American alternative rock musician
| This article needs to be
updated
.
Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.
(
March 2023
)
|
Tracy Bonham
|
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|
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Birth name
| Tracy Kristin Bonham
|
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Born
| (
1967-03-16
)
March 16, 1967
(age 57)
Eugene, Oregon
, U.S.
|
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Genres
| |
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Occupation(s)
| - Singer
- songwriter
- instrumentalist
|
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Instrument(s)
| |
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Years active
| 1994?present
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Labels
| |
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Website
| tracybonham
.com
|
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Musical artist
Tracy Kristin Bonham
(born March 16, 1967) is an American
alternative rock
musician. Born and raised in
Eugene, Oregon
, she is a classically trained
violinist
and
pianist
, and is also a self-taught guitarist.
[1]
After building up a local following, Bonham signed to
Island Records
in 1995. Her debut album,
The Burdens of Being Upright
(1996), was a critical and commercial success and earned her two
Grammy
nominations, in addition to being certified
Gold
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) less than a year after its release. The album's lead single, "
Mother Mother
", topped the
Billboard
Alternative Airplay
chart in June 1996. She was the last female solo artist to top this chart until
Lorde
in 2013. Delays plagued the release of her second album,
Down Here
(2000), which failed to chart internationally; Bonham parted ways with Island a year after the album's release, after which she turned her attention to working with other musical artists, including
The Blue Man Group
when she appeared in their
The Complex Rock Tour Live
tour and live DVD in 2003.
In 2004, Bonham signed to the
Rounder Records
imprint
Zoe Records
, with whom she issued her third album
Blink the Brightest
(2005). She has since worked with various other record labels and released three more albums,
Masts of Manhatta
(2010),
Wax & Gold
(2015) and
Modern Burdens
(2017), the last of which is a
re-recording
of
The Burdens of Being Upright
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Tracy Kristin Bonham was born in
Eugene, Oregon
, on March 16, 1967, the only child of Donald Lewis Bonham and Lee Anne Leach.
[2]
Her father was the city editor of
The Eugene Register-Guard
, and her mother was a music teacher; the two had met whilst Leach was attending the
University of Oregon
.
[2]
Bonham's father died when she was two years old, and her mother remarried five years later to Edward Robert Robertson, a
mortgage loan officer
.
[2]
She was the youngest of the nine
half
and/or
step-siblings
she grew up with.
[2]
[3]
Bonham was trained as a classical musician; she began singing at the age of five, and playing the
violin
at nine.
[2]
[1]
When she was 16 years old, she enrolled at
Interlochen Arts Camp
in
Michigan
, but was expelled after three weeks for smoking
cigarettes
.
[2]
[3]
She later graduated at
South Eugene High School
and received a full scholarship to the
University of Southern California
for violin. After becoming burnt out from composing, she transferred over to the
Berklee College of Music
in
Boston, Massachusetts
to study voice in 1987.
[2]
While there, she took up various jobs at places such as the Atlantic Fish Company, a cassette duplication service, and also wrote
jingles
for
Pontiac
and
Toyota
car dealerships.
[2]
[3]
Career
[
edit
]
Early success, Island Records and
The Burdens of Being Upright
(1994?1997)
[
edit
]
In 1994, Bonham started writing music and released her first song, "The One", which appeared on the compilation album
Girl
, released through the Boston-based Curve of the Earth label.
[3]
[1]
[4]
Thereafter, she sent a four-song
demo tape
(featuring "The One") to
Brett Milano
, music critic of
The Boston Phoenix
, in June 1994; Milano praised the demo, and a major label bidding war occurred shortly thereafter.
[4]
[5]
In 1995, Bonham issued her debut
EP
,
The Liverpool Sessions
, through the
CherryDisc
label, which brought her additional local acclaim; after its release, she signed to
Island Records
.
[2]
[4]
After recording at
Fort Apache Studio
in Cambridge for several months, in 1996 Bonham released her debut full-length album
The Burdens of Being Upright
. Magazines such as
Rolling Stone
and
People
noted her bold approach to rock music. The album
went gold
within six months and later that year she was nominated for the
Grammy Awards
for
Best Alternative Music Performance
and
Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
(for "
Mother Mother
").
[6]
She then went on an extensive tour in support of the album.
