Phoebe Bridgers announced on Instagram Tuesday that her father died. The singer-songwriter had a complicated relationship with her father, as she candidly spoke about in recent interviews. Her hit song “Kyoto” is also about their relationship.
Bridgers, 28, shared an old photo with her dad, who was a scenic carpenter in Hollywood, on Instagram. “Rest in peace, dad,” she wrote. The singer/guitarist did not offer any further details.
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Bridgers has mentioned her difficult childhood in several recent interviews. She told The Fader that her parents’ marriage started well, but her father was abusive. She described his behavior as “textbook domestic violence,” and her parents divorced when she was 19. Her mother was always ready to drive her to concerts because it was an escape. “There was an element of having to escape the family dynamic,” Bridgers explained. “I think that’s why she drove me to concerts and went out of her way. We were both kind of escaping.”
In November 2019, Bridgers told GQ her father had a “drug thing” but did not go into further detail. In 2020, she told NPR that her father was “emotionally unavailable but very present in a weird way,” notes Entertainment Tonight. Her biggest hit single, “Kyoto,” is about her struggling to decide if she can forgive her father.
“It’s nice to not feel, like, emotionally trapped all the time with stuff that you carry into your life,” Bridgers said of the song, which is featured on her 2020 album Punisher. “Like, I think I was angry for a long time, and… the song is basically about, like, not being angry anymore.”
Bridgers started her career with an EP, Killer, released in 2014. She released her debut solo album, Stranger in the Alps, in September 2017. In 2018, she joined Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus to form the indie supergroup boygenius. Punisher is Bridgers’ biggest solo success so far, and earned unanimous critical acclaim after its release in June 2020. The album earned a Grammy nod for Best Alternative Music Album, while “Kyoto” was nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance.
Bridgers will serve as an opening act for several of Taylor Swift’s upcoming The Eras Tour shows in May. She is scheduled to take the stage during Swift’s three-night stands at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Gilette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
