Sufjan Stevens

At 48 years old, Sufjan Stevens physical status not available right now. We will update Sufjan Stevens's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Career

Stevens began his musical career as a member of Marzuki, a Dutch folk-rock band, as well as garage band Con Los Dudes. Danielson Famile's son also played (and continues to play) various instruments. Stevens wrote and recorded his debut solo album, A Sun Came, during his final semester at Hope College, which he released on Asthmatic Kitty Records. He later moved to New York City, where he enrolled in a writing course at The New School for Social Research. Stevens' preoccupation with the short story style, which he hoped would lead to his writing of a book, but ultimately returned him to songwriting.

Stevens composed and recorded the music for his second album, Enjoy Your Rabbit, a song cycle based on the animals of the Chinese zodiac that descended into electronica.

Stevens followed this with the release of Michigan, a collection of folk songs and instrumentals. It includes odes to cities such as Detroit and Flint, the Upper Peninsula, and holiday destinations like Tahquamenon Falls and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Melded into the scenic descriptions and characters are his own declarations of faith, sadness, passion, and Michigan's revival. Stevens revealed on the album that he planned an album for each of the 50 states, which he described as the Fifty States Project. Stevens assembled a collection of songs that were never released before, the album Seven Swans, which was released in March 2004. Stevens didn't leave his position at Time Warner in the children's book division until touring for Seven Swans.

He also launched Illinois, the second in the Fifty States project. The cities of Chicago, Decatur, and Jacksonville were among the subjects investigated on Illinois; the World Columbian Exposition of 1893, the death of a friend on Casimir Pulaski Day, poet Carl Sandburg, and serial killer John Wayne Gacy are among the subjects explored on Illinois. Stevens had spent the second half of 2004 researching and writing for the album. Stevens used the state of Illinois as a jumping-off point for his more personal explorations of faith, family, love, and location. Despite being scheduled for publication on July 5, 2005, the album was postponed briefly due to legal concerns concerning the use of an image of Superman in the original album cover art. A balloon sticker was inserted over Superman on the front page of the first 5,000 copies of the double vinyl edition. As with the CD release, the next printings had an empty space where the Superman photo had been printed. Illinois was widely recognized and was the highest-rated album of 2005 on the review aggregator website Metacritic. Stevens received the prestigious PLUG Independent Music Awards in 2006, Best Album Art/Packaging, and Male Artist of the Year. Stevens received the 2005 Pantheon Award, which was awarded to notable albums with fewer than 500,000 copies for Illinois, and Pitchfork, No Ripcord, and Paste magazine selected Illinois as the editors' choice for best album of 2005.

Stevens revealed in April 2006 that 21 pieces of music he had culled from the Illinois recording sessions would be integrated into a new album titled The Avalanche, which was released on July 11, 2006. Stevens premiered "Majesty Snowbird," a ten-minute-plus piece in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 11, 2006. On November 21, 2006, a five CD box set Songs for Christmas was released, which includes originals and Christmas songs that have been published every year since 2001 (except 2004). Stevens began participating in the scheme as an effort to make himself 'appreciate' Christmas more. The songs were created as a result of Stevens' regular collaboration with various collaborators, including minister Vito Aiuto; the songs themselves were distributed to friends and family.

Although Stevens' subsequent work was often predicted to link into future "states" initiatives, and Stevens himself would make occasional remarks alluding to the project's viability, Stevens later admitted that it was not really meant to finish. Stevens accepted Exclaim in November 2009. In reaction to the fact that he recently called his fifty-state project a joke, the magazine states, "I don't really have as much confidence in my work as I used to." I believe it has enabled me to be less concerned with how I work and write. And yes, it's okay for us to take it less seriously."

Stevens recorded an album with Rosie Thomas and Denison Witmer, who sang banjo and provided vocals over the 2005 winter holidays. Pitchfork erroneously announced that Stevens and Thomas were expecting a baby together in April 2006 and that they had been forced to produce a retraction. It was later discovered that it was a March Fools' prank, according to Witmer and Thomas. The collaborative recordings were digitally released by Nettwerk as a Rosie Thomas album titled These Friends of Mine in December 2006. On March 13, 2007, the album was released in physical form.

