Bonnaroo 2024 Artist Spotlight: Thundercat

Like we’ve been doing for many years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorite acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2024 lineup. After roaring back to life in 2022, after two years off due to Covid and weather, and feeling fully like its old self again with a great fest last summer, this year marks Bonnaroo’s 21st installment (and 23rd anniversary), boasting not only another great and varied lineup, but also a continuation of some of the big changes and improvements rolled out over the last couple of years, with more flexibility in ticketing and camping, a reimagined “Outeroo” campground area, new activations, and further new ways to Roo. Back once again in its usual June 13-16 timeframe, we’re counting down the days until another great weekend on the farm.

As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages, big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, and most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. And as our time at ‘Roo approaches, we’ll also be bringing you some special features and full list-style daily lineup guides, to help you plan your weekend ahead of the fest. While these previews won’t span every artist, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend at the fest!

Grab your tickets right here if you haven’t already, and read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!

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One of the most renowned artists and in-demand producers, collaborators, and session players making music today, Thundercat has been on the scene for nearly 25 years, despite not yet even turning 40. Raised in Los Angeles in a musical household, Stephen Lee Bruner is the son of Ronald Bruner Sr., and accomplished drummer who played with he likes of The Temptations, The Supremes, Diana Ross, and Gladys Knight. After achieving some minor recognition in his teens with group No Curfew, Stephen joined his brother, Ronald Jr., in legendary crossover thrash punks Suicidal Tendencies, a band he’d remain a part of for nearly a decade, while simultaneously branching out in jazz collectives The Young Jazz Giants and West Coast Get Down, which more resemble the music he’s best known for today. After spending the 2000s juggling his various groups and session work with some big names like Erykah Badu and Flying Lotus, Bruner, at the encouragement of Lotus, began focusing more on singing and crafting solo material, forging his persona as Thundercat (an homage to the popular ’80s cartoon) and dropping critically-acclaimed jazz fusion, electronic, and r&b influenced debut LP The Golden Age of Apocalypse in 2011. By 2013 followup, Apocalypse, Thundercat had become an even more sought-after collaborator for big-name contemporary artists, working with everyone from Snoop Dogg to the late Mac Miller, but it was his work on Kendrick Lamar’s masterful, Grammy winning 2015 effort To Pimp a Butterfly that brought Bruner a new wave of mainstream attention. Funky, psychedelic, playful and genre-bending 2017 third album Drunk further drew new audiences, breaking into the mainstream thanks to viral tracks like “Them Changes” (which remains popular on TikTok almost a decade later) and Kendrick Lamar feature “Walk on By,” landing on countless year end lists and earning the best reviews of his career to date. In the years since, Bruner has cemented his reputation as one of the most important figures in modern jazz fusion, continuing to collab with artists like Gorillaz, Janelle Monáe, Anderson .Paak, and Childish Gambino, releasing a well-received and Grammy-winning fourth album, It Is What It Is, in 2020, and even branching into acting with an appearance on Star Wars show The Book of Boba Fett. Due for a new album, Thundercat has dropped a few scattered singles, like last year’s Tame Impala teamup “No More Lies,” and remains one of the most compelling and unique live performers making music today. He was fantastic at Bonnaroo 2018, and he’s perfect for the late night spot on his return.

WATCH | “Them Changes” (Official Video)