Dan Wilson (musician)

Early life and education

Wilson was born in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. He attended Harvard University, studying visual arts with a focus on printmaking, and graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Visual and Environmental Studies in 1983 while living in Dunster House. He won the first Louis Sudler Prize for Outstanding Artistic Talent and Achievement in 1983. At Harvard, he began collaborating with his brother Matt Wilson in the bands Animal Dance and the Love Monsters. After college, he pursued drawing and painting in San Francisco and Minneapolis.

Career

In 1987, Wilson joined the Minneapolis band Trip Shakespeare, founded by his brother Matt Wilson with John Munson and Elaine Harris. As a quartet, the band released three albums and one EP before breaking up in 1992. Wilson and Munson then formed the trio Pleasure, later renamed Semisonic, with drummer Jacob Slichter. Semisonic released one EP, three full-length albums, and one live album.

Their 1998 album Feeling Strangely Fine, powered by the single 'Closing Time,' attained platinum sales in the U.S. and U.K. 'Closing Time' received a 1999 Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song. The band stopped touring in August 2001 but continued occasional performances. On June 26, 2020, Semisonic released their first single in nearly 20 years, 'You're Not Alone,' followed by an EP. Wilson has collaborated with many artists, including co-writing 'Not Ready to Make Nice' with The Chicks and 'Someone Like You' with Adele.

He produced and co-wrote 'Treacherous' with Taylor Swift for her album Red, and later produced its re-recorded version. In 2023, he received Grammy nominations for Song of the Year for 'Butterfly' with Jon Batiste and Best Country Song for 'White Horse' with Chris Stapleton. In 2024, 'It Never Went Away,' co-written with Jon Batiste for the documentary American Symphony, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. He won the Grammy for Best Country Song for 'White Horse' in 2024 and his first CMA Award for Song of the Year for the same song in November 2024.

Wilson has also released solo recordings, including the 2017 album Re-Covered, featuring covers of songs he wrote for other artists.

Personal life

Wilson is married to Diane Espaldon, whom he met at Harvard University, where she studied government. She later earned a M.A. from the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. They have a biological daughter, Corazon ('Coco'), born in 1997 prematurely with disabilities, for whom 'Closing Time' was written before her birth. They also have an adopted daughter, Lily, born in 2007, adopted at age two from the Philippines.