Bon Iver

Bon Iver is the musical project of Justin Vernon, born June 30, 1981, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The name derives from a phonetic approximation of the French phrase for "good winter," chosen partly for its sound and partly for its evocation of isolation and cold. Vernon's approach to music has changed dramatically over nearly two decades, moving from confessional solo recordings to expansive collaborative works that have redefined the boundaries of indie folk and art pop.

The project's origins are well-documented: following a breakup and a bout of mononucleosis, Vernon retreated in late 2006 to his father's hunting cabin in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Over three months, he wrote and recorded the songs that became For Emma, Forever Ago. Released independently in 2007 and picked up by Jagjaguwar in 2008, the album found an enormous audience for its austere beauty and emotional directness, establishing the "sad man in a cabin" mythology that would follow Vernon for years.^[1]

Subsequent records complicated and expanded that myth. The self-titled Bon Iver, Bon Iver (2011) won the Grammy for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album, and drew on natural landscape and place names for its imagery. 22, A Million (2016) embraced digital fragmentation and abstraction, using Auto-Tune and unconventional notation as expressive tools. By i,i (2019), Vernon had assembled a vast collaborative network that included Bruce Hornsby, Moses Sumney, Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and Bryce Dessner of The National, among dozens of others. The album was recorded communally at Sonic Ranch in El Paso, Texas.^[2]

The creative period around 22, A Million was marked by a specific intention to destroy what had come before. Vernon made a solo trip to Greece, spending a week in Santorini gripped by paranoia and panic attacks. He described the experience as “the European horribleness” and returned from it determined to make something aggressive: music that would, as he put it, “bash things apart.”^[3] The anxiety continued after the album’s release, becoming severe enough to leave him housebound and unable to tour. It was the first time he had experienced panic attacks, and confronting that experience directly eventually led him toward the collaborative openness that would define i,i.

Vernon has spoken openly about the struggles with anxiety that preceded i,i. In a 2019 Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, he described a period in which he was effectively housebound, unable to function or leave his home. One-on-one therapy helped him through it, and he has credited that recovery with making the album's collaborative spirit possible. The lead single from i,i, "HEY, MA," received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020.^[4][5]

In April 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced a global lockdown, Vernon channeled that hard-won understanding of fear into action. He released "P.D.L.I.F." (Please Don't Live in Fear), a remotely assembled collaboration with Bon Iver members and outside contributors. He committed 100% of the song's proceeds to Direct Relief, directing its commercial value toward frontline healthcare workers.^[6][7] The gesture was characteristic of an artist who had learned to translate private struggle with fear into public purpose.

His collaborations extend well beyond the Bon Iver banner: he has worked with Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Eminem, Volcano Choir, Gayngs, and Big Red Machine (with Aaron Dessner of The National). He has been an outspoken advocate for his home city of Eau Claire, co-founding the music festival Eaux Claires and investing in local arts infrastructure.

In 2019, Vernon undertook a significant multidisciplinary collaboration with TU Dance, a Minneapolis-based contemporary dance company. Together with curator Kate Nordstrum of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music series, Vernon composed the music for Come Through, a 75-minute performance piece that debuted at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul before traveling to Los Angeles and New York. Several songs from i,i were written in dialogue with this collaboration, including "JELMORE," which featured a celebrated solo by dancer Alexis Staley and a communal sequence that drew audiences into the performance.^[8]

In 2026, Bon Iver released VOLUMES: ONE, the first in a planned archival live series modeled on Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series and the Neil Young Archives. Vernon spent several years curating performances recorded between 2019 and 2023, describing the album as the record he would hand someone as a complete introduction to what Bon Iver had become.^[9] The project took on particular significance in light of Vernon's 2023 decision to permanently retire from touring, making these recordings among the final documents of the band as a live act. Bon Iver also released SABLE, fABLE in 2025, a record Vernon described as a love story and a closing chapter. Its final track is titled "Au Revoir."^[8] In late 2025, Vernon said he would be "very surprised" if another Bon Iver album appeared, and noted that for the first time since childhood he was not writing songs.^[10]