A Close-up of Thundercat (Stephen Bruner), performing on the NTS Heavenly Stage, at the OnBlackheath Music Festival 2016
Stephen Bruner, better known by his stage name Thundercat, is an American multi-genre bass player, producer and singer from Los Angeles, California. He has released three solo albums, and is most noted for his work with producer Flying Lotus, and crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies. Thundercat appeared on Kendrick Lamar's critically acclaimed 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly. Thundercat won a Grammy in 2016 for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for his work on the track "These Walls" from To Pimp a Butterfly. Born into a family of musicians, Bruner began playing the bass at an early age: by 15 he had a minor hit in Germany as a member of the boy band No Curfew. A year later he joined his brother Ronald Jr. as a member of the Los Angeles metal band Suicidal Tendencies, replacing former bass player Josh Paul. Along with his band duties Bruner is also a session musician, acclaimed for his work on Erykah Badu's New Amerykah (2008) and Flying Lotus' Cosmogramma (2010). He released his first solo album in 2011, The Golden Age of Apocalypse, which featured production from Flying Lotus, and was influenced by 1970s fusion artists such as Stanley Clarke and George Duke. The next two years saw a return to the recording studio with fellow Brainfeeder artist Flying Lotus, with contributions to the Lotus's Until the Quiet Comes (2012) and You're Dead! (2014), and the release of Thundercat's second album Apocalypse (2013).[4] Bruner has been described as being a major contributor to and "at the creative epicenter" of Kendrick Lamar's critically acclaimed album To Pimp a Butterfly. In 2016, Bruner revealed to XXL that he is working on a new album with Flying Lotus as a main contributor. In May 2016, Bruner appeared live with Red Hot Chili Peppers to play additional bass on their song "Go Robot" at iHeartRadio's release party for the band's 2016 album The Getaway.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Blackheath, Lewisham
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: &, 2016, acid, age, american, apocalypse, bass, black, blackheath, bruner, butterfly, close-, crossover, dragonball, drunk, durag, electronica, festival, funk, golden, heavenly, hill, jazz, king, microphone, multi-genre, music, musician, onblackheath, performing, pimp, player, producer, qualls, singer, soul, stage, stephen, thrash, thundercat
