Mitski was born in Japan on September 27, 1990. Her father worked for the State Department, and she lived in a dozen different countries while growing up, before settling in the United States. She is a singer-songwriter and musician. Her debut album, Lush, was released in 2012. Her songwriting is often inspired by the number of times she moved and was uprooted as a child. Mitski's popularity exploded after 2018's Be the Cowboy, which topped many music critics' lists of best records of the year.