bands were mewithoutYou, Underoath, The Chariot, Norma Jean, and Whitechapel.[4][7] She struggled with substance abuse as a young teen, but found support in the community surrounding house shows in Memphis, and became inspired by the straight edge punk subculture.[4][8] While in high school in 2010, Baker co-founded the band the Star Killers, who renamed themselves Forrister in 2015.[9][10][11]

Baker attended Arlington High School and then Middle Tennessee State University, where she had a campus job in the A/V department and initially studied audio engineering, before switching to literature and secondary education.[3][12][13][14] She eventually left school to tour full-time after the release of Sprained Ankle, but returned to campus in the fall of 2019 to complete her degree in literature.[15]

Career[edit]

2015–2017: Sprained Ankle and Turn Out the Lights[edit]

Baker performing at Rough Trade NYC in 2016

During her first year at MTSU, Baker began writing songs on her own, often utilizing the university practice rooms that stayed open late at night.[16] She wrote what would become Sprained Ankle in her dorm room and recorded it on free studio time that a friend of hers had gotten from an internship. She has said that she never thought the EP would be heard by a wide audience; she put it on Bandcamp so that her friends could hear it.[17]

It was picked up by 6131 Records, who released the album Sprained Ankle in October 2015.[11] Sprained Ankle ended up topping many 2015 year-end lists, and its success led to features in The New Yorker and The New York Times, with various critics calling it "heartbreaking," "hypnotic," and "striking."[18][4][5] In March 2016, Baker gave an NPR Tiny Desk performance, the first of an eventual four appearances at the desk.[19][20][21][22] She also played at that year's South by Southwest and Newport Folk festivals.[23][24] Her performances from this period have been called "hushed, reverential events," with the audience often remaining quiet and emotional.[18]

In October 2016, she contributed to Say Yes! A Tribute to Elliott Smith, covering "Ballad of Big Nothing".[25]

In 2017, she signed to Matador Records, and released a 7-inch single consisting of the songs "Funeral Pyre" (previously called "Sad Song 11") and "Distant Solar Systems."[26][27]

Her second album, Turn Out the Lights, was recorded with engineer and producer Calvin Lauber at Ardent Studios in Memphis, and released on October 27, 2017, to further acclaim. She spent the following year touring across the U.S. and internationally, performing alongside artists including The National, Father John Misty, Half Waif, Adam Torres, and Lucy Dacus, and appearing on CBS This Morning and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[28][29][30]

Baker has opened for or collaborated with a wide range of artists, including Death Cab for Cutie, Conor Oberst, Paramore and Hayley Williams, The National, The Decemberists, Belle & Sebastian, Frightened Rabbit, The Front Bottoms, Touche Amore, Manchester Orchestra, and Bright Eyes. During Eaux Claire in July 2018, she performed with a poet Hanif Abdurraqib, mixing "Claws in Your in Your Back" from Turn Out the Lights with a poem from Abdurraqib's "How Can Black People Write About Flowers at a Time Like This" poems.[31][32]

2018–2023: Boygenius and Little Oblivions[edit]

In 2018, Baker formed the rock supergroup Boygenius with fellow indie singer-songwriters Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, both of whom she had toured with previously. The group released three songs in August of that year and subsequently announced an eponymous EP, Boygenius, which was released on October 26, 2018, to widespread critical acclaim.[33] The band spent that November touring the U.S., and performed "Me & My Dog" on Late Night with Seth Meyers.[34] The trio has continued to collaborate on each other's solo work since the release of their EP, lending backing vocals to two songs from Bridgers' Grammy-nominated Punisher (2020), "Please Stay" from Dacus' Home Video (2021), and "Favor" from Baker's Little Oblivions (2021), as well as Hayley Williams' Petals for Armor (2020) single "Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris."[35]

In 2019, Baker put out two 7-inch singles. The first, released in June, featured songs "Red Door" and "Conversation Piece," and the second in October featured "Tokyo" and "Sucker Punch" as part of the Sub Pop singles series.[36] All four songs had a slightly more produced sound than her previous work and were received very positively.[37] She also contributed to Tiny Changes: A Celebration of Frightened Rabbit's 'The Midnight Organ Fight', covering "The Modern Leper".[38]

On October 21, 2020, Baker announced her third studio album, Little Oblivions, accompanied by the lead single "Faith Healer" and an essay by poet Hanif Abdurraqib.[39] Little Oblivions was released February 26, 2021, and was preceded by additional singles "Hardline" and "Favor."[35] It was written mostly over the course of 2019, a difficult and formative year for Baker as she had to cancel various tour dates, struggled with her sobriety and mental health, and eventually returned to school to finish her degree at MTSU.[15] In January, she appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, performing "Faith Healer."[40]

