Peter, Bjorn and John formed in Stockholm in 1999 when the three musicians / songwriters / producers met and began playing together in Stockholm clubs. They spent the early 2000s honing their intricate sound before self-releasing their first record. A series of small releases on independent labels built momentum before landing on a larger record label with US distribution in 2005.
It was their third album, 2006’s Writer’s Block that grew the band’s popularity with the hit song Young Folks. An accompanying video was well received and it earned the band some choice gigs, including playing with Kanye West at the 2007 Way Out West Festival.
Peter, Bjorn and John took a meandering path with their records following Writer’s Block. In 2008 they released the instrumental excursion Seaside Rock, a tribute to native Nordic villagers released only on vinyl and MP3. Following records also diverged from their pop sounds, and the group never again found the success of the 2006 record.
In 2019 John Eriksson, the ‘John’ and drummer for the band stopped touring with the group, due to a serious tinnitus problem. He remains a part of the group and performs on records.
Peter Bjorn and John’s last full length record came in 2016 and that one took four years and six producers to complete. The group says that now it has returned to a more basic form, keeping production of their latest EP all in house.
