Born in Hong Kong to British and Filipino parents, 25-year-old singer-songwriter Towa Bird first picked up a guitar when she was 12. Realizing early on that she was queer and living in culturally conservative countries, she found music to be an outlet and a solace. She formed her first band, the Glass Onions, (“We were terrible,” she concedes) at 14, which nonetheless kickstarted her as a songwriter.
She got her break in 2020 when her cover of Tame Impala’s “The Less I Know the Better” went viral. She got a record deal with Interscope a year later, and after playing guitar with Olivia Rodrigo on her Guts tour, started working on her own music in earnest.
More from Spin:
- Wu-Tang Clan Assembling Once More For Final Tour
- Road Work: Neil Young, Pantera, R.E.M., Elbow
- Who Gives a Shirt?
Her debut album, American Hero, came out last year, after two years in the making. Its blend of indie pop and alt rock caught on with fans. “Hopefully people sniff that authenticity and can relate to that,” she says. “Especially since I’m speaking from a queer lens in my songs, which I didn’t have growing up.”
Having opened for Noah Kahan on his summer tour and Billie Eilish on her autumn one, Towa feels ready to take on the world. And she is. As she kicked off her own headlining tour, starting in Anaheim in September, she had one thing on her mind: “I need to get more sleep!”
To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.