Jade Bird

An English-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter with a supple commanding voice, Jade Bird offers a winsome mix of folk, pop, and rustic Americana. While still in her teens she joined the roster of influential indie Glassnote Records, which released her chart-topping 2019 debut album. Working with Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb, she delivered her follow-up, Different Kinds of Light, in 2021. After contributing to the soundtrack for the 2023 Netflix film NYAD, Bird worked with Mura Masa on the 2024 song "Burn the Hard Drive." Drawn to songwriting at a young age, Bird spent her teenage years gigging around England, moving to London when she was only 16 to hone her stagecraft and immerse herself in the city's folk circuit. The success of a live YouTube performance of her song "Madeline" eventually won Bird a deal with Glassnote, which released her debut EP, Something American, in 2017. She spent part of that year touring the U.S. with Americana singer Brent Cobb. The bright, hooky single "Lottery" arrived in January 2018, and topped Billboard's Triple A chart. Subsequent singles "Uh Huh" and "I Get No Joy" fared similarly well and were later included on Bird's eponymous full-length debut in April 2019. The album topped the U.K. Americana chart and reached number ten on the pop chart. Following its release, she found herself a protégé of Jason Isbell, Sheryl Crow, and Brandi Carlile. After joining Cobb on his song "Feet off the Ground," she returned in 2020 with a pair of singles, "Headstart" and "Houdini." Those tracks appeared on her sophomore effort, 2021's Different Kinds of Light. Written in Japan, Mexico, Nashville, and upstate New York, the album was recorded with Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb (cousin of Brent), reaching number 27 on the U.K. Albums chart. Bird's output over the next two years consisted of a scattering of singles including "Find a Way," a song she co-wrote with Linda Perry for the 2023 film NYAD. Early the following year, she teamed up with U.K. producer Mura Masa on the collaborative single "Burn the Hard Drive." ~ Timothy Monger