Bartees Leon Cox Jr., (born January 30, 1989) known by his stage name Bartees Strange, is an English-born American musician. Cox was born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

, England, raised in

Mustang, Oklahoma Mustang is a city in the southeastern corner of Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan statistical area. Mustang's population was 19,879 at the 2020 census, a 14.3% increase from 17,398 in 2010. The c ...

, and is now based in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

Early life

Cox was born in

, England, to a military father and opera-singer mother. The family moved from England to Germany, Greenland and various US states before settling in

, when he was aged 12. Before becoming a musician, Cox worked as the director of communications for a nonprofit environmental organization in

Career

While living in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Cox was a member of

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

band Stay Inside from 2016 to 2018. In late 2017, Cox released his first solo effort, the acoustic folk EP "Magic Boy" under the name Bartees & The Strange Fruit. In March 2020, Cox released an EP of re-imagined covers of songs by The National, titled '' Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy'', on Brassland. After being named an "Artist To Watch" by

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

, he released his debut solo LP, '' Live Forever'', on October 2, 2020. Featuring a mix of hip hop, indie rock, and jazz music, the album was met with positive reception. Later that year, Cox participated in the 2020

Thursday Thursday is the Names of the days of the week, day of the week between Wednesday and Friday. According to the ISO 8601 international standard, it is the fourth day of the week. In countries which adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is the fi ...

Signals V2 live show, and continued to tour throughout 2021 and 2022, supporting artists such as

Lucy Dacus Lucy Elizabeth Dacus (born May 2, 1995) is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Dacus attracted attention with her debut album '' No Burden'' (2016), which led to a deal with Matador Records. Her secon ...

Phoebe Bridgers Phoebe Lucille Bridgers (born August 17, 1994) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She has released two solo albums, ''Stranger in the Alps'' (2017) and ''Punisher'' (2020), both of which received critical acclaim ...

Courtney Barnett Courtney Melba Barnett (born 3 November 1987) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. Known for her deadpan singing style and witty, rambling lyrics, she attracted attention with the release of her debut EP ''I've Got a Friend Calle ...

, and Car Seat Headrest. In 2022, Cox released his second album, ''

Farm to Table Farm-to-table (or farm-to-fork, and in some cases farm-to-school) is a social movement which promotes serving local food at restaurants and school cafeterias, preferably through direct acquisition from the producer (which might be a winery, brewer ...

''. Following the album's release, he toured alongside artists such as The National,

Japanese Breakfast Japanese Breakfast is an indie pop band headed by Korean-American musician Michelle Zauner. Zauner started the band as a side project in 2013, when she was leading the Philadelphia-based emo group Little Big League. She has said that she named ...

, and

Metric Metric or metrical may refer to: * Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement * An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement Mathematics In mathem ...

Personal life

Cox identifies as

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Live Forever'' (2020) – Memory Music *''

'' (2022) – 4AD

Extended plays

*''Magic Boy'' (2017) (as Bartees & The Strange Fruit) *'' Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy'' (2020) – Brassland *''Tisched Off'' (2022) –

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

Singles

As lead artist As featured artist ;Guest appearances ;Remixes

Tours

Headlining *2021 Tour (2021) Supporting *

– Reunion Tour (2021) *

– 2021 Tour (2021) *

– North American Tour (2021) * Car Seat Headrest – North American Tour (2022) * The National – 2022 Tour (2022) *

– The Doomscroller Tour (2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strange, Bartees 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century American male singers 21st-century LGBT people 4AD artists American rock singers American hip hop singers American jazz singers Bisexual men Bisexual singers Bisexual songwriters American LGBT singers American LGBT songwriters Living people 1989 births Musicians from Ipswich Musicians from Oklahoma People from Mustang, Oklahoma