Tuesday, January 18, indie pop act Japanese Breakfast performed “Slide Tackle,” a track from their GRAMMY-nominated album, Jubilee, on The Late Show with James Corden. Michelle Zauner, applauded founder, did a ‘Bar Chat’ interview where she talked about these recent nominations and more. Watch Japanese Breakfast’s performance on The Late Show with James Corden HERE.
Jubilee released last June as one of the years leading, critically acclaimed albums. The album stole spots on Best Of lists for 2021 from Rolling Stone, People Magazine, Pitchfork, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, NPR, Wall Street Journal, The Ringer, SPIN, Esquire, Vulture, The AV Club, Paste, Cosmopolitan, UPROXX, Consequence of Sound, Slant and Hypebeast. The album gained so much attention that it was even voted the #1 album of the year on NPR’s Listener’s Poll and #1 on UPROXX’s Critics Poll.
If that wasn’t enough success for one year, Zauner, too, published her New York Times Best Seller, Crying in H Mart, which is now being reworked for MGM’s Orion Pictures. The book is a moving memoir that captures Zauner’s experiences growing up Korean American, the struggles she went through with the death of her mother and how she navigated discovering her own identity.
About Michelle Zauner
The Korean American musician and author Michelle Zauner is renowned for her sonic demeanor. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Zauner grew up in Eugene, Oregon for most of her adolescence. Zauner took to music instantly, beginning to learn to play the piano at 5, later moving to the guitar at age 15. Her mother’s passing in 2014 lead to her starting Japanese Breakfast. She tells Teen Vogue, “I moved back to Oregon to care for her, and I kind of put the band on indefinite hiatus. Unfortunately, she passed away, and while I was in Oregon, helping take care of the house and being a support system for my dad, the only way that I could have something for myself was if I made my own record. So I kind of carved out some time to do that.” Japanese Breakfast’s debut came in 2016 with the hit album Psychopomp. Through the album, Zauner revealed the intense period that followed her mother’s death. Zauner’s unique perspective amongst mainstream pop music sets her apart from other artists, and she’s one you’ll want to take a listen to.
