Leon Bridges

Forbidden secular music in a religious household, one Fort Worth kid kept Usher's 8701 hidden anyway. Years later, while he washed dishes and played open mics, a song about his mother, 'Lisa Sawyer', first defined his style.

Its sound was 1960s soul. Recorded on vintage equipment with White Denim's Austin Jenkins and Joshua Block, Coming Home echoed Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, yet Leon Bridges only started listening to the latter after he'd begun writing. His own youth had been soundtracked by Jodeci and 112.

Then he branched out. Good Thing leaned into 1980s quiet storm, Gold-Diggers Sound reworked 1990s and 2000s R&B, and Leon turned personal, drawing on folk and country. Jungle's J Lloyd-Watson and Lydia Kitto produced his fifth, Happiness Anytime, in 2026. Each move traced influences as far apart as Ginuwine and Townes Van Zandt.