Boygenius have announced they're "going away for a while," after a pair of "secret" shows in Los Angeles on Feb. 1. A representative for the band later confirmed that the group will be taking a hiatus to Billboard today, Feb. 2
Julien Baker at Coachella, April 2023.
The indie supergroup — consisting of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus — were in Los Angeles as presenters for We Are Moving The Needle's inaugural Resonator Awards and to accept the Amplifier Award at the Billboard 100 Power. The trio also scheduled two intimate shows at legendary Downtown venue the Smell, which were sold out in less than 30 seconds. From videos taken at the gig, all three were shown seated on a couch together, with a keyboardist and violinist as musical accompaniment.
Before the shows, Phoebe Bridgers posted a visual clip of former Sonic Youth bassist and singer Kim Gordon's new song "Bye Bye" on her Instagram Story with no context.
Phoebe Bridgers at Coachella, April 2023.
Dacus remarked at the end of the second show, "This is the last show." Over what sounded like droning puzzlement coming from the crowd, she asked, "You guys heard what I said?" to which Baker assured, "Not ever!"
At the end, Baker and Dacus fist-bumped the front row and departed. With that, social media posts ran rampant as to what exactly this all meant. However, a representative for Boygenius confirmed to Billboard that they will be "stepping back," but offered no further details.
Lucy Dacus at Coachella, April 2023,
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Boygenius have been having not only a moment, but several high-profile moments in the past year. Although they debuted in 2018 with a self-titled EP, it was the March 2023 release of full-length The Record that instantly catapulted them into supergroup status, and the cleverly titled EP The Rest was released in October.
The Record topped the UK Official Chart and the Irish Album Charts and peaked at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The group also embarked on a tour, played the Coachella festival, performed on Saturday Night Live, and ended the year by learning that they had been nominated for five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year.
And what would 2023 be without acknowledging Taylor Swift? As an opening act, Bridgers brought out her bandmates during the Eras Tour stopover in Nashville last May. The three united on "Not Strong Enough" and contributed to several of Bridgers' solo material.
The group have launched a Gretsch Limited Edition Boygenius Broadkaster Jr., complete with "ornate details including the custom tooth and three of cups fingerboard inlays based off the band’s iconography and a nickel head badge donning signatures from Julien, Lucy, and Phoebe." The guitar is available for purchase here.
In the meantime, the 66th Annual Grammy Awards will air live on the CBS Television Network and stream on Paramount+, Sunday, February 4th at 8-11:30 p.m. ET/5-8:30 p.m. PT from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