Stevens will debut The BQE in early November 2007, according to Asthmatic Kitty. In a live performance, the initiative, which was dubbed a "symphonic and cinematic exploration of New York City's legendary Brooklyn–Queens Expressway," was displayed. Stevens directed an original film (shot on Super 8 film and standard 16mm), while Stevens and a backing orchestra provided the live soundtrack. The show featured 36 performers, including a small band, a wind and brass ensemble, string players, horn players, and hula hoopers. There were no lyrics to the songs. The BQE was sponsored by the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of their Next Wave Festival and appeared on three nights from November 1 to 3, 2007.

The performance was sold out of the 2,109 seats in the BAM Opera House with no advertisements. He premiered the 30-minute piece after three weeks of rehearsing the piece with the three dozen players involved. Stevens and his orchestra added an hour of concert to the BQE. The BQE has been named Best in the 2008 Brendan Gill Award. Stevens made unannounced appearances on Thomas' tour in Baltimore and Philadelphia in April 2007. In 2007, he took a Take-Away Show acoustic video session shot by Vincent Moon while standing on a rooftop in Cincinnati. In 2007, he appeared on stage, including at the Kennedy Center to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Millennium Stage concerts.

Stevens has also worked as an essayist, contributing to Asthmatic Kitty Records' "Sidebar" section and Topic Magazine. One Snickers Bar at a Time: He wrote the introduction to The Best American Nonrequired Reading, a short story about his early childhood education and learning to read titled How I Trumped Rudolf Steiner and Overcame the Tribulations of Illiteracy. Alec Duffy, the original Stevens singer, won exclusive rights to the original Stevens song "Lonely Man of Winter" for the winter. The track was only heard at private listening parties at Duffy's Brooklyn home and around the world until 2017, when Duffy decided with Asthmatic Kitty Records to release the album, with all proceeds going to Duffy's charity JACK.

Stevens has performed with Denison Witmer, Soul-Junk, Half-handed Cloud, Brother Danielson, Serena-Maneesh, Castanets, Will Stratton, Shannon Stephens, Little Scream, and Liz Janes. Stevens performed piano on The National's album Boxer, created and contributed to Rosie Thomas' album This Could Kill You, as well as numerous instruments on Ben + Vesper's album Noise in You, which was released in 2007.

Tim Buckley ("She Is"), Joni Mitchell ("Free Man in Paris"), John Fahey ("Variation on "Commemorable Transfiguration & Communion"), Tom Johnston ("Life in Paris"), John Fahey ("Worried Shoes"), John Fahey ("Menu"), and "The Lakes of Canada"), Roger Johnston ("The Innocence Mission"), Bling"), Prince ("What Goes On"), John Fahey ("What Goem Bells ("Ma" Stevens' interpretations of "Free Man in Paris" and "What Goes On" are notable for only retaining the original's lyrics; not so much as Stevens has interpreted the melody and arrangement. His interpretation of "The Star-Spangled Banner" has a similar melody and arrangement as well as a whole new verse.

In the 2006 British comedy-drama Driving Lessons starring Harry Potter's Julie Walters and Rupert Grint, his songs "The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders" and "All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands" were included. Welcome to The Welcome Wagon, the first album of Brooklyn-based husband and wife duo Vito and Monique Aiuto's debut album The Welcome Wagon.

Stevens contributed "You Are the Blood" to the Red Hot Organization's AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night in February 2009. Stevens released a video about director Sofia Coppola on line in April 2009. Stevens' song was written when Stevens was still in college and was inspired by a collection of names.

Stevens recalled:

Stevens launched "All Delighted People," "Impossible Soul," "Too Much," and "Age of Adz" in September 2009. Stevens appeared on Insomnia's album with his stepfather, Lowell Brams. The album was released on December 8, 2009. Stevens' label, Asthmatic Kitty Records, released an album of his 2001 album Enjoy Your Rabbit rearranged for strings and performed by the Osso String Quartet, entitled Run Rabbit Run.

