Adrianne Lenker

Adrianne Elizabeth Lenker (born July 9, 1991) is an American musician. She is the lead vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter of the band Big Thief, as well as an established solo artist. She has released several solo albums, including Abysskiss, Songs and Instrumentals (both 2020), and Bright Future (2024), the latter of which earned her a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.

Early life and education Lenker was born in Indianapolis, but primarily grew up in Minnesota. She was raised in a Christian cult until the age of four.

Lenker has a younger sister, Zoë, and a younger brother, Noah. and Big Thief on a number of occasions playing Jew's harp on their song "Spud Infinity", and has also directed videos for Big Thief and Lenker's solo work.

When Lenker was 5 years old, she was hospitalized after a railroad spike fell from the roof of a makeshift treehouse in the yard of her family's rented home in Nisswa, lodging itself into her skull and nearly killing her. She recounts the incident in the song "Mythological Beauty" from Big Thief's second album Capacity.

After leaving the cult, the family began living out of a large blue van. They moved frequently, renting homes throughout the Midwest. They lived with a Russian couple and their five children in a two-bedroom apartment in Coon Rapids. They also lived with two women who were living an Amish lifestyle. They lived in a total of 14 different houses by the time she was 8 years old. Around this time, her father became disillusioned with the religion and they bought a house in the Minneapolis suburbs. Her grandmother is a watercolorist and the former owner of an antique store in Andover.

Lenker was homeschooled. Her parents divorced when she was 12, and she began experimenting with substances in her mid-teens.

She began learning music from her father, a musician and songwriter who played guitar and piano. He taught her basic chords as well as unconventional chords and melodies on guitar. She and her siblings took voice lessons. When she was 12, her father sent her on a bus through the Twin Cities to spend time with a musician who was a stay-at-home dad. He introduced her to different albums and worked with her on songwriting. Her father would also bring her to open mic nights, and she would play bars when she was 12.

At some point, Lenker eventually enrolled in public school, but was not successful. She recounts that she would intentionally show up late for school in order to get lunch detention to avoid social alienation in the lunchroom. She did not attend high school and instead received her GED at the age of 16. On January 9, 2014, Lenker self-released her second solo album, Hours Were the Birds; the album was reissued by Saddle Creek Records on November 16, 2018.

On May 1, 2014, Lenker, together with future bandmate Buck Meek, released the LP records a-sides and b-sides. James Krivchenia, who was originally hired to engineer the band's debut studio album, joined the band later to replace Burger as drummer. Their first album, Masterpiece, was released in May 2016 to rave reviews. The band has since released five more albums, and has been touring every year since their formation.

Lenker released her third solo album, Abysskiss, on October 5, 2018, through Saddle Creek. The album consisted of songs Lenker wrote while touring with Big Thief, and two of the songs received full arrangements, which were rereleased on the band's album U.F.O.F. a few months later.

While in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lenker wrote and recorded two albums, Songs and Instrumentals, which were released on 4AD on October 23, 2020. The albums focused on less production and a more acoustic sound with traditional folk songwriting and improvisation. Both albums were recorded without any digital processes, utilizing an analog-analog-analog (AAA) recording method.

In January 2024, Lenker partnered with School of Song to teach a four-week course on songwriting, which focused on ways to expand creativity through different guitar techniques and lyrical focuses. In the same month, Lenker also announced her sixth studio album, Bright Future, which was released via 4AD on March 22, 2024.

On March 11, 2024, Lenker self-released an EP, I Won't Let Go of Your Hand, exclusively on Bandcamp with proceeds going to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.

In 2025, she contributed the song "Wonder Return" to the documentary Sally.

Artistry

Lenker's lyrics have been described by NPR as "unequivocal", "instinctive" and "deeply personal". Many of Lenker's song titles are names of people, though some are actually written about herself. She explained, "Sometimes I need a name for themes in my songs, but oftentimes they're just about me or directed to myself".

Lenker elaborated on her mindset and approach to songwriting in an interview, where she likened her process to a "collaboration with the universe or a higher power". She said:

Personal life Lenker met her future Big Thief co-founder Buck Meek at a concert when she lived in Boston. She then re-encountered him at Mr. Kiwi, a small grocery store in Bushwick, Brooklyn, the day she moved to New York.

In 2019, Lenker was in a relationship with the artist Indigo Sparke, and the two separated sometime in 2020. In 2024, she announced her relationship with singer-songwriter Staci Foster.

While Lenker is comfortable with the label "queer", she has expressed a desire not to define her sexual orientation beyond that. In an interview with The Brag, Lenker said of those lyrics, "I feel within myself a constant dialogue between my masculinity, my femininity and the part of me that is neither of those things. I'm just trying to talk about it because I feel like I'm something that is very ambiguous."

Discography

Studio albums Title Details Peak chart positions USFolk USHeat USIndie USSales AUS NZ Stages of the Sun Released: 2006 Label: LucidTunes Formats: CD — — — — — — Hours Were the Birds Released: January 4, 2014 Label: Self-released, Saddle Creek Formats: LP, CD, digital download, streaming — — — — — — Abysskiss Released: October 5, 2018 Label: Saddle Creek Formats: LP, CD, digital download, streaming — 10 39 — — — Songs Released: October 23, 2020 Label: 4AD Formats: LP, CD, cassette, digital download, streaming12 11 — 43 — — Instrumentals Bright Future Released: March 22, 2024 Label: 4AD Formats: LP, CD, cassette, digital download, streaming 18 5 40 28 53 28

Live albums Title Details Live at the Southern Released: 2006 Label: LucidTunes Formats: CD Live at Revolution Hall Released: April 24, 2025 Label: 4AD Formats: Cassette, digital download, streaming

Compilation albums Title Detailsa-sides and b-sides Released: November 16, 2018 Label: Saddle Creek Formats: LP, CD

Extended plays Title Details a-sides Released: May 1, 2014 Label: Saddle Creek Formats: Digital download, streaming b-sides Released: May 1, 2014 Label: Saddle Creek Formats: Digital download, streaming I Won't Let Go of Your Hand Released: March 11, 2024 Format: Digital download

Singles As lead artist Title Year Certifications Album "Cradle" 2018 Abysskiss "Symbol" "From" "Anything" 2020 RIAA: Platinum Songs "Dragon Eyes" "Ruined" 2023Bright Future "Sadness as a Gift" 2024 "Fool" "Free Treasure" "Once a Bunch"

As featured artist

Awards and nominations