Leon Bridges Biography
Leon Bridges (Todd Michael Bridges) is an American soul singer, songwriter and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. He is popularly known for his song “Coming Home”, which received regular airplay and was also a Top 10 Most Viral Track on Spotify.
His debut album, also titled Coming Home, was released on June 23, 2015, on Columbia Records and subsequently nominated for Best R&B Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.
Leon Bridges Age
Leon Bridges was born on July 13, 1989 in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. He is 29 years old as of 2018.
Leon Bridges Early Life
Leon Bridges learned to play the guitar by playing simple chords to accompany his lyrics. Bridges played countless open-mics while working at Del Frisco’s Grille in Fort Worth, until he was signed by Columbia Records in December 2014. It was his song “Lisa Sawyer”, about his mother’s conversion, that first defined his style.
Leon Bridges Career
2014–2015: Coming Home
Main article: Coming Home (Leon Bridges album)
He began writing and performing 1950s and ’60s-style soul music that was described by Austin 360 as “a transmission straight from the heart.” Bridges began to attract followers and his break into the music industry has been attributed to meeting guitaristJ oshua Block of White Denim and Austin Jenkins. The attention of the two was caught by Bridges’ performance of “Coming Home”. Bridges worked on his first few tracks with Block and Jenkins as producers. They recorded an album with vintage equipment, using local musicians affiliated with White Denim. In late 2014, Bridges released two demo songs on Soundcloud. “Coming Home” received airplay from local radio stations including KKXT. It attracted the attention from a number of record labels with Bridges eventually in December 2014 signed with Columbia Records.
Leon Bridges PhotoIn January 2015, Bridges began his first national tour, playing shows in Texas as well as playing support for Sharon Van Etten in New York City. In February 2015 Bridges’ first official single, “Coming Home”, was released on Columbia Records. The song’s success of the demo version continued and became a Top 10 Most Viral Track on Spotify the same month as its release. Bridges toured with Block and Jenkins until they resumed work with White Denim. In 2015, Bridges also played at the Sundance Film Festival and played at the SXSW festival.
In the summer of 2015, Bridges’ debut album was released and has been referred to as a 2015 “Album to Look Forward to From Texans” by The New York Times. In May 2015, Bridges made the cover of Fort Worth, Texas magazine for his vocal accomplishments and his distinctive retro style. “Coming Home” is featured in an Apple iPhone 6 commercial. In May Bridges made his first appearance in the UK as an artist when he sold out the London Village Underground. Bridges went on to announce four July dates, ending with a gig at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on September 28. At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, Coming Home was nominated for Best R&B Album.
Aside from his own shows, on September 26, Bridges also supported Pharrell Williams at the Apple Music Festival. While opening at the intimate Roundhouse, he was able to perform hits such as “Better Man”, “River” and “Lisa Sawyer” from his debut album Coming Home. On Saturday Night Live on December 5, 2015, Bridges was the featured musical guest. Bridges performed “Smooth Sailin’” with a full backup band and sang “River” with only backup singers and organ, accompanying himself on guitar.
2016–present: Good Thing
Main article: Good Thing (Leon Bridges album)
Bridges also participated in Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s song “Kevin”, which was released on the duo’s second full-length album. Bridges was the live artist featured on BBC Radio London Robert Elms show on April 8, 2016. Bridges was interviewed by Elms briefly and played track 8, “Pull Away”, from the Coming Home album. Bridges was set up to play live with Colin O’Brien and together they performed a live version of “River”. The live track was so well received it was played again on the Elms Saturday show on April 9 as “live track of the week” and again on April 11 during a program segment on the best-ever live performances on the Robert Elms show.
“River” received further recognition in 2017 in the first season of the HBO series Big Little Lies. It was later included on the soundtrack for the show. The song “Better Man” was featured in the 2018 Legendary Pictures release Pacific Rim Uprising. Bridges performed “Beyond” from the album Good Thing on May 18, 2018, on an episode of the BBC series The Graham Norton Show. Bridges is the opening act on the South American and Mexican legs of Harry Styles’ first solo tour in 2018. On May 4, 2018, Bridges’ second album Good Thing was released. Bridges had a cameo appearance in 2018, in Damien Chazelle’s film First Man, playing singer Gil Scott-Heron.
Leon Bridges Albums
Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||
US | AUS | BEL (Fl) | FRA | GER | NL | NZ | SPA | SWI | UK | ||
Coming Home | Released: June 23, 2015 | 6 | 8 | 104 | 61 | 89 | 10 | 13 | 49 | 35 | 8 |
Good Thing[43] | Released: May 4, 2018 | 3 | 8 | 17 | — | 93 | 22 | 13 | 47 | 40 | 20 |
“—” denotes releases that did not chart |
Leon Bridges Singles
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
BEL | US | US | US | US | |||
2015 | “Coming Home” | — | 7 | 39 | 55[a] | 38 | Coming Home |
“Smooth Sailin’” | — | 1 | — | — | 36 | ||
2016 | “Better Man” | 23 | 16 | — | — | — | |
2018 | “Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand” | — | — | — | — | — | Good Thing |
“Bad Bad News” | 31 | 1 | — | — | 31 | ||
“Beyond” | — | 2 | 19 | — | — | ||
“Liberated” | — | — | — | — | 47 | non-album single | |
“If It Feels Good (Then It Must Be)” | 15 | 7 | — | — | — | Good Thing | |
“—” denotes releases that did not chart |
Leon Bridges Guest appearances
Year | Title | Artist(s) | Album |
2016 | “Katchi” | Nick Waterhouse | Never Twice |
“On My Own” | Lecrae | The Birth of a Nation: The Inspired By Album | |
“Kevin” | Macklemore & Ryan Lewis | This Unruly Mess I’ve Made | |
“Present Without a Bow” | Kacey Musgraves | A Very Kacey Christmas | |
2017 | “Across the Room” | ODESZA | A Moment Apart |
Leon Bridges Music videos
Year | Title | Director(s) |
2015 | “Coming Home” | Chip Tompkins |
“Better Man” | David Nelson | |
“Smooth Sailin’” | Vern Moen[55] | |
“River’” | Miles Jay | |
2018 | “Bad Bad News” | Natalie Rae |
“Beyond” | Josh Goleman |
Leon Bridges Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
2016 | Coming Home | Best R&B Album | Nominated |
2017 | “River” | Best Music Video | Nominated |
2019 | Good Thing | Best R&B Album | Nominated |
“Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand” | Best Traditional R&B Performance | Won |
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Cheesin hard because we won a trophy and I’m rockin @bode @recordingacademy