Mitski Miyawaki
The Sound of Not Belonging
Born Mitsuki Laycock on 27 September 1990 in Mie Prefecture, Japan, Mitski is the American singer-songwriter whose albums from Bury Me at Makeout Creek to Be the Cowboy turned rootlessness and longing into some of the most acclaimed indie music of her generation — and found a vast new audience online.
- 16 min listen
- Singer-songwriter
- Indie rock
- Be the Cowboy
Mitski Miyawaki’s full 16 min audio biography, The Sound of Not Belonging, is available on Lyfestori for iOS. Listen to a free preview below.
A life in brief
Mitski Miyawaki: life and timeline.
Her father's State Department postings moved the family through some thirteen countries, from Congo to Malaysia, China and the Czech Republic, before she finished high school in Ankara. Mitski wrote her first song at a keyboard there at eighteen. She studied composition at Purchase College, released two albums as a student, and built a following in Brooklyn's DIY scene. By 2019, after years of near-constant touring, she played what she privately believed was her last show — and then came back.
- 1990
Born in Japan
Born Mitsuki Laycock on 27 September in Mie Prefecture to a Japanese mother and an American father who works for the US State Department. She later takes her mother's surname, Miyawaki.
- 2008
The first song
After a childhood spent moving between countries, she finishes high school in Ankara, Turkey. At eighteen she sits down at a keyboard and writes a song for the first time, realising it is something she can do.
- 2012
Lush
Having left a film course at Hunter College for the conservatory at Purchase College, SUNY, she self-releases her debut album as a student project.
- 2013
Retired from Sad, New Career in Business
Releases her second album, with orchestral arrangements recorded with fellow students, and graduates from Purchase with a Bachelor of Music in studio composition.
- 2014
Bury Me at Makeout Creek
Her third album, named after a line from The Simpsons, swaps orchestras for fuzzy guitars and becomes her breakthrough with critics while she plays Brooklyn's DIY venues.
- 2016
Puberty 2
'Your Best American Girl', about wanting to fit into a white American life and failing, becomes one of the defining songs of her career.
- 2018
Be the Cowboy
Pitchfork, Vulture and Consequence name it album of the year. Her tightly choreographed, theatrical live shows sell out across the world.
- 2019
'Last show indefinitely'
Exhausted and without a fixed home after years of touring, she announces a break. Her Central Park SummerStage shows in September are billed as her last, and she moves to Nashville.
- 2022
Laurel Hell
Returns with an album named after the Appalachian term for a tangled laurel thicket. It debuts at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, her highest chart position at the time.
- 2023
My Love Mine All Mine
Her song 'This Is a Life', with Son Lux and David Byrne, is nominated for an Oscar. In September she releases The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We; its single 'My Love Mine All Mine' becomes her first Billboard Hot 100 hit.
- 2026
Nothing's About to Happen to Me
Releases her eighth studio album on 27 February to strong reviews, followed by a tour of North America, Europe and Asia.
Major achievements
Mitski Miyawaki: major achievements.
- 01
Be the Cowboy
The 2018 album topped Pitchfork's year-end list and several others, and turned a cult indie artist into one of the most influential songwriters of the decade.
- 02
A first Hot 100 hit
'My Love Mine All Mine', a quiet ballad rather than a pop single, became her first song on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 26, and a major streaming hit worldwide.
- 03
An Oscar nomination
'This Is a Life', written with Son Lux and David Byrne for Everything Everywhere All at Once, was nominated for Best Original Song at the 2023 Academy Awards.
- 04
Writing about not belonging
Songs such as 'Your Best American Girl' gave precise language to being mixed-race and rootless, and drew a fiercely devoted audience across generations.
- 05
Live performance as theatre
Her choreographed, restrained stage shows — closer to performance art than a rock gig — won Best Live Performer at the 2022 AIM Independent Music Awards.
Turning points
Mitski Miyawaki: defining moments.
- Childhood
A girl from everywhere
Constant moves meant new languages, new schools and friends left behind. The loneliness of always being new became the emotional ground her songs return to.
- c. 2008
Finding songwriting in Ankara
Isolated as a teenager in Turkey, she wrote her first song at a keyboard and found a way to express herself. It led her to music school in New York rather than film.
- 2019
Walking away
Years of touring had left her without a home and, she said, at risk of tying her self-worth to staying in the game. She later told Rolling Stone she had thought she might never perform again.
- 2020–2023
Rediscovered online
During the pandemic, older songs such as 'Nobody' and 'Washing Machine Heart' spread on TikTok to a new, younger audience. She returned with Laurel Hell and then had her biggest hit yet.
What you’ll take away
Lessons from Mitski Miyawaki’s life.
- 01
Specific feelings travel furthest
Songs rooted in her own displacement, rather than written for a general audience, are the ones millions of strangers recognised as their own.
- 02
Protect the reason you make things
She stepped away in 2019 partly out of fear of becoming an artist who released music just to keep the machine running.
- 03
Privacy can be part of the art
Her stylised performances and request for audiences to put down their phones show an artist trying to share emotion without becoming content.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Mitski Miyawaki.
What is Mitski's real name?
Mitsuki Laycock. Laycock is her American father's surname; she later took her Japanese mother's surname, Miyawaki, and performs as Mitski.
What is Mitski Miyawaki's net worth?
One widely cited estimate, from CelebrityNetWorth, is about $4 million, and Far Out Magazine gives the same figure; neither is dated. Forbes and Bloomberg don't track her and her record-deal terms are private, so treat it as a loose guess with a wide margin. What is documented: by February 2026 Pollstar had counted 370,727 tickets sold and $24.6 million in gross ticket sales across 111 reported headline shows, which is box-office takings rather than her personal earnings.
Is Mitski Japanese?
She is Japanese-American. She was born in Mie Prefecture, Japan, to a Japanese mother and a white American father, and her first language was Japanese.
Where did Mitski grow up?
In many countries. Because of her father's State Department work she lived in around thirteen countries as a child, including Congo, Malaysia, China, the Czech Republic and the United States, and graduated from high school in Ankara, Turkey.
How old is Mitski?
She was born on 27 September 1990, so she turned thirty-six in September 2026.
Where does Mitski live?
In Nashville, Tennessee, according to reports. She moved there around 2019, saying she wanted to avoid expensive, competitive cities such as New York and Los Angeles.
Is Mitski still making music?
Yes. After a break from touring in 2019 she returned with Laurel Hell in 2022, released The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We in 2023, and put out Nothing's About to Happen to Me in February 2026.
Where did Mitski go to college?
Purchase College, State University of New York. She first studied film at Hunter College, then transferred to Purchase's conservatory and graduated in studio composition in 2013.
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16 min · one sitting