The album's first single, "Mother Mother", reached number one on the
Billboard
Modern Rock Tracks
chart (later known as Alternative Airplay chart) in June 1996, and remained there for a month; Bonham subsequently became the first female solo artist to achieve this feat, and was the last one to do so until Lorde reached the same position with her single "
Royals
" in 2013.
[7]
[8]
The song's music video won the award for Best Video at the 1996 Boston Music Awards, and also received nominations at the MTV Music Video Awards in 1997 for
Best New Artist in a Video
.
[9]
The second single, "The One", was a minor hit and peaked at No. 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart,
[10]
and two different
music video
versions of the song were briefly in
heavy rotation
on video music channels
MTV
and
VH1
. The third and final single, "Sharks Can't Sleep" failed to chart in the US, although it became her highest charting single in the United Kingdom, where it reached number 93.
Record label issues and
Down Here
(1998?2000)
[
edit
]
After the mild success
[11]
of her first album, Bonham commenced work on a second studio album in 1997 with
Mitchell Froom
and
Tchad Blake
.
[12]
Bonham hoped to make an album that would better reflect her classical influences and serve as a more mature outing
.
[3]
The album, then known as
Trails of a Dust Devil
, was finished in the spring of 1998, but executives at Island were unhappy with the album as they did not feel like it had a hit single.
[12]
Reluctantly, Bonham returned to writing new, more commercial-sounding songs, including "Behind Every Good Woman".
[12]
Satisfied, Island then set a release date for the album of October 1998.
[13]
[14]
However, in May 1998, Island Records' parent company,
PolyGram
, was purchased by beverage giant
Seagram
for $10.6 billion;
[15]
as part of Seagram's purchase, PolyGram was merged into
Universal Music Group
, and Island Records was reconsolidated into
The Island Def Jam Music Group
umbrella label. The restructurings delayed the release of the album to 1999.
[12]
Most of the people Bonham had worked with at Island had left the company during the merger, and the label's new management asked her to write another hit single; in response, Bonham wrote "Fake It".
[12]
The album was then pushed back to the spring of 2000, by which time it had been renamed
Down Here
.
[12]
Down Here
was released on April 18, 2000.
[16]
The album received generally positive reviews,
[17]
[18]
but struggled to find an audience in a musical climate dominated by
nu metal
, and experienced virtually no radio airplay.
[12]
The album and its only single, "Behind Every Good Woman" failed to appear on any sales charts worldwide, leaving her on uncertain terms with Island.
[12]
Down Here
would be Bonham's final album for Island; in December 2001, whilst she was in the studio preparing to record her third album, the label released her from her recording contract. Bonham cited Island Records' changing musical direction as the primary reason why she was cut from the label.
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
Other activities and
Bee
EP (2001?2003)
[
edit
]
She then left studio recording behind and began to tour in support of other groups such as the
performance group
Blue Man Group
[23]
and even
rock band
Aerosmith
. In 2003 she recorded and released an independent
EP
titled
Bee
. It included early versions of "Shine" and "All Thumbs" and a live version of "Freed" (from
Down Here
), and a cover of
Led Zeppelin
's "
Black Dog
", where she substituted violin solos for the signature
lead guitar
line in the original.
She had only pressed 1,000 hoping to sell 500, but she eventually sold over 12,000 of the EP's while on the various tours.
[20]
With the money made from the EP she returned to the studio to start work on her third full-length LP in Los Angeles,
California
.
[20]
(The "Bee" EP was later re-issued in Europe as the "
Something Beautiful
" EP with the addition of a track titled "Blink the Brightest" and a bonus DVD with live performances.)
Blink the Brightest
and
In The City + In The Woods
(2004
?
2009)
[
edit
]
In 2004, she signed with
Rounder Records
, whose
CEO
, John Virant, was a longtime fan and spent over three years convincing Tracy to trust a record company again.
In 2005 she released her third album
Blink the Brightest
through the more pop-oriented Zoe label of Rounder. It was recorded in
L.A.
, where she has lived part-time since 2003. She co-produced the bulk of the album with
Greg Collins
(
U2
,
No Doubt
,
Matchbox Twenty
);
Joey Waronker
, who has drummed for
R.E.M.
and
Beck
, co-produced four tracks.
