Glen Phillips (born December 29, 1970)[1] is an American songwriter, lyricist, singer and guitarist. He is the lead singer and songwriter of the alternative rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket and also records and performs as a solo artist.
Biography
Early life
Phillips was born to a Reform Jewish family in Santa Barbara, California. His father was a college professor who taught physics. Although his family was Jewish, with Glen having a Bar Mitzvah, his family was secular and his father took him to meditation classes.[2]
Phillips formed Toad the Wet Sprocket in 1986, at the age of 15, with friends from his high school.[4][5]
In 1991, at age 21, Phillips wrote the song "All I Want".[6]
The band recorded five albums but broke up in 1998, after escalating tensions, shortly after Phillips' father died of colon cancer.[7][8]
During his time in Toad the Wet Sprocket, Phillips was involved in a pop rock project called Flapping, Flapping, which released the album Montgomery Street in 1996.[9]
In 2001, three years after the breakup of Toad, Phillips released his first solo album, Abulum.[10] This was followed up by a self-released live album and solo touring, along with a reunion tour with his former Toad bandmates.
In 2005, Phillips returned to a major label via Universal Records' imprint Lost Highway Records and released the critically acclaimed Winter Pays For Summer. The album included the radio single "Duck and Cover," but Phillips and the label parted ways due to creative differences. A compilation of six outtakes from the album were published as an EP titled Unlucky 7, the first track ("The Hole") of which was featured in the second episode of the AMC television series Breaking Bad.
Phillips released his third proper solo album, Mr. Lemons in the spring of 2006.[11]
In 2007, Phillips reunited with Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek as well as Grant-Lee Phillips and Luke Bulla to perform as part of The Various & Sundry Tour.[12]
In January 2008, Phillips released an EP Secrets of the New Explorers, with music influenced by Talk Talk and Peter Gabriel.[13]
In April 2018, Phillips signed with Compass Records Group.[18] His 2016 album, Swallowed By the New, was re-released on May 4, 2018, with a new bonus track "Nobody's Gonna Get Hurt".
Personal life
Phillips and his ex-wife, Laurel, whom he was married to from 1989 to 2014, have three daughters, Sophia, Freya, and Zola.[19]
On October 8, 2008, Phillips injured his arm while at a friend's house, where he was sitting on a glass coffee table that collapsed when he moved back. Phillips had surgery to repair a damaged ulnar nerve and muscle in his left arm. His ability to play guitar was hampered during his recovery, but he toured despite the injury.[20]