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Passenger (singer)

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Passenger
Rosenberg performing in 2013
Rosenberg performing in 2013
Background information
Birth nameMichael David Rosenberg
Born (1984-05-17) 17 May 1984 (age 40)
Brighton, England, United Kingdom
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer-songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active2001–present
Labels
Formerly ofPassenger
Websitepassengermusic.com

Michael David Rosenberg (born 17 May 1984), better known by his stage name Passenger, is an English indie folk singer, songwriter and musician. From 2003 to 2009, Rosenberg fronted a band by the same name; he opted to keep the Passenger moniker for his solo work after the band dissolved. Rosenberg is best known for the 2012 song "Let Her Go", which topped the charts in 16 countries and accumulated more than 3.6 billion views on YouTube. Because Rosenberg was based in Australia at the time of release (and the clip itself was filmed at the Factory Theatre in Marrickville), it is the most-viewed Australian YouTube video ever.[2][3] In 2014, the song was nominated for the Brit Award for British Single of the Year, and he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed Work.[4]

A prolific singer-songwriter, Rosenberg has released 14 studio albums to date: one with the band Passenger, and 13 as a solo artist. The most recent of these, Birds That Flew and Ships That Sailed, was released in April of 2022.

Early life

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Rosenberg was born on 17 May 1984[5][6] in Brighton to Quaker[citation needed] parents, English mother Jane and American Jewish father, Gerard Rosenberg, originally from Vineland, New Jersey.[2][7][8] He learned classical guitar at a young age, and began writing songs at 14 or 15.[citation needed] He left school at 16 to pursue a music career, and spent the next few years as a busker in England and Australia.[9]

Music career

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Early years

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Rosenberg did his first performance when he was 16.[citation needed] His father, a film production worker, introduced him to Jamie Catto, a former member of the band Faithless, in 2001; it led to Rosenberg getting a two-song spot at the Free Burma Campaign benefit concert at the Royal Court in London in 2002.[10] That night, he met his future writing partner, Andrew Phillips, and established contact with the IE Music label.[citation needed] Back in Brighton, Phillips and Rosenberg pooled their musical influences (from Simon & Garfunkel to DJ Shadow), and started writing songs at Phillips' in-house studio in Hove.[citation needed] In 2003, they formed the Mike Rosenberg Band, engaging Marcus O'Dair (bass), Alon Cohen (drums) and Richard Brinklow (keyboards) through connections within the Brighton music scene.[11]

2003–2009: Passenger

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Rosenberg founded the band Passenger with Andrew Phillips in 2003 in Brighton and Hove.[citation needed] The name of the band was stylised as /Passenger. (with a slash at the beginning and a dot at the end).[citation needed] The five-piece band's only album, Wicked Man's Rest, was released in 2007, on Chalkmark.[12] Rosenberg wrote the majority of the album's tracks, with the exception of "Four Horses", which was written by Phillips.[citation needed] The band broke up in 2009.[citation needed]

2009–2010: Solo career and Wide Eyes Blind Love, Divers and Submarines and Flight of the Crow

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After the break-up of Passenger, Rosenberg kept the band's name as his personal stage name, and took to busking for a solo music career. In October 2009 he moved to Australia, where he supported acts such as Lior and Sydneysiders Elana Stone and Brian Campeau.[citation needed] He then played at One Movement, a major music industry-focused festival in Perth.[citation needed] This earned him a following in Australia and he was selling out 500-seater venues across Australia.[citation needed] His debut solo album, Wide Eyes Blind Love, was released in 2009.[citation needed] It was produced and mixed by former bandmate Andrew Phillips, who also provided backing vocals, guitar and other instruments, and featured vocals by Isobel Anderson.[citation needed] Rosenberg also played various shows in the United Kingdom during this time,[when?] including a support slot for Turin Brakes' tenth anniversary show at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London.[citation needed]

Rosenberg produced a fans-only limited release Divers and Submarines, again supported by former bandmate Andrew Phillips and vocalist Isobel Anderson.[citation needed] His third studio album, Flight of the Crow, was recorded in Australia[13] and saw him joined in the studio by various Australian artists including Lior, Kate Miller-Heidke, Boy & Bear, Josh Pyke and Katie Noonan.[citation needed]

2011–2013: All The Little Lights

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Main article: All the Little Lights