Along with Bonham, the players included drummers Waronker and
Butch
(of
Eels
), bassists
Sebastian Steinberg
(from Soul Coughing & Neil Finn) and
Davey Faragher
(having performed for
Elvis Costello
,
Sheryl Crow
), guitarists
Joe Gore
(from
Tom Waits
,
P.J. Harvey
) and
Dave Levita
(
Alanis Morissette
,
Jewel
) and keyboard player
Mitchell Froom
(
Paul McCartney
,
Los Lobos
).
She performed on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
and
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
, and her new songs were featured on
XM Radio
's
The Loft Channel
.
While in upstate New York in the late fall of 2006 Bonham released the EP
In The City + In The Woods
, her second self-funded EP. The 11-track disc featured two studio tracks, a cover version of
Beyonce Knowles
's "Crazy In Love" and an original titled "In My Other Life". The rest of the songs are live tracks, which include some older favorites ? "One Hit Wonder" and a new version of "Navy Bean" ? covers ("
Blue Jay Way
" & "Kissing The Lipless"), and previously unreleased material ("Your World Turns Upside Down", "The Idiot In Me").
Masts of Manhatta
and
Pure McCartney
(2010?2014)
[
edit
]
From 2007 to 2009, Bonham recorded songs for her new album in Woodstock. The 2010 album, titled
Masts of Manhatta
, was produced by Bonham and mixed by Tchad Blake, and was released under the New York City indie label
Engine Room Recordings
in the United States and on
Lojinx
Records in the UK.
[24]
This period of Bonham's life was chronicled in a
Billboard
article
[25]
in which Bonham and then-manager
Darren Paltrowitz
were interviewed about
Masts Of Manhatta
.
In celebration of Paul McCartney's 70th birthday on June 18, 2012, Bonham, Mike Viola and Danish singer
Tim Christensen
performed the
Ram
album with
The Damn Crystals
at Vega in Copenhagen.
[26]
Wax & Gold
and
Modern Burdens
(2015?present)
[
edit
]
After 2015's
Wax & Gold
, Bonham released a re-recorded version of her debut album entitled
Modern Burdens
in 2017.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Bonham currently splits her time between
Woodstock, New York
, and
Brooklyn, New York City
. She is married to
Rolling Stone
executive editor Jason Fine.
[27]
Between 1998 and 2001, she was married to Steve Slingeneyer of the band
Soulwax
.
[28]
Discography
[
edit
]
Studio albums
[
edit
]
Live
[
edit
]
Singles
[
edit
]
Digital releases
- "
Carry Me Home
" ? 2008 (Website download)
- "Your Night Is Wide Open" ? 2008 (Website download)
- "The Size of My Fist" ? 2008 (available on iTunes)
- "The Indelible Man" ? 2008 (available on iTunes)
- "
In My Heart (Bill Withers cover)
" ? 2009 (available on iTunes and the compilation album "Before The Goldrush")
- "The Hugger, The Screamer, and Me" ? 2009 (Website download)
- "
In The Pines (Leadbelly cover)
" ? 2011 (Website download)
Appears on album
Awards and nominations
[
edit
]
The Boston Phoenix
/
WFNX
Best Music Poll
[47]
[48]
Year
|
Nominee / work
|
Award
|
Result
|
1995
|
Herself
|
Best Local Female Vocalist
|
Won
|
Best Local New Artist
|
Won
|
"The One"
|
Best Local Song
|
Nominated
|
1996
|
Herself
|
Best Local Female Vocalist
|
Won
|
Boston Music Awards
[49]
[50]
Year
|
Nominee / work
|
Award
|
Result
|
1995
|
The Liverpool Sessions
|
Outstanding Debut Rock Album (indie label)
|
Won
|
"Dandelion"
|
Outstanding Rock Single (indie)
|
Won
|
Herself
|
Outstanding Local Female Vocalist
|
Won
|
1996
|
The Burdens of Being Upright
|
Debut Album of the Year
|
Won
|
"Mother Mother"
|
Single of the Year
|
Won
|
Herself
|
Best Female Vocalist
|
Won
|
"Mother Mother"
|
Best Music Video
|
Won
|
MTV Video Music Awards
[9]
Grammy Awards
[51]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"TBonham-bio.pdf"
(PDF)
.
tracybonham.com
(
Blink the Brightest
press bio). 2005. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on May 8, 2006
. Retrieved
March 9,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
White, Timothy (January 20, 1996).
