Bonnie "Prince" Billy

Under the name Bonnie "Prince" Billy, American singer-songwriter Will Oldham has, since the late 1990s, developed an intimate strain of folk informed by indie country and Americana. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he first emerged in the early 1990s with the projects Palace Brothers and Palace Music and was part of the US independent rock scene before adopting the Bonnie "Prince" Billy moniker permanently. His early releases under that name — notably the album I See a Darkness (1999), followed by Ease Down the Road (2001) and Master and Everyone (2003) — established a style marked by fragile vocals, spare guitars and narrative lyrics focused on doubt, faith, relationships and rural life. He continued with records such as The Letting Go (2006), Beware (2009) and Wolfroy Goes to Town (2011), while frequently collaborating with other artists, including Matt Sweeney on the joint project Superwolf (2005) and with the band Tortoise. Primarily released on the independent label Drag City, Bonnie "Prince" Billy moves between austere studio recordings and more electric projects, alongside occasional acting work in films and some series, reinforcing an image of a musician committed to slow forms, suggestive storytelling and a hands-on approach to folk songwriting.