Tracy Bonham

Tracy Kristin Bonham (born March 16, 1967) is an American alternative rock musician. Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, she is a classically trained violinist and pianist, and a self-taught guitarist. After building up a local following, Bonham signed to Island Records in 1995. Her debut album, The Burdens of Being Upright (1996), was a critical and commercial success and earned her two Grammy nominations, in addition to being certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) less than a year after its release. The album's lead single, "Mother Mother", topped the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart in June 1996. She was the last female solo artist to top this chart until Lorde in 2013. Delays plagued the release of her second album, Down Here (2000), which failed to chart internationally; Bonham parted ways with Island a year after the album's release, after which she turned her attention to working with other musical artists, including The Blue Man Group when she appeared in their The Complex Rock Tour Live tour and live DVD in 2003. In 2004, Bonham signed to the Rounder Records imprint Zoë Records, with whom she issued her third album Blink the Brightest (2005). She has since worked with various other record labels and released three more albums, Masts of Manhatta (2010), Wax & Gold (2015) and Modern Burdens (2017), the last of which is a re-recording of The Burdens of Being Upright.