Dan Wilson

Daniel Dodd Wilson (born May 20, 1961) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, visual artist and record producer who has been called the songwriter's songwriter.

His songwriting résumé includes "Closing Time", which he wrote for his band, Semisonic; "Not Ready to Make Nice", co-written with The Chicks; and "Someone Like You", co-written with Adele.

Wilson attended Harvard University, where he studied visual arts with a focus on printmaking and from which he graduated B.A. summa cum laude in Visual and Environmental Studies in 1983, while he resided in Dunster House.

Wilson is an accomplished artist, and won the first Louis Sudler Prize for Outstanding Artistic Talent and Achievement in 1983.

While in college, he began collaborating with his brother, singer-songwriter Matt Wilson, who also attended Harvard College.

The Wilson brothers played in two bands, Animal Dance and the Love Monsters.

After college, Wilson pursued his interest in drawing and painting, first in San Francisco and then in Minneapolis.

In 1987, Wilson joined the Minneapolis psychedelic band Trip Shakespeare, which his brother Matt Wilson had founded with bassist John Munson and drummer Elaine Harris.

The original three members had already released one record, Applehead Man, and now as a quartet, with Wilson on guitar, piano, sharing lead vocal duties with Matt Wilson—with whom Wilson also co-wrote many of the songs—and Munson, the band released three more albums (Are You Shakespearienced?, 1988, Gark Records; Across the Universe, 1990, A&M Records; Lulu, 1991, A&M Records) and one EP (Volt, 1992, Twin Tone).

Since Trip Shakespeare's breakup in 1992, Wilson has continued to collaborate with his brother, including the release of two live albums (Minneapolis 2010 and Minneapolis 2013).

After Trip Shakespeare's breakup in 1992, Wilson and Munson joined with drummer Jacob Slichter to form Pleasure, a trio that was later renamed Semisonic.

Semisonic released one EP, three full-length albums, and one live album.

The band's first album, Great Divide, received critical acclaim.

David Fricke wrote in a year-end Rolling Stone article on the notable albums of 1996, "Great Divide is that rare '96 beast, a record of simple but sparkling modern pop, rattling with power-trio vitality."

It was their 1998 release, Feeling Strangely Fine, however, that brought the band to widespread national and then international attention and success.

Powered by Wilson's songs "Closing Time", which was a number-one hit on the Modern Rock charts for thirteen weeks in the spring and summer of 1998, the follow-up single "Singing in My Sleep", and "Secret Smile", a breakthrough hit for the band internationally, Feeling Strangely Fine attained platinum sales status in the U.S. and U.K. "Closing Time" received a 1999 Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song and has become an enduring pop-culture reference point for the late 1990s.

Semisonic's third album, All About Chemistry, was released in 2001, and featured Wilson's song "Chemistry", the album's first single, and also included "One True Love", a song Wilson co-wrote with Carole King.

Semisonic stopped touring in August 2001 but continued to perform on occasion.

Slichter's memoir, So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star, provides a detailed account of the band's adventures and misadventures in the music business.

Wilson's work earned him a Grammy nomination for "Closing Time" (Best Rock Song) and garnered him Grammy wins for Song of the Year ("Not Ready to Make Nice" in 2007) and Album of the Year as a producer for Adele's 21 in 2012.

Wilson has collaborated with a diverse range of acclaimed artists, including Pink, Celine Dion, Leon Bridges, Mitski, Claud, Halsey, Weezer, Panic! at the Disco, My Morning Jacket, Dierks Bentley, John Legend, Joy Oladokun, Laufey, and many others.

Wilson's solo debut, Free Life, was released in 2007 by American Recordings.

Produced with Rick Rubin, Free Life was recorded in Minneapolis and Los Angeles and includes performances by Tracy Bonham, Sheryl Crow, Jason Lader, Gary Louris, Natalie Maines, Benmont Tench, and a number of Minneapolis-based musicians including multi-instrumentalist and frequent Semisonic sideman Ken Chastain, Eric Fawcett, John Hermanson, Joanna James, Mason Jennings, Steve Rhoem, Joe Savage, as well as Wilson's Semisonic bandmates Munson and Slichter.

Free Life helped establish Wilson's reputation as a songwriter, with The A.V. Club writing, "the star of the show here is Wilson's remarkable instinct for creating gorgeous songs, and his unabashed, obvious joy in doing so. For anyone worried that songcraft is an endangered species, Free Life should ease those fears."

The song Breathless became a big hit in Greece (and other Balkan countries ) and Dan Wilson performed it at the 2009 MAD Video Music Awards.

It was a focal point of the plot and soundtrack of the 2011 film Friends with Benefits.

In 2012, Wilson produced the song "Treacherous” which he co wrote with Taylor Swift for Swift's fourth studio album Red, resulting in an additional Album of the Year Grammy nomination. In 2021, Wilson produced the re-recorded version of "Treacherous" for Swift's second re-recorded album, Red (Taylor's Version).

On November 10, 2023, Wilson received Grammy nominations for Song of the Year for "Butterfly", which he wrote with Jon Batiste, and Best Country Song for “White Horse", which he co-wrote with Chris Stapleton.

In January 2024, "It Never Went Away", the song Wilson co-wrote with Jon Batiste for the documentary American Symphony, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.

On February 4, 2024, Wilson won the Grammy for Best Country Song for “White Horse", which he co-wrote with Chris Stapleton.

The first recording from Love Without Fear, "Disappearing" (with a cover of Neil Young's "Out on the Weekend" included as a b-side) was released on November 7, 2013 and was the debut release of the new singles label, Canvasclub.

In describing the album, Wilson said, "The songs are about being left alone, not wanting to lose someone, about desperately wishing for connection and togetherness. The sound of the record lives at the intersection of Americana and Beatles- influenced rock and roll. A little bit of twang and a lot of cinematic emotion."

The album received largely favourable reviews emphasizing Wilson's reputation as a songwriter.

"Dan Wilson's career is proof positive that smart, elegant songwriting has a place in music… [Love Without Fear] is a lovely amalgamation of chamber rock, gentle country, gooey '70s pop and snappy soul."

Wilson's second solo album, Love Without Fear, was released on April 15, 2014 and includes performances by Sara Bareilles, Missy Higgins, Lissie, Natalie Maines, Blake Mills, Sara Watkins, and Sean Watkins.

In addition to being the leader of Semisonic, Wilson has released several solo recordings, including the 2017 release Re-Covered.

He was also a member of the Minneapolis psychedelic rock band Trip Shakespeare.

Wilson is a native of St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

Wilson's third solo studio album, Re-Covered, was released on August 4, 2017.

On June 26, 2020, Semisonic released their first single in nearly 20 years, "You're Not Alone," followed by an EP of the same name on September 18, 2020.