In 2022, Baker released a B-Side EP to Little Oblivions and shared the single "Guthrie".[41]

2023–present: The Record[edit]

In March 2023, Boygenius released their debut studio album, The Record, to universal acclaim.[42] The band played Coachella 2023 in April. They then embarked on the Re:SET Concert Series and joined member Phoebe Bridgers for some opening sets on Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour.[43] In June 2023, the band performed in drag in Baker's home state of Tennessee in protest of anti-drag legislation that state governor Bill Lee signed into law that was blocked in federal court.[44] After a North America leg, they toured Europe, before returning to the USA for the second half of the tour.

In October 2023, the band released a second EP, The Rest.[45] During the second leg of their The Record tour they debuted the songs night by night. Baker features most prominently on the last song of the collection, "Powers."[46] The band's album, The Record received six nominations at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year, ultimately winning three, including Best Alternative Music Album. As of the 1st of February 2024, Boygenius is on hiatus, describing the situation as 'going away for the foreseeable future'.[47][48]

In October 2023, Baker released the track "Thick Skull" (Re: Julien Baker) on Re: This Is Why, a remixed version of Paramore's This Is Why.[49]

Artistry[edit]

Baker performing at the Palace Theatre in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 2017

Baker is known for her personal, confessional songwriting, and her music has been categorized as a mix of indie rock, indie folk, alternative, and emo.[50] The sparse arrangements on her "fragile, gentle" 2015 debut, Sprained Ankle, feature only her voice, guitar, and occasional piano, and her stage performances for many years consisted of her alone, utilizing a loop pedal.[51] 2017's Turn Out the Lights saw the addition of occasional violin, as well as organs and "cavernous-sounding production."[51][52] Her performances from this period have been called "hushed, reverential events," with the audience often remaining quiet and emotional.[18]

Baker experimented with a more full-band sound for her 2021 release Little Oblivions, and has commented on feeling limited by expectations to adhere to her established style.[52] The album newly featured drums, bass, keyboards, mandolin, and banjo, all played by Baker on the recording.[53] On tour following its release, she played with a full band and debuted new, multi-instrument arrangements of her previous work, describing the band's sound as "post-rock."[54][55]

"Baker's gentle touch [...] evok[es] an entire world — of suffering and healing, eagerness and fear, loneliness and companionship, distance and intimacy — in its search for a more human truth."

— Marissa Lorusso, "The 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women", NPR[56]

Baker's writing is infused with religious themes, and it often is noted for its occasionally violent imagery.[51][57] Hope, redemption, love, addiction, shame, self-loathing, and direct appeals to God are all prominent motifs throughout her work.[58] Her music often features frank explorations of addiction and sobriety, and she has been open in discussing her experiences with substance abuse and mental illness.[59][60][61]

Poet Hanif Abdurraqib delineated Baker’s body of work as follows:[62]

The grand project of Julien Baker, as I have always projected it onto myself, is the central question of what someone does with the many calamities of a life they didn’t ask for, but want to make the most out of. I have long been done with the idea of hope in such a brutal and unforgiving world, but I’d like to think that this music drags me closer to the old idea I once clung to. But these are songs of survival, and songs of reimagining a better self, and what is that if not hope? Hope that on the other side of our wreckage — self-fashioned or otherwise — there might be a door. And through the opening of that door, a tree spilling its shade over something we love. A bench and upon it, a jacket that once belonged to someone we’d buried. Birds who ask us to be an audience to their singing. A small and generous corner of the earth that has not yet burned down or disappeared. I can be convinced of this kind of hope, even as I fight against it. To hear someone wrestling with and still thankful for the circumstances of a life that might reveal some brilliance if any of us just stick around long enough.

