Bon Iver

Decamping to his father's cabin in the middle of the north Wisconsin woods after the break-up of a long term relationship, Justin Vernon drew on the wilderness of his surroundings and poured out his heart into song. Three months of hunting, cold weather and rural isolation resulted in cathartic self-therapy and the stark debut album For Emma, Forever Ago (2007). Using a misspelling of bon hiver (French for good winter) as a pseudonym, he self-released 500 copies of the album before being picked up by indie label Jagjaguwar. Led by the fragile, folky honesty of tracks like "Skinny Love" and "For Emma", the album received a positive critical response and was named Album of the Year by Observer Music Monthly magazine. The follow-up EP Blood Bank was released in 2009 and made it to number 16 in the US Billboard Charts. Bon Iver was released in 2011 and gave the band their first Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. Following a lengthy hiatus, the band released their third studio album, 22, a Million, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. They released their fourth studio album, I,I, in August 2019. After collaborating with Taylor Swift on her 2020 album Folklore, giving the band their first top 10 hit with "Exile", Bon Iver featured Bruce Springsteen and Jenny Lewis on "AUATC" and composed the song "Second Nature" for the film Don't Look Up. Another Bon Iver hit, "Boys of Faith" for Zach Bryan, charted, ahead of the 2024 release of the EP Sable. This return to a stripped-back indie folk was incorporated in the next full-length Sable, Fable (stylized as SABLE, fABLE), issued in April 2025. Produced with Jim-E Stack, the eclectic fifth album received a general acclaim from critics and topped the American Folk charts (Number 11 on the Billboard 200).