Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens (/ˈsuːfjɑːn/ SOOF-yahn; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released ten solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nominations.
"Sufjan" redirects here. For people with similar names, see Sufyan.
Sufjan Stevens
July 1, 1975
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
- Musician
- singer
- songwriter
1995–present
- Asthmatic Kitty
- Sounds Familyre
- Orchard
His debut album, A Sun Came, was released in 2000 on the Asthmatic Kitty label, which he co-founded with his stepfather. He received wide recognition for his 2005 album Illinois, which hit number one on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, and for the single "Chicago" from that album. Stevens later contributed to the soundtrack of the 2017 film Call Me by Your Name. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song and a Grammy nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media for the soundtrack's lead single, "Mystery of Love".
Stevens has released albums of varying styles, from the electronica of The Age of Adz and the lo-fi folk of Seven Swans to the symphonic instrumentation of Illinois and Christmas-themed Songs for Christmas. He employs various instruments, often playing many of them himself on the same recording. Stevens' music is also known for exploring various themes, particularly religion and spirituality. Stevens' tenth and most recent studio album, Javelin, was released in October 2023.
Early life[edit]
Stevens was born in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of nine, when his family moved to Alanson, Michigan, in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. He was raised by his father, Rasjid, and his stepmother, Pat, only occasionally visiting his mother, Carrie, in Oregon after she married her second husband, Lowell Brams.[1] Brams later became the head of Stevens' record label Asthmatic Kitty.[1] Stevens is of Lithuanian and Greek descent.[2]
Stevens attended the Detroit Waldorf School, Alanson Public Schools and Interlochen Arts Academy, and graduated from Harbor Light Christian School. He then attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and then earned an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School in New York City.[3][4][5]
While in school, Stevens studied the oboe and English horn, which he plays on his albums. Stevens did not learn to play the guitar until his time at Hope College.[6]
Sufjan is a name of Arabic or Persian origin,[6][7] most famously belonging to Abu Sufyan, a figure from early Islamic history. The name was given to Stevens by the founder of Subud, an interfaith spiritual community to which his parents belonged when he was born.[8]
Personal life[edit]
Stevens has resided in Upstate New York near the Catskill Mountains since 2019. Before this, he lived in New York City for 20 years.[124][125] He is a Christian.[1][126] Stevens also stated in 2005 that he attended an Anglo-Catholic Episcopal church.[127]
In September 2023, Stevens revealed in a post on Instagram that he had been hospitalized the previous month and diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome. He wrote that he was undergoing physical rehabilitation to relearn how to walk after the illness.[128][129]
In October 2023, Stevens dedicated his new album Javelin to his partner Evans Richardson, who died in April of the same year.[130][131] Richardson had served as the chief of staff at the Studio Museum in Harlem, which is dedicated to showcasing the work of black artists; in 2021 he had also been elected as chair of the accreditation commission for the American Alliance of Museums, with "a focus on diversity and access for the communities they serve".[132] Stevens' dedication of Javelin to Richardson was the first time that Stevens had publicly discussed his sexuality.[132]
Studio albums
Collaborative albums