Personal life[edit]

Baker is a lesbian, and her fraught experiences with organized Christianity inform much of her work.[18][63] She came out to her parents at age 17, after years of being closeted and watching friends get sent to conversion therapy or kicked out of their homes. However, she found her family was "radically accepting."[18] She previously referred to herself as a Christian socialist, but has spoken on how being constantly labelled the "sober queer Christian" early in her career was damaging to her understanding of her identity, and led to her questioning and reevaluating many foundational aspects of her life.[64][65][66][15] She has since discussed the ever-changing nature of her relationship to faith, saying she is no longer interested in labeling her beliefs so rigidly and that she is trying to adopt a less dichotomous worldview than the one she was raised with, calling the realization "freeing".[67][68][66]

In February of 2024, Baker was named an Honorary Professor of Recording Industry at Middle Tennessee State University.[69] Baker resides part-time in Nashville, Tennessee and Los Angeles, California.[70][71]

Discography[edit]

Julien Baker discography
Studio albums3
EPs5
Singles16

Studio albums[edit]

Title Album details Peak chart positions
US
[72] 		US
Alt
[73] 		US
Folk
[74] 		US
Indie
[75] 		US
Rock
[75] 		AUS
[76] 		BEL
(FL)
[77] 		GER
[78] 		IRE
[79] 		UK
[80]
Sprained Ankle —[A] ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ―
Turn Out the Lights
  • Released: October 27, 2017
  • Label: Matador
  • Format: LP, CD, cassette, digital download, streaming
 78 9 3 9 12 ― ― ― ― ―
Little Oblivions
  • Released: February 26, 2021
  • Label: Matador
  • Format: LP, CD, digital download, streaming
 39 5 1 6 4 21 71 37 74 51

Extended plays[edit]

Title Album details
Sprained Ankle
  • Released: 2014
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download, CD
Spotify Sessions
  • Released: May 20, 2016
  • Label: 6131
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
Audiotree Live
  • Released: October 22, 2016[82]
  • Label: Audiotree Music
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
Little Oblivions: The Remixes
  • Released: September 1, 2021
  • Label: Matador Records
  • Format: Digital download, streaming.
B-Sides
  • Released: July 21, 2022
  • Label: Matador Records
  • Format: Digital download, streaming.

Singles[edit]

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
AAA
[83] 		US
Sales
[citation needed]
"Funeral Pyre"[84] 2017 — 11 Non-album singles
"Distant Solar Systems"[84] — —
"Appointments" — — Turn Out the Lights
"Turn Out the Lights" — —
"Bad Things to Such Good People"
(with Manchester Orchestra) 		2018 — — Non-album singles
"Red Door"[85] 2019 — —
"Conversation Piece"[85] — —
"The Modern Leper" — — Tiny Changes: A Celebration of Frightened
Rabbit's 'The Midnight Organ Fight'
"Tokyo" — — Non-album singles
"Sucker Punch" — —
"Faith Healer" 2020 14 — Little Oblivions
"A Dreamer's Holiday"
(Spotify Singles) 		— — Non-album single
"Hardline" 2021 — — Little Oblivions
"Favor" — —
"Heatwave"[86] 27 —
"Guthrie" 2022 — — B-Sides
"—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Guest appearances[edit]

Title Year Primary artist(s) Album
"Ballad of Big Nothing" 2016 — Say Yes! A Tribute to Elliott Smith
"Skyscraper" Touché Amoré Stage Four
"How It Gets In" 2017 Frightened Rabbit Recorded Songs
"All I Want" 2018 Matt Berninger, Stephen Altman 7-Inches for Planned Parenthood, Vol. 2: Pt. 1
"The Modern Leper" 2019 — Tiny Changes: A Celebration of Frightened Rabbit’s ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’
"Bless This Hell" Mary Lambert Grief Creature
"Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris" 2020 Hayley Williams Petals For Armor
"First Time" Becca Mancari The Greatest Part
"Graceland Too" Phoebe Bridgers Punisher
"I Know the End"
"Reminders" Touché Amoré Lament
"Act Four" 2021 Fucked Up Year of the Horse
"Neil Young On High" The Ophelias Neil Young On High
"Going Going Gone" Lucy Dacus Home Video
"Please Stay"
"Triple Dog Dare"
"Underwater Boi" Turnstile Glow On
"Marionette" Keaton Henson Fragments
"Kid Fears"
(Indigo Girls cover) 		Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Georgia Blue
"Hold My Hand" 2022 Wild Pink ILYSM
"Over and Over" 2023 Becca Mancari Left Hand
"Sport of Form" The Armed Perfect Saviours
"In Heaven"
"Thick Skull"
(Re: Julien Baker) 		— Re: This Is Why

As part of Boygenius[edit]

As part of Forrister[edit]

  • American Blues (2013) (as The Star Killers)[88]
  • "Esau" and "Black Poppy Wine" for Little Moses/The Star Killers Split (2014) (as The Star Killers)[89]
  • "Choked Up" (2015)[90][91]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Sprained Ankle did not enter the US Billboard 200 but did peak at number 23 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.[81]

