Angel Olsen

Angelina Marie Carroll, known professionally as Angel Olsen, was born on January 22, 1987, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was adopted at the age of three into a foster family. Growing up, Olsen developed an interest in music, beginning with piano and guitar, and explored various local music scenes, including punk rock, noise music, and Christian rock. At 16, she joined a band named Good Fight. After graduating from Tower Grove Christian Academy, Olsen relocated to Chicago, a move that proved pivotal for her early career.

Her career began to formalize after befriending country rock singer-songwriter Will Oldham, also known as Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Oldham invited Olsen to tour as his backing vocalist, providing her with a significant early platform. In 2011, she released her debut EP, “Strange Cacti,” followed by her debut studio album, “Half Way Home,” in 2012, both on Bathetic Records. Expanding her collaborations, Olsen worked with figures such as Tim Kinsella of Cap’n Jazz, LeRoy Bach of Wilco, and Cass McCombs. A notable collaboration with Kinsella and Bach, and poet Marvin Tate, resulted in the album “Tim Kinsella Sings the Songs of Marvin Tate by Leroy Bach Featuring Angel Olsen” released in 2013.

Olsen subsequently signed with Jagjaguwar, leading to the release of her critically acclaimed album “Burn Your Fire for No Witness” in 2014, and “My Woman” in 2016. Her 2019 album, “All Mirrors,” received significant praise for its “theatric transcendency” and was further explored in her 2020 album “Whole New Mess,” which earned her a Libera Award for Best Folk/Bluegrass Record. Olsen continued to diversify her work, releasing remixes, covers, and EPs like “Aisles” in 2021 and “Forever Means” in 2023, following her sixth studio album, “Big Time,” in 2022. She married singer-songwriter Maxim Ludwig in 2024.