Rosenberg's fourth album, All the Little Lights, was released in the summer of 2012 in North America on Nettwerk Records.[14] Recorded at Linear Recording in Sydney, Rosenberg worked with a core Australian band that included Boy & Bear drummer Tim Hart, jazz bassist Cameron Undy, and keyboards player Stu Hunter, from Katie Noonan and The Captains.[15][better source needed] During the summer and autumn of 2012, Rosenberg toured the UK, opening for Jools Holland and Ed Sheeran, the latter of whom he had known since Sheeran was about 15 while living in Cambridge.[5] He joined Australian acts the John Butler Trio, and Josh Pyke with a co-headlined UK tour.[citation needed] He also opened for Ed Sheeran's 2012 North American tour[16] and also in Paris. He also opened for Ed Sheeran on four of his five sell-out dates in Ireland in January 2013 and in Australia and New Zealand in early 2013,[17] and supported Sheeran in his Brighton dates and in Reading.[18] Rosenberg performed "All the Little Lights" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, broadcast on BBC One on 14 November 2013.[19]

2014–2015: Whispers and Whispers II

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Main articles: Whispers and Whispers II

On 24 March 2014, Rosenberg unveiled "Whispers", the title track of his new album, as part of his set at the Teenage Cancer Trust charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London where he also performed alongside Ed Sheeran.[20] On 26 March 2014 Rosenberg announced details of his fifth studio album.[citation needed] He released Whispers on 9 June 2014.[citation needed] Talking to Digital Spy about the album, he said: "This is easily the most 'up' album I've ever made, it's quite cinematic. There are lots of big stories and big ideas. There are also some sombre moments about loneliness and death but hey, it wouldn't be a Passenger album without those". He released "Hearts on Fire" as the album's lead single on 14 April 2014.[21]

Rosenberg recorded Whispers II at the same time as recording Whispers.[citation needed] Whispers II was released on 20 April 2015.[citation needed] All profits from the album go to the UNICEF UK initiative to help children in Liberia.[22]

2016–2017: Young as the Morning, Old as the Sea and The Boy Who Cried Wolf

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Passenger performing in 2016
Main articles: Young as the Morning, Old as the Sea and The Boy Who Cried Wolf

On 16 June 2016, the music video for "Somebody's Love" was uploaded to his YouTube channel, thereby announcing his seventh album, Young as the Morning, Old as the Sea.[citation needed] A second track from the album, "Anywhere" was released on 19 August 2016.[citation needed] Young as the Morning, Old as the Sea was released on 23 September 2016, and became Passenger's first UK number one album.[23]

On 25 July 2017, at the end of his Young as the Morning, Old as the Sea tour, Rosenberg announced via the Passenger Facebook page that his performance on Sunday 23 July would be "my/our last gig for a while".[24] The following day, he announced that his eighth album, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, would be released two days later on 28 July 2017.[citation needed] The album was announced with a livestream of the album performed live in its entirety, broadcast from Passenger's studio simultaneously to YouTube and Facebook.[citation needed] The album charted at number 5 in the Official UK Charts.[25]

2018: Runaway

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Main article: Runaway

On 18 May 2018, Passenger released the song "Hell or High Water".[26] It was recorded in a variety of different national parks across Utah, Nevada, Arizona and California[27] In the following days, he also announced an autumn European tour [28] and teased fans through social media with a cover for a new album.[29]

Passenger during his Runaway Tour performing Let Her Go in Bogota, Colombia

On 25 May 2018, he formally announced his ninth studio album, Runaway, and released a live acoustic version of "Hell or High Water" recorded in Venice, Los Angeles.[30] Passenger described Runaway as a concept album, as he realised many of the songs had a strong sense of Americana.[citation needed] He also believed the songs would work well accompanied by American visuals and thus, alongside long-time collaborators Jarrad Seng, Stu Larsen and Chris Vallejo, embarked on a three-week-long road trip through the United States to film videos for each track.[citation needed] Additionally, they recorded acoustic videos for each track, filmed in a variety of different locations.[citation needed] Rosenberg plans to release a song every three weeks, sharing both the official and acoustic videos, plus behind-the-scenes footage.[27] Runaway was released on 31 August 2018.[citation needed]