Stevens appeared on The National's album High Violet, which was released in May, and he appeared on the band's Late Show with David Letterman in 2010. Following the debut of High Violet, band frontman Matt Berninger announced that Stevens was recording a new album in the band's studio and that The National will appear on some of the tracks. Stevens announced North American tour dates in dozens of cities in early August. Stevens' All Delighted People EP was announced on August 20, 2010, Stevens' most unexpectedly and indecently released a new series of songs, the All Delighted People EP, for digital download. "All Delighted People" is the EP's based on two versions of the title track. Despite being primarily due to its digital success, the EP climbed to #27 on the Billboard 200 albums. Stevens' latest full-length album, Age of Adz, will be released on October 26. The album didn't arrive until it was announced on October 12, 2010.

The two albums featured a variety of styles, ranging from orchestral to electronic. The song lengths were also increased; All Delighted People's track "Djohariah" is 17 minutes long, while "Impossible Soul" from The Age of Adz is 25 minutes long. The albums also come in a variety of styles from disco to folk.

Stevens has reported in interviews that he suffered from a mystery debilitating virus infection that affected his nervous system in 2009 and 2010. He suffered with persistent pain and was forced to stop playing on music for several months. "The Age of Adz," he said, is a result of a combination of working with health issues and being more aware of my physical health." That's why I think the album is so fixated with sensation and has a hysterical melodrama to it."

Stevens' North American tour began in Montreal on October 12, 2010 and featured virtually all new material. The tour lasted just over a month and ended in New York City on November 15, 2010. Stevens appeared on-stage with The National in early 2011, when he appeared at the Sydney Festival as part of the Sydney Festival, and he appeared onstage with The National during the last three sold-out Auckland shows. In April and May 2011, he toured Europe and the United Kingdom for the first time in five years. His shows mainly featured new music, but he did appear on several older tracks from Seven Swans and Illinois. Stevens completed the Age of Adz tour in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York, with two performances.

On February 27, 2012, Stevens was revealed that Beak & Claw, a collaborative EP by artists Son Lux and Sereneni, would be released on March 20, 2012. The Anticon record label has the artist S / S / S. For Record Store Day 2012, Stevens and close friend Rosie Thomas performed a 7" with his close friend Rosie Thomas, titled Hit & Run Vol. 1. He also collaborated with choreographer Justin Peck on two ballets for the New York City Ballet: Year of the Rabbit (2012) and Everywhere We Go (2014), both to high critical acclaim. From March to July 2012, Stevens and fellow Brooklyn musicians Nico Muhly and Bryce Dessner introduced their classical project Planetarium, a song-cycle based on the planets in our solar system's northern system, including countries such as England, The Netherlands, Australia, and France.

Stevens would debut a second collection of Christmas songs titled Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas and Vols on October 2, 2012. On November 13, 2012, the 6–10 game took place. Silver & Gold's collection of Christmas songs, Songs for Christmas, has 58 songs, allowing for a total of 100 when combined with his first set of Christmas albums. Stevens performed in 24 cities around the United States on his 2012 tour "The Sirfjam Stephanapolous Seasonal Affective Disorder Spectacular Variety Show Disaster" in honor of this new release. Stevens released Chopped and Scrooged, a Christmas-themed hip-hop mixtape with music from Silver & Gold on December 11, 2012.

Stevens and Cat Martino, of Stranger Cat, recorded the single "Take the Time" as part of Joyful Noise's 2013 Flexi Disc Collection. Martino has worked on several of Stevens' previous projects, including The Age of Adz. Stevens released Sisyphus, a self-titled album coproduced with Son Lux and rapper Serena Serena on March 18, 2014.

Stevens will debut Carrie & Lowell, a new album on January 12, 2015. On February 16, 2015, Stevens performed "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross," his first single from the album. On March 31, 2015, Carrie & Lowell were announced. On its debut, the album received critical acclaim. In 16th place, Stereogum ranked it on its best albums of the decade, and described it as "an elegant heartbreaker of an album," while Consequence of Sound named it the 43rd best album of the decade, comparing it to "a special brew that makes even the most personal moment feel parabolic."

