Sufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty

Asthmatic Kitty

Asthmatic Kitty is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by a community of musicians from Holland, Michigan led by musician Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather Lowell Brams. Some were Holland natives, and others had come to attend local colleges and universities...

, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came

A Sun Came

-Track listing:#"We Are What You Say" – 5:20#"A Winner Needs a Wand" – 5:44#"Rake" – 2:48#"Siamese Twins" – 0:15#"Demetrius" – 6:01#"Dumb I Sound" – 5:49#"Wordsworth's Ridge " – 4:54#"Belly Button" – 0:09...

. He is best known for his 2005 album, Illinois

Illinois (album)

Illinois is a 2005 concept album by American indie folk songwriter Sufjan Stevens. His fifth studio album, Illinois features songs referencing places, events, and persons related to the U.S. state of Illinois...

, which hit number one in the Billboard

Billboard charts

The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...

 Top Heatseekers

Top Heatseekers

Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...

 chart, and for the song "Chicago

Chicago (Sufjan Stevens song)

"Chicago" is a track from Sufjan Stevens 2005 concept album Illinois, released on Asthmatic Kitty. The song tells the semi-autobiographical story of a young man on a road trip, and his youthful idealism. The track is Stevens' signature song, and he usually ends his live shows with a version of this...

".

Stevens has released albums of varying styles, from the electronica

Electronica

Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

 of Enjoy Your Rabbit

Enjoy Your Rabbit

-Track listing:All songs were written by Sufjan Stevens.#"Year of the Asthmatic Cat" – 0:24#"Year of the Monkey" – 4:20#"Year of the Rat" – 8:22#"Year of the Ox" – 4:01#"Year of the Boar" – 3:55#"Year of the Tiger" – 4:24...

and the lo-fi folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 of Seven Swans

Seven Swans

Seven Swans is a folk rock music album by Sufjan Stevens. It includes songs about Christian spiritual themes and figures such as Abraham and Christ's Transfiguration...

to the symphonic instrumentation of Illinois and Christmas-themed Songs for Christmas

Songs for Christmas

Songs for Christmas is a box set of five separate EPs of Christmas-related songs and carols recorded by independent musician Sufjan Stevens between 2001 and 2006. The EPs had been given as gifts to friends and family of Stevens over the past six years, except for 2004 where he was too busy...

.