2019–2020: Sometimes It's Something, Sometimes It's Nothing at All, Patchwork and world tour

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On 18 March 2019, Passenger released the song "Restless Wind" on YouTube.[citation needed] Two more songs, "Helplessly Lost" and "Paper Cut, Chinese Burn", were subsequently released a month later, as well as a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide".[citation needed] On 2 May 2019, Passenger both announced and released his tenth album, Sometimes It's Something, Sometimes It's Nothing at All.[citation needed] Unlike more recent Passenger albums, the record is arranged entirely for vocals, acoustic guitar and a string quartet.[citation needed] All the profits from sales will be donated to Shelter, a UK-based homeless charity.[31]

At the end of January, Passenger announced a world tour including dates in the UK, Europe, Australia, North America, and New Zealand.[32] On 20 March 2020, he announced and released his new single "The Way That I Love You" with a video.[33] On 1 May 2020, he released his new single "London In The Spring".[34] On 10 July 2020, Passenger released his eleventh album Patchwork. The album was written and recorded during the coronavirus lockdown alongside producer Chris Vallejo and guest musicians Andrew Phillips (a collaborator of Rosenberg's and formerly of the band Passenger) and Richard Brinklow.[35] The record was released as a funding project for The Trussell Trust, an NGO and charity that works to end the need for food banks in the UK.[36]

2020–2021: Songs for the Drunk and Broken Hearted

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On 8 January 2021, Passenger released Songs for the Drunk and Broken Hearted. The record was supposed to be released by early 2020, but later delayed due to the coronavirus lockdown. The record's release supports both Ecologi and Eden Reforestation Projects, non-profit organisations aiming to rebuild natural landscapes destroyed by deforestation. A tree will be planted for every physical copy of the album sold via the Passenger store.[37]

2022: Birds That Flew and Ships That Sailed

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On April 14, 2022, Passenger released his 14th studio album, Birds That Flew and Ships That Sailed. The album was released independently, without a record label or a press team.[38] The record release supports Plastic Bank, a social enterprise that combats plastic pollution in the ocean.[citation needed] The record debuted at Number 35 on the Official UK Albums Chart, marking Passenger's 8th album to enter the UK Top 40.[39]

Personal life

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Rosenberg currently lives in Brighton.[5] He is a fan of English football club Arsenal F.C. In a 2021 interview, he said he became an Arsenal supporter despite being from Brighton after watching Arsenal beating Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in the FA Cup Final in 1993.[40] In May 2015, Rosenberg appeared at Arsenal's 'A Night to Inspire' event and played a version of the '49 Undefeated' fan chant.[41]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominee/work Result Ref.
2013 Independent Music Awards Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song "Let Her Go" Won [42]
2014 Brit Awards British Single of the Year Nominated [43]
Ivor Novello Awards Most Performed Work Won [4]
iHeartRadio Music Awards Best New Artist Passenger Nominated [44]
2019 Pop Awards Album Of The Year Award Runaway Nominated [45]
2022 Male Artist Of The Year Award Passenger Nominated [46]
2023 Album Of The Year Award Birds That Flew and Ships That Sailed Nominated [47]

Tours

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  • All the Little Lights Tour (2012–13)
  • Whispers Tour (2014)
  • Whispers II North American Tour (2015)
  • Whispers ll Australia Tour (2015–16)
  • Young as the Morning Old as the Sea Tour (2016–17)
  • Runaway Tour (2018–19)
  • World Tour (2020–21)
  • Anniversary Tour (2023-24)

Discography

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Main article: Passenger discography
Passenger performing in 2013

