2009–2010: Formation Boy & Bear was formed in 2009 in Sydney, beginning as a solo project for singer-songwriter Dave Hosking. In February 2009, Hosking uploaded a track, "The Storm", to the
Unearthed program on radio station
Triple J, All five had fronted their own groups and became friends after regularly sharing the stage at gigs. Their songwriting usually has Hosking strumming chords on a guitar, Gavin writing the hooks, and the Hart brothers providing backing vocal lyrics, keyboard parts and drum lines. Aside from Triple J, the band received national airplay on
NovaFM. and in 2013, they signed internationally with Nettwerk. After winning the 2009
Unearthed competition, they gained a performance spot at
Homebake in December. and later supported
Mumford & Sons on their Australian tour. They also featured on
Passenger's album 'Flight of the Crow'. In May Boy & Bear released their debut extended play,
With Emperor Antarctica, which peaked at No. 63 on the
ARIA Singles Chart. In the same year, they recorded the song "
Fall at Your Feet" for
He Will Have His Way, a tribute album to singer-songwriter brothers
Tim and
Neil Finn. Boy & Bear's version of "Fall at Your Feet" was listed at No. 5 on the
Triple J Hottest 100, 2010. Another of their tracks, "Rabbit Song", was placed at No. 45. In November 2010 their cover of "Fall at Your Feet" peaked at No. 34 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In April 2011, their early single "Mexican Mavis" was featured on US TV series
90210, season three
episode "Nerdy Little Secrets".
2011–2012: Moonfire On 5 August 2011, Boy & Bear released their debut album
Moonfire. It was recorded in
Nashville, Tennessee with producer,
Joe Chiccarelli and reached No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart. During that year, single "
Feeding Line" debuted at No. 49. In December, Moonfire finished third in the Triple J album poll of 2011. It also reached platinum sales. On the
Triple J Hottest 100, 2011 Boy & Bear were listed three times, with "Part Time Believer" and "Milk & Sticks" at No. 50 and No. 49, respectively, while "
Feeding Line" reached No. 4. At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2011 Boy & Bear won in five categories: Breakthrough Artist – Single for "Feeding Line"; and Album of the Year, Best Group, Breakthrough Artist – Album and Best Adult Alternative Release for
Moonfire.
2013–2014: Harlequin Dream Boy & Bear released their second album on 16 August 2013, titled
Harlequin Dream. It debuted at #1 on the ARIA charts. Its release was preceded by the lead single "
Southern Sun", a song which paid homage to
Richard Clapton's relaxed 1970s steel guitar sound. In 2013 Boy & Bear were nominated for three ARIA awards, including Best Group, Best Rock Album and Producer of the Year with Wayne Connolly. The album was also nominated for a J Award and was ranked #7 in Triple J's Top 10 Albums of 2013 poll in the same year. From
Harlequin Dream release until the end of 2014, Boy & Bear completed three international tours, covering AUS/NZ/US/CAN/UK/EU and totalling 168 shows. Boy & Bear received an ARIA nomination in 2014 for Best Australia Live Act. The album went Platinum in 2016.
2015–2017: Limit of Love From April to May 2015 Boy & Bear teamed up with producer
Ethan Johns (
Ryan Adams,
Kings of Leon,
Kaiser Chiefs) at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studio in the UK to record their third album. The album was recorded live and straight to tape, with virtually no overdubs. On 13 August the band announced the album and its lead single "Walk the Wire", which was added to high rotation on Triple J.
Limit of Love was released on 9 October 2015 in Australia debuting at #1 on the ARIA charts, New Zealand, North America and Canada and will be available from 30 October in the United Kingdom and Europe. The album was certified Gold in Australia in 2018.
2018–2019: Suck on Light In July 2018 the band began posting pictures of them in a recording studio for their fourth album. The band's fourth album,
Suck on Light, was released on 27 September 2019. Produced by the band and Collin Dupuis at Nashville's Southern Ground Studios, and mixed in part by mixer Tom Elmhirst, the 12-track album includes the singles "Hold Your Nerve", "Work of Art" and "Telescope".
2020: At Golden Retriever Studios In April 2020, Boy & Bear announced the release of their forthcoming acoustic album titled
At Golden Retriever Studios, set for release in September 2020. The band said "When we tour the USA we often get asked to perform our songs acoustically when we are on the radio... It gave us the idea to record a selection of acoustic tracks and present them as an album."
2022–2023: Boy & Bear On 8 April 2022, Boy & Bear released "State of Flight", their first single since 2019, and their first released independently. Throughout June and July 2022, the group celebrated the 10-year anniversary celebration of their album
Moonfire with an extensive national and regional tour. On 23 September 2022, Boy & Bear released "Just to Be Kind". In September 2023, Boy & Bear released the three-track EP
Lost Dreams. The tracks were recorded during the studio sessions for the band's second studio album
Harlequin Dream.
2024–present: Tripping Over Time In October 2025, the group released "Tripping Over Time", the title track from their sixth studio album. ==Band members==