"Tracy Bonham's Feast Of 'Burdens'
"
.
Billboard
. Vol. 108, no. 3. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 3.
ISSN
0006-2510
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Tracy Bonham - Biography"
.
tracybonham.com
. Archived from
the original
on September 24, 2001
. Retrieved
March 9,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
Ashare, Matt (February 21, 1997).
"Grammy Girl: Tracy Bonham's rise from Boston to the top of the charts"
.
The Boston Phoenix
.
26
(8): 6 8 – via
Internet Archive
.
- ^
Milano, Brett
(June 17, 1994).
"Demo Derby: Tough Tunes"
.
The Boston Phoenix
.
23
(24): 22 – via
Internet Archive
.
- ^
"Babyface, Smashing Pumpkins Lead 1997 Grammy Nominees"
,
Rolling Stone
, January 7, 1997
, retrieved
June 2,
2011
- ^
Willman, Chris (June 21, 1996).
"Tracy Bonham's
Mother Mother
hits number 1"
.
EW.com
. Retrieved
February 18,
2023
.
- ^
Hohnen, Mike (August 13, 2013).
"Lorde Makes History On Billboard Charts, Announces Debut Album 'Pure Heroine'
"
.
Music Feeds
. Retrieved
February 18,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"MTV Video Music Awards 1996"
. MTV. Archived from
the original
on September 13, 2008
. Retrieved
July 23,
2012
.
- ^
[1]
Archived
December 30, 2014, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Leahey, Andrew,
"Tracy Bonham ? Biography"
,
Allmusic
,
Rovi Corporation
, retrieved
June 2,
2011
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Milano, Brett
(August 18, 2000).
"Tracy: What Happened?"
.
The Boston Phoenix
.
29
(33): 66, 68 – via
Internet Archive
.
- ^
Harrington, Richard (September 13, 1998).
"THE TOP RECORDS OF FALL"
.
Washington Post
.
ISSN
0190-8286
. Retrieved
March 8,
2023
.
- ^
"Local - Year ahead"
.
bostonphoenix.com
. December 31, 1998
. Retrieved
March 8,
2023
.
- ^
"Seagram buys PolyGram from Philips for $10.6bn"
.
The Independent
. May 21, 1998
. Retrieved
March 9,
2023
.
- ^
"Tracy Bonham Returns From Hiatus with 'Down Here'
"
.
CMJ New Music Report
. CMJ Network, Inc. April 10, 2000 – via Google Books.
- ^
"Catherine Wheel, Tracy Bonham Demonstrate the Power of Rock"
.
Los Angeles Times
. August 2, 2000.
- ^
Stephen Thomas Erlewine,
Down Here
,
AllMusic
, retrieved
December 11,
2010
- ^
Anderman, Joan (June 19, 2005),
"Up, Down, and Now Somewhere Between"
,
The Boston Globe
, retrieved
June 2,
2011
- ^
a
b
c
Quill, Colleen Maree (August 2004).
"Venus: Tracy Bonham"
.
venuszine.com
. Archived from
the original
on August 30, 2004
. Retrieved
March 9,
2023
.
- ^
Lipshutz, Jason (July 6, 2010).
"Tracy Bonham Makes A Fresh Start"
.
Billboard
. Retrieved
March 9,
2023
.
- ^
"It's a Family Affair: Tracy Bonham's Wax and Gold"
.
HuffPost
. September 29, 2015
. Retrieved
March 10,
2023
.
- ^
"Blue Man Group Unveils New Concert with Tracy Bonham, Monobloco & More at the Hollywood Bowl | Broadway Buzz"
. Broadway.com. August 15, 2013
. Retrieved
August 19,
2015
.
- ^
Lipshutz, Jason (July 6, 2010),
"Tracy Bonham Makes a Fresh Start"
,
Billboard
, retrieved
June 2,
2011
- ^
Lipshutz, Jason (July 6, 2010).
"Tracy Bonham Makes A Fresh Start"
.
Billboard
. Retrieved
April 6,
2023
.
