Vampire Weekend

Columbia to number one

Vampire Weekend formed in 2006 at Columbia University. The name comes from a short film Ezra Koenig made at college, inspired by The Lost Boys, and their first show was a battle of the bands at Lerner Hall. Early on the members had day jobs: Chris Tomson as a music archivist and Koenig as a middle school English teacher. A self-released EP came in 2007, and the debut was recorded that year in a basement, a barn, apartments and a Brooklyn studio, produced by Rostam Batmanglij. The barn sessions, at Tomson's family barn, gave the drums their echo.

Vampire Weekend (January 29, 2008, XL) reached 17 in the US and 15 in the UK and went platinum in both; Spin named them the year's best new band. Contra (January 2010) was their first US number one, and Modern Vampires of the City (May 14, 2013, produced by Batmanglij and Ariel Rechtshaid) was also number one and won the Grammy for best alternative music album. Batmanglij left in January 2016. Father of the Bride (May 3, 2019) went to number one in the US and won the same Grammy, with a nomination for Album of the Year. Only God Was Above Us followed on April 5, 2024, co-produced by Koenig and Rechtshaid with Dave Fridmann mixing, taking its title from a 1988 New York Daily News headline.

Live releases include Live in Florida (July 2020), the 40:42 EP (2021) and the Frog on the Bass Drum series, with two Madison Square Garden shows in October 2024. Touring musicians since 2018 include Will Canzoneri and Garrett Ray. Rolling Stone ranked the debut 430th and Modern Vampires 328th on its 500 greatest albums list.