Studio albums

References

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  1. ^ "Artists - Passenger". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 August 2022. The folk-tinged indie pop project of singer/songwriter Mike Rosenberg.
  2. ^ a b "Passenger's Mike Rosenberg tackles dark subjects with a light touch". Washington Post. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  3. ^ Passenger | Let Her Go (Official Video), retrieved 29 May 2022
  4. ^ a b Pakinkis, Mike (22 May 2014). "Ivor Novello Awards 2014: All the winners". Music Week. London, England: Intent Media. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Passenger, a.k.a. Mike Rosenberg, grateful for Ed Sheeran's support". thestar.com. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  6. ^ "Twitter / passengermusic: Thank you all so much for my birthday messages xxx im having a lovely day thanks!! Manchester – you were". Twitter. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  7. ^ "Brits Are Here". Philly.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  8. ^ "KHOP @ 95.1 - ALL THE HITS - Passenger Says Stage Name's More "Mysterious" and "Interesting" than His Actual Name [From ABC News]". 1 February 2014. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  9. ^ Doyle, Patrick. "Q&A: Passenger." Rolling Stone; 13 February 2014: 26. ProQuest. Web. 16 April 2014
  10. ^ "An evening of music and comedy for Burma". Burma Campaign UK. 23 June 2002. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  11. ^ "Passenger". Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 4th Ed. 2014.
  12. ^ Aston, Martin. "Passenger. Wicked Man's Rest", The Times, p. 24. (15 September 2007)
  13. ^ . "Double date – troubadour brings travelling tales to city", Bath Chronicle, p. 46. (18 August 2011)
  14. ^ "All The Little Lights North America Release Date". Archived from the original on 5 August 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  15. ^ "Passenger – About". Facebook. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  16. ^ "Vancouver Weekly: Interview by Maria Perez with Passenger (Mike Roesenberg)". Vancouver Weekly. 11 October 2012. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  17. ^ "Ed Sheeran – UK (Belfast) and Ireland (Dublin) Tour Diary". YouTube.
  18. ^ "10/19/12". Ents24. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  19. ^ "Line up". Children in Need Rocks. BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  20. ^ "British singer/songwriters get Teenage Cancer Trust benefit shows off to a storming start at London's Royal Albert Hall". Official Charts Company.
  21. ^ "Passenger announces new album Whispers – Music News -". Digital Spy. 26 March 2014. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  22. ^ English, Joe (24 March 2015). "Passenger's new album release will help children in danger in Liberia". Unicef. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  23. ^ "Passenger pips Bruce Springsteen to score his first Number 1 album: "This is so unbelievably exciting!!"". Official Charts. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  24. ^ "Passenger". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  25. ^ "New Album 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf'". Passengermusic.com. 26 July 2017. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  26. ^ "Hell or High Water". Youtube.com. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  27. ^ a b "NEW ALBUM – RUNAWAY & EUROPEAN TOUR ON SALE NOW". Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  28. ^ @passengermusic (22 May 2018). "I'll be embarking on a EUROPEAN TOUR this autumn :-) if you're on the mailing list you should have been sent a password and link to preorder tickets now. If you're not on the mailing list you can sign up by using this link - https://Passenger.lnk.to/PreSaleSignUp . Can't wait to see you all!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  29. ^ @passengermusic (22 May 2018). "Runaway" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  30. ^ "Hell or High Water (Acoustic Live)". YouTube. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  31. ^ "Passenger - News - Sometimes It's Something, Sometimes It's Nothing at All". Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  32. ^ "World Tour Announcement". Passenger. 27 January 2020. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  33. ^ "New single - The Way That I Love You". Passenger. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  34. ^ "New Single - London In The Spring". Passenger. 1 May 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  35. ^ "Passenger – Patchwork (2020, 234 kbps (VBR), File)". Discogs.com. 11 July 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  36. ^ Baines, Huw (10 July 2020). "Passenger Releases New Album 'Patchwork' - Stereoboard". Stereoboard.com. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  37. ^ "Interview: Passenger on getting drunk, being vulnerable and playing a sad clown". The AU Review. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  38. ^ "New Album". Passenger Official Store. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  39. ^ "Wet Leg land Number 1 debut and lead an indie label chart takeover". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  40. ^ Pingitore, Silvia (7 January 2021). "Let Her Go... again: interview with Mike Rosenberg, aka Passenger". the-shortlisted.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  41. ^ "Passenger's version of '49 Undefeated'!". soundcloud.com. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  42. ^ "12th Annual Independent Music Awards Winners Announced". Independentmusicawards.com. 11 June 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  43. ^ "Passenger". Brits.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  44. ^ "2014 iHeartRadio Music Awards Nominees Announced". 3 March 2014.
  45. ^ "Pop Awards 2019, the 2nd annual Pop Awards". Pop Awards. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  46. ^ "Pop Awards 2022, the 5th annual Pop Awards". Pop Awards. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  47. ^ "Pop Awards 2023, the 6th annual Pop Awards". Pop Awards. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
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