Phoebe Bridgers Announces Loss Of Her Dad

Grammy-nominated artist Phoebe Bridgers has announced that her father has died.

The indie rock artist took to Instagram to share the devastating news, posting a picture of the two when she was younger. She captioned the shot, "rest in peace dad," without providing additional details regarding his death. It didn't take long for fellow artists and fans to express their sympathies, with rock band Muna commenting, "we love you dude." Dinger Raveena added, "Sending u so much warmth."

While unknown to most, Bridgers' father played a pivotal role in shaping the musician's musical taste in her earlier years. While her mother Jamie Bridgers pushed her to take piano lessons — although she later switched to the guitar — she credits her father for introducing her to the titans of music that would later shape her work. "He was pretty sensitive about money, and he didn't love it when I was taking guitar lessons," Bridgers told The New Yorker in 2020. "But, as far as music goes, he's the one who listened to Tom Waits, he's the one who listened to Jackson Browne." Bridgers once penned a song about her dad, with the track exploring their complicated relationship.

In Phoebe Bridgers' song "Kyoto," she lamented the complex dynamic she has with her father. "They still got payphones / It cost a dollar a minute / To tell me you're getting sober," the lyrics read. "And you wrote me a letter / But I don't have to read it / I'm gonna kill you/ If you don't beat me to it."

Speaking with The New Yorker, Bridgers admitted that it was about her strong feelings towards her dad. "I feel so much f***ing empathy and so much f***ing anger toward him," she confessed, adding that she couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong with him. "It'll always be day to day: Are we talking, are we not talking? What's the vibe?" In her NPR interview, she also revealed that her father was "emotionally unavailable" but still "very present in a weird way." And while she wrote the song when she was "emotionally trapped," it eventually changed. "The song is basically about, like, not being angry anymore."

Before her father passed, it appears they were able to mend their relationship. In a December 2022 "Chicken Shop Date" interview, host Amelia Dimoldenberg asked, "Do you still want to kill your dad?" After a few moments of thinking, Bridgers responded: "No."