Phoebe Bridgers

Phoebe Bridgers was born and raised in Pasadena, California. Her father was a carpenter who built sets for film and television and her mom a homemaker who worked a variety of odd jobs. She grew up with her younger brother Jackson, named for Jackson Browne. Her parents divorced when she was 20.

Her mom and dad were supportive of her musical ambitions, and at 13 Bridgers was accepted at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.

In 2012 she joined a punk band called Sloppy Jane for whom she played bass for a couple of years. During one Sloppy Jane show, a talent agent scouted Bridgers. This led to her being booked for a handful of television commercials, including high-profile slots for Taco Bell and the iPhone. In the iPhone spot, a 19-year-old Bridgers leads a global band in a version of the Pixies "Gigantic." Bridgers viewed the ad work as a way to bankroll her musical ambition. "I maybe did three, and it paid for a whole two years of my life to focus on music," she told Uncut magazine.