Jack Antonoff
Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. Antonoff is the lead singer of rock band Bleachers, and was the guitarist and drummer in the pop rock band Fun. He was previously the lead singer of the indie rock band Steel Train. Aside from his work with Bleachers and Fun, Antonoff has worked as a songwriter and record producer with various artists, including Taylor Swift, the 1975, Lorde, St. Vincent, Florence and the Machine, Lana Del Rey, Fifth Harmony, Kevin Abstract, Carly Rae Jepsen, the Chicks, Tegan and Sara, and Clairo. Antonoff has often been credited with having a significant impact on the sound of contemporary popular music since the mid-2010s.[1][2]
Not to be confused with Jack Abramoff.
Jack Antonoff
Jack Michael Antonoff
March 31, 1984
Bergenfield, New Jersey, U.S.
- Singer
- musician
- songwriter
- record producer
- Guitar
- vocals
- drums
- piano
- bass guitar
- mandolin
2000–present
- RCA
- Quality CTRL
- Fueled by Ramen
- Drive-Thru
- Dirty Hit
- Bleachers Band Recordings
Antonoff has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won ten Grammy Awards, including the 2022, 2023, and 2024 Grammy for Producer of the Year, being the second person to win three Producer of the Year awards consecutively (after Babyface). He has also won Grammy Awards for his work with Fun, for production on Swift's albums 1989, Folklore, and Midnights, for production on St. Vincent's album Daddy's Home, and for co-writing the title track on St. Vincent's Masseduction.
Early life[edit]
Antonoff was born on March 31, 1984, in Bergenfield, New Jersey.[3] He is the second of three children of Shira (Wall) and Rick Antonoff.[4] He is the younger brother of fashion designer Rachel Antonoff.[5] His younger sister, Sarah, died of brain cancer at the age of 13 when Antonoff was a senior in high school.[6] The event had a profound effect on Antonoff who has said "... my whole career has been revisiting that through a different lens."[7]
Antonoff is Jewish.[8][9] He grew up in New Milford, New Jersey, and Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, and attended elementary school at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County.[10][11] For high school, he and his sister commuted to Manhattan to attend the Professional Children's School.[5]
During his sophomore year of high school, in November 1998, he and several friends from elementary school formed a punk rock band called Outline.[10] They released a self-titled EP through Lifetime Records, a friend's record label, in January 2000. Antonoff initially sang in the group until early 2000 when Eddie Wright took over on vocals.[12] With the addition of Wright, they recorded six songs which were later released[13] as 6 Song Demo in the summer.[14] They released an album, A Boy Can Dream, in July 2001 through Triple Crown Records.[13] When they were 15, Antonoff and his Outline bandmate used a DIY guide to book shows in numerous states, including Florida and Texas, and borrowed Antonoff's parents' minivan to travel in. During the tour, Outline played in venues such as anarchist bookstores, while the oldest member of the band drove because he was 18 years old. Antonoff explained in 2014: "Half the time no one would show up or the equipment would be too fucked up to play ... but that's when I fell in love with touring." The band lasted until 2002.[6][10]
Music career[edit]
Steel Train[edit]
In 2002, Antonoff and friend Scott Irby-Ranniar formed the band Steel Train. Antonoff was the lead singer,[15] and they recruited drummer Matthias Gruber. The band then convinced two of their friends from the band Random Task, Evan Winiker and Matthew Goldman, to drop out of college to join the new band.[10] Steel Train secured a recording deal with Drive-Thru Records.[10] The group was popular on the jamband festival circuit and Antonoff has said he has applied that grassroots mentality to his future projects.[16]
Fun.[edit]
In 2008, Nate Ruess (formerly the frontman of the Format) asked Antonoff to join him and Andrew Dost (formerly of Anathallo) in a new band, which became Fun.[17] Antonoff was already well acquainted with Ruess and Dost, as their former bands had all toured together.[17] The new band released its debut album, Aim and Ignite, in 2009.[18] Fun's second album, Some Nights (2012), produced the band's first number-one hit single, "We Are Young". The song was co-written by Antonoff with Ruess, Dost, and Jeff Bhasker.[19] Fun. then played with their musical heroes Queen in September 2013 at the iHeartRadio Music Festival, which was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Antonoff played Brian May's guitar during the rehearsal, which he described as the "most surreal experience ever."[20] The band then released a free six-song EP in December 2013, titled Before Shane Went to Bangkok: Fun. Live in the USA.[18]