Tracy Bonham is a twice Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, violinist, and classically trained multi-instrumentalist whose fearless artistry has spanned three decades. Born in Eugene, Oregon, and trained at Berklee College of Music in Boston and USC in violin, Bonham burst onto the alternative rock scene in 1996 with her debut album The Burdens of Being Upright, which earned her two Grammy nominations and an MTV Video Award nomination, went gold in the US, Australia, and Canada, and landed her on magazine covers and in heavy rotation on MTV and VH1. Her breakthrough single “Mother, Mother” topped the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart and became an anthem for a generation of women who refused to be silenced — it held the record as the last song by a solo female artist to top that chart for seventeen years, until Lorde’s “Royals” in 2013.
MTV first called her an “angry young woman,” and Howard Stern reinforced the label in a memorable interview. The moniker followed her through much of her early career, but what the world didn’t yet understand was that her fire wasn’t anger for its own sake — it was truth-telling, the sound of a woman refusing to shrink.
The years that followed proved just how wide her world was. Bonham performed on the Lilith Fair mainstage in 1997 and 1998, toured with Ben Folds, and served as a featured vocalist and violinist in two Blue Man Group arena tours (2003 and 2006). She has shared stages with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, appeared as a featured artist on an Aerosmith album, and performed in a celebrated Paul McCartney tribute concert in Copenhagen alongside Danish pop star Tim Christensen and American singer-songwriter Mike Viola. She has brought her music to television audiences through appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
Her music has found its way into the cultural fabric far beyond concert stages. “Just Perfect” appeared on the soundtrack to Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), and her music was featured in the cult classic film Grosse Pointe Blank. On television, her work has been heard in Daria, Malcolm in the Middle, Grey’s Anatomy, The L Word, and Weeds. Most recently, “Mother, Mother” was introduced to a new generation through its placement in Yellowjackets, and has found fresh momentum online following a sync placement in the Canadian series FEM.
Across eight studio albums, Bonham has continually revealed new dimensions of her artistry, from alternative rock to jazz-inflected pop to lush classical orchestration. In 2017, her album Modern Burdens — a bold collaborative project featuring a chorus of strong female voices — made Rolling Stone’s Top 50 Albums of the year. Her 2025 album Sky Too Wide, co-produced with Rene Hart, is among her most personal work, born out of extraordinary circumstances: after developing the material in collaboration with the Eugene Ballet and resident choreographer Suzanne Haag, Bonham received a breast cancer diagnosis in January 2024. She underwent surgery in March and, just one month later, took the stage with the Eugene Ballet for two nights at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts. Already conceived as a meditation on resilience following a difficult period that included a divorce during the pandemic, the album took on even deeper meaning. Released June 6, 2025, it earned some of the best reviews of her career. Bonham is now cancer free.
Beyond recordings, Bonham has continually pushed the boundaries of what it means to be a working artist. Her music has been featured in art gallery installations. She performed at Lincoln Center as part of the Singer Outsiders series, joined Belly for their New York show at Sony Hall, and celebrated the release of Sky Too Wide with an evening at Joe’s Pub in New York City alongside longtime friend and comedian-musician Fred Armisen. She has shared stages with fellow icons of the ’90s, including members of the Go-Go’s and the Bangles, at benefit performances including the Freezing Man epilepsy research benefit. Bonham is also the founder of Melodeon Music House, a music education project combining original material with curriculum inspired by Schoolhouse Rock, The Electric Company, and Sesame Street, continuing her lifelong commitment to music education.
Now, in 2026, the thirtieth anniversary year of The Burdens of Being Upright, Bonham returned to Boston, where her rock journey began, for a sold-out spring residency at the Burren — all-ages shows by design, a deliberate invitation for young women to hear what it sounds like when a woman fully steps into her own power.
That anniversary arrives in full on November 13, with the release of *LIFT — a 30th anniversary reimagining of The Burdens of Being Upright, out via American Laundromat Records. Made with longtime friend and producer Ken Rich, the album gathers every song from the original record in a new sequence, alongside three bonus tracks offered as an homage to where she’s come from and a thank-you to the fans who have stayed with her since the beginning. Recording sessions began simply, with just a string quartet and Bonham’s voice, before growing into a fully orchestrated album that touches every feeling from the original with the added filter of hard-won wisdom — still as ironic as ever, and just as cathartic as it is uplifting. On Mother’s Day weekend, Bonham invited seven women into the studio to scream on a new version of “Mother, Mother,” an experience that proved as cathartic for them as it was for her. The first single from LIFT arrives September 2*, alongside the album announcement and the opening of pre-orders.
“I feel like my message is still very positive,” Bonham has said, “but I’m using experience to tell a story, and to hopefully have people see themselves in the struggle.”
The daughters who sang along to “Mother, Mother” in 1996 are grown now, and their own daughters are coming of age in a world that still asks women to turn down the volume on who they are. Tracy Bonham isn’t turning down anything. She’s turning it up — and inviting everyone to join her.
Tracy Bonham currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her son.