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Association Category Nominated Work Result Ref
2016 Libera Award Libera Award for Best Breakthrough Artist Sprained Ankle Nominated [92]
2021 AIM Awards Best Independent Video "Hardline" Nominated [93]
2024 Grammy Awards[a] Album of the Year the record Nominated [94]
Best Alternative Music Album Won
Record of the Year "Not Strong Enough" Nominated
Best Rock Song Won
Best Rock Performance Won
Best Alternative Music Performance "Cool About It" Nominated
Brit Awards[a] International Group boygenius Won [95]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b Nominated as a member of boygenius.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "boygenius". Grammy.
  2. ^ a b Mehr, Bob (April 28, 2016). "Ascendant Julien Baker overcame darkness to find light of success". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Townsend, Eileen (October 22, 2015). "Julien Baker Arrives". Memphis Flyer. Retrieved December 30, 2015.[dead link]
  4. ^ a b c d e Fink, Matt (December 22, 2017). "Julien Baker - The Under the Radar Cover Story". Under the Radar. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Williams, John (April 26, 2016). "Julien Baker: Sad Songs That Whisper and Howl". The New York Times. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  6. ^ Pareles, Jon (October 22, 2017). "Julien Baker Bravely Confronts Her Traumas and Fears". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Turned Out a Punk Podcast. "Episode 197: Julien Baker". Apple Podcasts.
  8. ^ 88Nine Radio Milwaukee. "Interview with Julien Baker". YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ "Forrister – Forrister". Forristertn.tumblr.com. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  10. ^ Ladd, Olivia (February 23, 2015). "From Memphis to Murfreesboro: Musician Julien Baker Shares Her Passion". Mtusidelines.com. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Chiu, David (December 9, 2015). "Julien Baker's 'Real Life' Music Tugs at the Heartstrings". PopMatters.com. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  12. ^ Cannon, Joshua; Shaw, Chris. "Beale Street Music Fest: On the Road, On the Beach, On the Rise". Memphis Flyer. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  13. ^ Fenwick, George (July 20, 2017). "Julien Baker on queerness, the power of music and making people cry". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  14. ^ Claymore, Gabriela Tully (October 26, 2015). "An Interview with Young Phenom Julien Baker". Stereogum.
  15. ^ a b c Bernstein, Jonathan (October 21, 2020). "Julien Baker is Still Learning". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  16. ^ Gokhman, Roman (December 1, 2015). "Julien Baker: The Best of What's Next". Pastemagazine.com. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  17. ^ Hughes, Hilary. "Julien Baker is Just Being Honest". Entertainment Weekly.
  18. ^ a b c d e Syme, Rachel (April 29, 2016). "Julien Baker Believes in God". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  19. ^ NPR Music (March 7, 2016). "Julien Baker: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert". YouTube. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  20. ^ Boilen, Bob (January 10, 2018). "Julien Baker: Turn Out the Lights Tiny Desk Concert". NPR.org.
  21. ^ Boilen, Bob (November 16, 2018). "Boygenius: Tiny Desk Concert". NPR.org.
  22. ^ Gotrich, Lars (December 9, 2020). "Hayley Williams: Tiny Desk Concert". NPR.org.
  23. ^ "Julien Baker: SXSW 2016 Event Schedule". SXSW.com.
  24. ^ Horn, Rachel. "Julien Baker, Live In Concert: Newport Folk 2016". NPR.org.
  25. ^ Aycock, Dylan (April 5, 2016). "Hear Julien Baker's "Ballad Of Big Nothing" Cover For Elliott Smith Tribute". American Songwriter.
  26. ^ "Matador Records". Matadorecords.com. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  27. ^ "Funeral Pyre, by Julien Baker". Julienbaker.bandcamp.com. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  28. ^ "Julien Baker Tour Dates & Concerts". SongKick. March 21, 2023.
  29. ^ Slingerland, Calum. "The National Announce Toronto Show with Father John Misty, Jenny Lewis, Julien Baker". Exclaim.
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  32. ^ @nifmuhammad (July 7, 2018). "also at Eaux Claire's today: during Julien Baker's evening set, I joined her on stage for a collaborative song/poem thing. We decided last night that we would combine her song "Claws In Your Back" with a poem cycle from the "How Can Black People Write About Flowers at a Time Like This" poems. It wasn't particularly rehearsed beyond talking through the blending of the song and the poem. It was really special, and something I'll hold onto for a long while. There's only a single faraway picture to document the moment (for now) thanks to @natedemars. A flood of gratitude for Julien and the space our wild ideas found to lock arms with each other" – via Instagram.
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External links[edit]

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