Bartees Strange

Bartees Strange is the stage name of Bartees Leon Cox Jr., who performed with the post-hardcore band Stay Inside during the late 2010s before earning critical acclaim for his solo debut, Live Forever, in 2020. A dual citizen, he was born on January 30, 1989, in Ipswich, England, then relocated to America when he was 12 years old. Spending the rest of his childhood in Mustang, Oklahoma, Strange began plotting a career in music, which he launched by joining the Brooklyn-based band Stay Inside in 2016. While still a member of the group's lineup, he released Magic Boy, a folk-inspired EP as a solo artist, in 2017. Another EP, Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy, followed in 2020, after Strange had left Stay Inside in favor of devoting more time to his own musical efforts. Combining his indie rock, jazz, and hip-hop influences into a unique hybrid, he earned widespread acclaim for his full-length debut, Live Forever, in 2020, then supported the album's release with a tour alongside fellow indie artist Lucy Dacus in late 2021. One year later, he earned a hit on Billboard's Adult Alternative Songs chart with "Heavy Heart," which reached Number 31 in March 2022.