Louisville, KY · indie folk · americana

Bonnie “Prince” Billy

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Will Oldham's long-running alias — hymn-plain melodies delivered in a quavering voice, singing about death and desire like they're the same errand.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy is the professional name of Joseph Will Oldham, born January 15, 1970, in Louisville, Kentucky, to a teacher and artist mother and an attorney and photographer father. He graduated from the J. Graham Brown School in 1988 and later attended Brown University on and off while pursuing acting, beginning to record music there as a project for his ethnomusicology professor, Jeff Todd Titon.

From 1993 to 1997 Oldham recorded under a series of Palace names, including Palace Brothers, Palace Songs and Palace Music, changing the name with each record because each one involved different musicians and a different sound. Beginning in 1998, with the album 'I See a Darkness', he settled on Bonnie "Prince" Billy for most of his subsequent work.

The name draws on Bonnie Prince Charlie, on Nat King Cole, and, as Oldham later realised, on Billy the Kid, born William Bonney. He has said the pseudonym lets both him and his audience hold a relationship with the performer that feels durable in a way his own name could not offer.

The songs draw on Appalachian and country traditions, sung in a thin, unsteady voice and often arranged sparsely, though Oldham has also worked with larger bands, string arrangements and a long list of collaborators. He records prolifically, including albums of covers and re-recordings of his own material, and keeps some releases off streaming services over disagreements with how they pay musicians.

Albums including 'There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You', 'Viva Last Blues' and 'I See a Darkness' have appeared on lists of the best albums of their era. Johnny Cash recorded 'I See a Darkness' for American III: Solitary Man with Oldham on backing vocals, and the song has since been covered by Rosalía, while Marianne Faithfull recorded Oldham's 'A King at Night'.

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indie folkamericana