Key Points
- Tracy Bonham, Oregon native, gained fame with 1996 hit “Mother Mother.”
- Re-recorded debut album in 2017 with female artists, seeking to “breathe new life into it.”
- Continues releasing music, active on social media, celebrated 59th birthday in Michigan snow.
The 1990s alternative rock scene produced countless memorable songs, but only a few were as striking as “Mother Mother” by Tracy Bonham.
On Monday, Bonham, who was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, turns 59 years old. A classically trained violinist and pianist, she built a local following in Oregon before signing to Island Records in 1995. She released her debut album, The Burdens of Being Upright, a year later, which garnered her two Grammy Award nominations. The lead single, “Mother Mother,” topped the Billboard Alternative Airplay Chart in June 1996, and it was the last song by a female solo artist to top that chart until Lorde released “Royals” in 2013.
Despite her success in the 1990s, she didn’t release a second album until four years later. The album, titled Down Here, wasn’t as successful as her debut, and Bonham left Island Records in 2001. Since then, she has released four studio albums with various labels, including Zoë Records, Engine Room and A Woody Hollow.
Produced by Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade, and written by Bonham herself, “Mother Mother” tells the story of a phone call between a mother and her daughter. The singer revealed that “Mother Mother” was one of the first songs she wrote, and the demo that got her a record deal with Island Records…