The album chronicles Stevens' mother, Carrie, who was diagnosed bipolar and schizophrenic, who died before he was a year old and abandoned him; it also includes Stevens' stepfather, Lowell Brams. Following his mother's death in 2012 as a result of stomach cancer, Stevens also said that the album was inspired by his process of mourning and coming to terms with his and his mother's love. Asthmatic Kitty Records, which began in April 2015, announced a tour of North America, which coincided with the new album's release. In September, Stevens headlined the End of the Road Festival in the United Kingdom. A second series of US tour dates, which took place in October and November 2015, was announced on July 21.

In March 2017, Stevens and James McAlister, composers Nico Muhly and Bryce Dessner, announced that the three and James McAlister would produce an album. In July 2017, the "80-minute concept album," dubbed Planetarium, was released. Carrie & Lowell Live, a live album and concert film, was released on April 28, 2017, featuring new interpretations, re-worked, and extensions of Carrie & Lowell's hits. Stevens also revealed The Greatest Gift, Carrie & Lowell's companion piece, on November 24. It includes four unreleased songs from the album sessions, as well as several remixes and a demo.

Stevens would perform original songs written and recorded by himself for the coming-of-age romantic drama film Call Me by Your Name, which was released in January 2017. Sony Pictures Classics announced the film on November 24, 2017. The film's soundtrack includes two new songs and a remix of an existing Stevens song "Visions of Gideon" (which has been described as including "lush orchestrations" and "staccato-heavy piano refrains), as well as the film's trailer and "ethereal piano arrangements" of "The Age of Adz' "Futile Devices), as well as the film's script and "ethereal piano arrangement." Consequence of Sound writer Dominick Suzanne-Mayer praised Stevens' role as a composer on the film, saying he "has a natural ear for the film's depiction of a summer that is getting shorter by the day." "Mystery of Love" received a nomination for the year's Academy Award for Best Original Song in January 2018. The album received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Written for Visual Media later this year. In the second season of Netflix's Sex Education, the song was included.

Stevens released two versions of "Tonya Harding," a song about the figure skater of the same name, in December 2017. A clip of the eponymous skater competing at the 1991 US Figure Skating Championships appears in the song's video. The single was released on digital download and streaming two days later, followed by a cassette and vinyl release in two versions, the one featured in the video (subtitled "in D major") and a piano-only arrangement ("in E major"); Stevens revealed in a short article that he had intended to write a song about Harding since 1991. "I've been trying to write a Tonya Harding song since I first saw her skate at the United States," Stevens says. Figure Skating Championships were held in 1991. She's a difficult case for a song partially because the hard facts of her life are so bizarre, disputable, heroic, and indelibly American." Stevens later revealed that the song was sent to the makers of the biographical film I, Tonya, which was released in the same period, but that they did not include it in the film.

Stevens appeared and recorded with indie folk singer Angelo De Augustine in October 2018, a pair of the latter's "Time" single. Stevens' two new songs, "Love Yourself" and "With My Whole Heart," which were released in honor of Pride Month. "With My Whole Heart" by Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork, "five minutes of unabashed and (relatively) unadorned inspirational soft rock" and "Love Yourself" are both glowing. Stevens' Pride-themed T-shirts debuted alongside the singles. He later announced that a portion of the song and shirts' proceeds would go to the Ali Forney Center in Brooklyn and the Ruth Ellis Center in Detroit, two groups dedicated to LGBT people. Stevens released The Decalogue with pianist Timo Andres in October 2019. It is based on a ballet by Justin Peck, which was composed by Stevens.

Stevens' stepfather, Lowell Brams, released Aporia, a collaborative album from March 24, 2020. Stevens unveiled his eighth studio album, The Ascension, in June, as well as the album's lead single "America," which was released on July 3. "Video Game," the album's second single, was released on August 13, and "Sugar," the album's third single, was released on September 15. On September 25, the Ascension was complete.

Stevens unveiled a five-volume collection of meditation songs called Convocations on May 6, 2021. Stevens announced the launch of A Beginner's Mind on July 7, 2021, when he collaborated with fellow folk singer-songwriter Angelo De Augustine. They unveiled the front and the first two singles, "Reach Out" and "Olympus," on the same day. A Beginner's Mind is a concept album, with each track being inspired by a different film from either the twentieth or the 21st century.

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