- ^
"Pure Ram ? Music is Real"
.
Steelnglass.wordpress.com
. August 6, 2016
. Retrieved
March 21,
2020
.
- ^
"Interview: Tracy Bonham - musician - News - Scotsman.com"
.
The Scotsman
. February 11, 2010. Archived from
the original
on October 22, 2012
. Retrieved
March 13,
2023
.
- ^
Chinen, Nate (July 11, 2010).
"Foot in the City and Cowboy Boot In the Country"
.
The New York Times
: AR19.
ProQuest
1461125849
– via
ProQuest
.
- ^
a
b
"Tracy Bonham Music News & Info | Billboard.com"
.
Billboard
. Archived from
the original
on October 17, 2010
. Retrieved
March 11,
2023
.
- ^
Anon. (April 27, 1996).
"Billboard's Heatseekers Albums Chart"
.
Billboard
. Vol. 108, no. 17. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 18.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"norwegiancharts.com - Tracy Bonham - The Burdens Of Being Upright"
.
norwegiancharts.com
.
Archived
from the original on February 18, 2023
. Retrieved
February 18,
2023
.
- ^
Borzillo, Carrie (May 11, 1996).
"Island's Bonham Hits"
.
Billboard
. Vol. 108, no. 19. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 1, 74.
ISSN
0006-2510
.
- ^
"Gold & Platinum"
.
RIAA
. Retrieved
February 17,
2023
.
- ^
Tracy Bonham - In the City + In the Woods Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic
, retrieved
March 8,
2023
- ^
All I Wish Every Christmas
, December 10, 2013
, retrieved
March 8,
2023
- ^
"Tracy Bonham Mainstream Rock Chart"
.
Billboard
. Archived from
the original
on November 17, 2021
. Retrieved
February 20,
2023
.
- ^
"Tracy Bonham Radio Songs Chart"
.
Billboard
. Archived from
the original
on November 17, 2021
. Retrieved
February 20,
2023
.
- ^
"australian-charts.com - Tracy Bonham - Mother Mother"
.
australian-charts.com
. Retrieved
February 20,
2023
.
- ^
"RPM 100"
.
Library and Archives Canada
. July 17, 2013.
- ^
"norwegiancharts.com - Tracy Bonham - Mother Mother"
.
norwegiancharts.com
. Retrieved
February 20,
2023
.
- ^
"Tracy Bonham - Mother Mother"
.
dutchcharts.nl
. Retrieved
February 20,
2023
.
- ^
"charts.org.nz - Tracy Bonham - Mother Mother"
.
charts.nz
. Retrieved
February 20,
2023
.
- ^
For "Mother Mother":
"Chart Log UK: Darren B - David Byrne"
.
www.zobbel.de
. Retrieved
February 20,
2023
.
For "Sharks Can't Sleep":
"TRACY BONHAM | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company"
.
www.officialcharts.com
. Retrieved
February 20,
2023
.
- ^
"ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart"
.
www.aria.com.au
. Retrieved
February 20,
2023
.
- ^
"TRACY BONHAM ? EYES (2006 PROMO CD)"
. eBay.com. September 6, 2011
. Retrieved
August 13,
2012
.
- ^
"Tracy Bonham ? Luck"
. PlayMPE.com (Destiny Media Technologies). August 25, 2015
. Retrieved
January 20,
2016
.
- ^
Anon. (May 5, 1995).
"The Seventh Annual Best Music Poll"
.
The Boston Phoenix (Supplement)
.
24
(18): 1?38 – via
Internet Archive
.
- ^
The Boston Phoenix April 19-25, 1996: Vol 25 Iss 16
. Boston Phoenix. April 19, 1996 – via
Internet Archive
.
- ^
"Boston Music Awards 1995"
.
Boston Music Awards
.
Archived
from the original on March 8, 2023
. Retrieved
March 8,
2023
.
- ^
"Boston Music Awards 1996"
.
Boston Music Awards
.
Archived
from the original on March 8, 2023
. Retrieved
March 8,
2023
.
- ^
"Tracy Bonham | Artist | GRAMMY.com"
.
www.grammy.com
. Retrieved
February 18,
2023
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Studio albums
| |
---|
Other releases
| |
---|
Singles
| |
---|
Promo/radio singles
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|