35 Facts About Mitski

Mitski self-released her first two albums, Lush, and Retired from Sad, New Career in Business, while studying studio composition at Purchase College's Conservatory of Music.

Mitski signed with Dead Oceans in 2015 and released Puberty 2, Be the Cowboy, and Laurel Hell, the last of which made the top ten in several countries.

Mitski was born Mitsuki Laycock on September 27,1990, in Mie Prefecture, Japan, to American father, John, and Japanese mother, Kumi; she now uses her mother's surname, going by Mitski Miyawaki.

Mitski moved frequently while growing up due to her father's job at the United States Department of State, living in Turkey, China, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo before settling in the United States.

Mitski sang in a choir in high school and was 18 when she wrote her first song on the piano while living in Ankara, Turkey.

Mitski announced her fourth studio album, Puberty 2, on March 1,2016, and shared the lead single, "Your Best American Girl".

Mitski played a cover of the song in 2015, but that version has since been taken down.

Mitski covered Frank Sinatra's 1951 classic "I'm a Fool to Want You" for the 7-Inches For Planned Parenthood compilation album.

On May 14,2018, Mitski opened pre-orders for her fifth studio album, Be the Cowboy, and released the lead single, "Geyser", with an accompanying music video.

In September 2019 at the final performance of her Be the Cowboy Tour in Central Park, Mitski announced that it would be her last indefinitely.

Mitski later talked about how she planned to quit music completely and "find another life".

Mitski shared her new song, "Cop Car", in January 2020, a never-released piece from the soundtrack of The Turning.

Mitski was featured in the song "Susie Save Your Love" from Allie X's album, Cape God, released in February 2020.

On October 29,2020, it was announced that Mitski would provide the soundtrack to the graphic novel This Is Where We Fall.

On October 4,2021, Mitski announced on her social media that she would be releasing a new single, "Working for the Knife", the next day as the lead single to her upcoming sixth studio album.

Mitski followed it up with "The Only Heartbreaker" on November 9,2021.

Mitski appears on the song "This Is a Life" from the soundtrack for the 2022 film Everything Everywhere All at Once.

On July 23,2023, Mitski announced her seventh studio album, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, with information on the first single, "Bug Like an Angel", which was released on July 26.

Mitski announced six concert dates set to take place in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and France.

Mitski described these dates as "not a full-blown tour", but intimate and small enough to preview the album without elaborate stage production.

Mitski later added nineteen tour dates set to take place in the US in 2024.

In November 2023, it was announced that Mitski was attached to write lyrics and music for a Broadway adaptation of the 1983 novel The Queen's Gambit.

In March 2024, Mitski participated in the Spotify Singles series.

Mitski is not active on social media, and the accounts under her name are run by a manager.

Mitski left social media in 2019, around the same time she quit music, because she felt it was unhealthy for her self-image.

On September 9,2019, at a show in Central Park, Mitski announced it would be her last show indefinitely, causing her fanbase to express their distress on social media.

Mitski has stated her main reason for quitting was that she had a difficult time grappling with newfound indie stardom when her 2018 album Be the Cowboy hit the mainstream.

Mitski said the music industry felt like a "super-saturated version of consumerism", and that in the industry "you have to be a product that's being bought and sold and consumed".

Mitski regrets using her actual name to release music because it no longer felt like it belonged to her, and she felt like "a foreigner" to herself.

Mitski feared that by continuing to make music, eventually she would begin to create music she did not care about.

In 2019, Mitski wrote a new single, "Working for the Knife", where she describes her "reluctance to return to the stage".

In February 2022, Mitski released a new record Laurel Hell, returning to the music industry.

Mitski has stated in interviews that she has an uneasy relationship with her fans because she finds their relationship to her and her music overwhelming.

Mitski found the "worshipful commentary" about herself online damaging to her self-image.

Mitski describes her cross-cultural identity as "half Japanese, half American but not fully either", a feeling that is often reflected in her music, which occasionally discusses issues of belonging.