1. Conor Oberst has played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint, Commander Venus, Park Ave.
36 Facts About Conor Oberst
1. 2.
Conor Mullen Oberst was born on February 15,1980, the youngest of three boys, and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, to Matthew Ryan Oberst Sr.
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Matthew was a teacher and part-time musician until his death in 2016, and helped finance one of Conor Oberst's self-released independent albums.
4.
Matt was in the indie band Sorry About Dresden, which Conor Oberst played in from time to time.
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Conor Oberst has been writing and releasing music from a very young age, releasing his first solo album when he was 13.
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Conor Oberst briefly was enrolled at the University of Nebraska and dropped out after three semesters to tour.
7.
Bill Hoover, who was in attendance, invited Conor Oberst to come back to play with him a couple of weeks later.
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In that short amount of time, Conor Oberst wrote enough songs to fill out the set, establishing himself as an artist.
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Shortly thereafter, Conor Oberst began committing his new repertoire to tape in his parents' basement with his father's four track cassette recorder and an acoustic guitar.
10.
In mid-1993, Conor Oberst self-released his debut album Water on cassette tape.
11.
Shortly after his two solo recordings, Conor Oberst began playing with four friends; they formed Commander Venus in mid-1995.
12.
Conor Oberst formed the rock band Commander Venus in 1994 with Tim Kasher, Ben Armstrong, and Robb Nansel.
13.
In January 1996, Conor Oberst began playing drums in a group named Park Ave.
14.
Conor Oberst spent the next two years focusing on other music projects, and in June 2009 told Rolling Stone he wanted to make one final album with Bright Eyes before retiring the group.
15.
Conor Oberst performed at the Electric Picnic, in County Laois, Ireland, on August 31,2008, the Cains Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Austin City Limits in late September 2008, shows across Australia in early October 2008, and the Warfield Theater in San Francisco October 24.
16.
Conor Oberst released the self-titled album Conor Oberst, which was recorded in Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico, with Taylor Hollingsworth on guitar and Macey Taylor on bass, on August 5,2008, on Merge Records.
17.
Conor Oberst is one of the four members of the band Monsters of Folk.
18.
Conor Oberst released his first solo album, Water, in the form of a cassette tape when he was just 13.
19.
Conor Oberst released a new solo record, titled Upside Down Mountain, on May 19,2014.
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Conor Oberst has been working with producer Jonathan Wilson and Swedish duo First Aid Kit.
21.
On October 14,2016, Conor Oberst released his seventh studio solo record, titled Ruminations, on Nonesuch Records.
22.
On January 18,2017, Conor Oberst announced a companion album to Ruminations, called Salutations.
23.
Conor Oberst co-founded the Team Love record label to "do different things, or smaller things, that we couldn't get everyone to be into at the same time" at Saddle Creek.
24.
Conor Oberst opened Pageturners Lounge, a bar, with Philip Schaffart in 2012.
25.
Conor Oberst has cited The Cure's first singles collection, Staring at the Sea, as the first record he ever bought, as well as being one of his favorites.
26.
Conor Oberst has been heavily influenced by the 1960s folk revival, mentioning Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, and country singers Emmylou Harris, John Prine and Townes Van Zandt.
27.
Conor Oberst performed the Townes Van Zandt song "Rex's Blues" live with fellow musician Steve Earle.
28.
Conor Oberst has performed two of John Prine's songs live, "Crazy as a Loon" and "Wedding Day in Funerville".
29.
Conor Oberst said he liked to "listen to Elliott Smith's songs when he [couldn't] find anyone to talk to on the phone" and thought that it was sad that "through his music, [Smith] had the ability to answer feelings in others that he was unable to answer in himself".
30.
In 2010, Conor Oberst married Corina Figueroa Escamilla, whom he met in 2008 while recording music in Mexico.
31.
Conor Oberst's brother Matthew died suddenly on November 27,2016, in Cary, North Carolina, where he was a schoolteacher.
32.
On October 28,2015, in the midst of Desaparecidos' tour for their second studio album Payola, it was announced that Conor Oberst had been hospitalized due to "laryngitis, anxiety, and exhaustion," according to a press release.
33.
The entirety of Desaparecidos' remaining tour dates were cancelled and Conor Oberst returned to his hometown of Omaha to recuperate.
34.
In September 2024, Conor Oberst lost his voice after Bright Eyes completed three warm-up shows in preparation for their tour in support of Five Dice, All Threes.
35.
On September 27, Bright Eyes cancelled all of their 2024 tour dates following medical tests which determined Conor Oberst "developed a condition that is exacerbated by excessive singing, requiring both treatment and recuperation".
36.
The band's second show, in Cleveland, sparked concern from fans after Conor Oberst appeared to be heavily intoxicated and, while slurring his words, expressed frustration with his strained voice and subsequently joked about killing himself.