From bedroom MySpace confessionals to Grammy-nominated art rock, Perfume Genius turns queer trauma and tenderness into unflinching, poetic song.
MOODS · intimate · raw · romantic · theatrical · melancholic · liberated
BIOGRAPHY
Perfume Genius is the stage name of Michael Alden Hadreas, born September 25, 1981, in Des Moines, Iowa, and raised in Everett, Washington, where he was bullied for being gay and turned to painting, writing, and artists like PJ Harvey and Liz Phair. He began his music career in 2008 after returning to Seattle, setting up a MySpace page under a name borrowed from Tom Tykwer's film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.
His 2010 debut Learning, released via Matador, drew immediate critical praise for its naked, eviscerating songs. Subsequent albums, including Put Your Back N 2 It, Too Bright, the Grammy-nominated No Shape, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, Ugly Season, and 2025's Glory, trace an evolution from fragile piano ballads to swaggering glam rock, with longtime collaborator and partner Alan Wyffels central to his songcraft.
WHY THEY'RE COOL
Perfume Genius has built a body of work that moves fearlessly between fragile piano balladry and glam-rock swagger while addressing sexuality, Crohn's disease, domestic abuse, and the dangers faced by gay men with rare, poetic honesty. Critics have followed him from the raw confessionals of Learning through the Grammy-nominated ambition of No Shape to the ecstatic release of Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, a trajectory that reflects genuine artistic growth. His collaborations, with producer Blake Mills, partner Alan Wyffels, and artists like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Low's Alan Sparhawk, underscore an empathetic, collaborative approach that keeps his music evolving.
