Passenger (singer)
Michael David Rosenberg (born 17 May 1984), better known by his stage name Passenger, is an English indie folk singer-songwriter. From 2003 to 2009, Rosenberg fronted a band by the same name; he opted to keep the Passenger moniker for his solo work after the band dissolved. Rosenberg is best known for the 2012 song "Let Her Go", which topped the charts in 16 countries and accumulated more than 3.6 billion views on YouTube. Because Rosenberg was based in Australia at the time of release (and the clip itself was filmed at the Factory Theatre in Marrickville), it is the most-viewed Australian YouTube video of all time.[2][3] In 2014, the song was nominated for the Brit Award for British Single of the Year, and he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed Work.[4]
A prolific singer-songwriter, Rosenberg has released 14 studio albums to date: One with the band Passenger, and 13 as a solo artist. The most recent of these, Birds That Flew and Ships That Sailed, was released in April of 2022.
Early life[edit]
Rosenberg was born on 17 May 1984[5][6] in Brighton to Quaker parents, English mother Jane and American Jewish father, Gerard Rosenberg, originally from Vineland, New Jersey.[2][7][8] He learned classical guitar at a young age, and began writing songs at 14 or 15. He left school at 16 to pursue a music career, and spent the next few years as a busker in England and Australia.[9]
Music career[edit]
Early years[edit]
Rosenberg did his first performance when he was 16. His father, a film production worker, introduced him to Jamie Catto, a former member of the band Faithless, in 2001; it led to Rosenberg getting a two-song spot at the Free Burma Campaign benefit concert at the Royal Court in London in 2002.[10] That night, he met his future writing partner, Andrew Phillips, and established contact with the IE Music label. Back in Brighton, Phillips and Rosenberg pooled their musical influences (from Simon & Garfunkel to DJ Shadow), and started writing songs at Phillips' in-house studio in Hove. In 2003, they formed the Mike Rosenberg Band, engaging Marcus O'Dair (bass), Alon Cohen (drums) and Richard Brinklow (keyboards) through connections within the Brighton music scene.[11]
2003–2009: Passenger[edit]
Rosenberg founded the band Passenger with Andrew Phillips in 2003 in Brighton and Hove. The name of the band was stylised as /Passenger. (with a slash at the beginning and a dot at the end). The five-piece band's only album, Wicked Man's Rest, was released in 2007, on Chalkmark.[12] Rosenberg wrote the majority of the album's tracks, with the exception of "Four Horses", which was written by Phillips. The band broke up in 2009.
2009–2010: Solo career and Wide Eyes Blind Love, Divers and Submarines and Flight of the Crow[edit]
After the break-up of Passenger, Rosenberg kept the band's name as his personal stage name, and took to busking for a solo music career. In October 2009 he moved to Australia, where he supported acts such as Lior and Sydneysiders Elana Stone and Brian Campeau. He then played at One Movement, a major music industry-focused festival in Perth. This earned him a following in Australia and he was selling out 500-seater venues across Australia. His debut solo album, Wide Eyes Blind Love, was released in 2009. It was produced and mixed by former bandmate Andrew Phillips, who also provided backing vocals, guitar and other instruments, and featured vocals by Isobel Anderson. Rosenberg also played various shows in the United Kingdom during this time, including a support slot for Turin Brakes' tenth anniversary show at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London.
Rosenberg produced a fans-only limited release Divers and Submarines, again supported by former bandmate Andrew Phillips and vocalist Isobel Anderson. His third studio album, Flight of the Crow, was recorded in Australia[13] and saw him joined in the studio by various Australian artists including Lior, Kate Miller-Heidke, Boy & Bear, Josh Pyke and Katie Noonan.
Personal life[edit]
Rosenberg currently lives in Brighton.[5] He is a fan of English football club Arsenal F.C. In a 2021 interview, he said he became an Arsenal supporter despite being from Brighton after watching Arsenal beating Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in the FA Cup Final in 1993.[40] In May 2015, Rosenberg appeared at Arsenal's 'A Night to Inspire' event and played a version of the '49 Undefeated' fan chant.[41]
Studio albums