in August 2012
Steel Train and Fun. (2001–2015) In summer of 2001, Antonoff and friend
Scott Irby-Ranniar formed the band
Steel Train, playing their first ever show at Club Krome in South Amboy, NJ on September 15, along with future labelmates Allister and The Early November, who were about to sign to Drive-Thru Records. Antonoff was the lead singer, and they recruited drummer Matthias Gruber. The band then convinced two of their friends from the band Random Task (at the time managed by
Heath Miller, promoter of Club Krome at Excess dB Entertainment), Evan Winiker and Matthew Goldman, to drop out of college to join the new band. In 2008,
Nate Ruess (formerly the frontman of
the Format) asked Antonoff to join him and
Andrew Dost (formerly of
Anathallo) in a new band, which became
Fun. Antonoff was already well acquainted with Ruess and Dost, The new band released its debut album,
Aim and Ignite, in 2009. Fun. then played with their musical heroes
Queen in September 2013 at the
iHeartRadio Music Festival, which was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in
Las Vegas. Antonoff played
Brian May's guitar during the rehearsal, which he described as the "most surreal experience ever." The band then released a free six-song EP in December 2013, titled
Before Shane Went to Bangkok: Fun. Live in the USA.
Bleachers (2014–present) as Bleachers in August 2014 Antonoff announced a solo project called
Bleachers in February 2014. Antonoff stated in June 2014 that the project had been a consideration for around 10 years, and the name was inspired by the "disconnected, darker side" of suburban youth and
John Hughes movies, which were "tied to a time when big songs were great songs." The songs for the debut Bleachers album were mostly written on Antonoff's laptop computer in hotel rooms during a Fun. world tour. while
Time proclaimed, "[Bleachers] is more fun than Fun." Antonoff revealed the intent behind the debut single in a
Rolling Stone interview: Antonoff told
Rolling Stone that while the song may sound joyous, "it's very desperate" and, like many of the other songs on the album is about loss. Antonoff released Bleachers' second album
Gone Now on June 2, 2017. Its lead single "Don't Take the Money" peaked at number 2 on Alternative Radio. On July 30, 2021, he released
Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night. Bleachers'
self-titled fourth studio album was released on March 8, 2024, being preceded by the release of four singles: "Modern Girl", "Alma Mater", "Tiny Moves", and "Me Before You".
Taylor Swift In 2013, Antonoff wrote and produced the song "
Sweeter than Fiction" with American singer-songwriter
Taylor Swift, for the film
One Chance. The song was written in Antonoff's New York City apartment after he and Swift shared a love of a particular
snare drum sound from a
Fine Young Cannibals song. They brainstormed ideas by email before starting the songwriting process. Swift and Antonoff wrote and produced three songs together on Swift's fifth studio album,
1989, including the single "
Out of the Woods", as well as "I Wish You Would", and the bonus track "
You Are in Love".
1989 was released in October 2014 and became the biggest-selling album in the U.S. that year. On the deluxe version of the album, Swift explains in a voice memo that the song "I Wish You Would" originated from a guitar track that Antonoff had recorded on his smartphone. After Swift first heard it, she asked Antonoff if she could develop the idea further, and it eventually became an album track. The album won Antonoff two
Grammy Awards for
Album of the Year and
Best Pop Vocal Album in 2016. In 2016, Swift, Antonoff, and
Sam Dew wrote Swift and
Zayn's song "
I Don't Wanna Live Forever", with Antonoff producing, for the film
Fifty Shades Darker. The track appears on the
Fifty Shades Darker: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. The duo wrote and produced the number-one single "
Look What You Made Me Do" as well, which was released on August 25, 2017. Antonoff was a key contributor to Swift's sixth studio album,
Reputation. Aside from "Look What You Made Me Do", Swift and Antonoff also wrote and produced five other songs together on
Reputation—"
Getaway Car", "
Dress", "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things", "
Call It What You Want", and "
New Year's Day". In 2019, Swift and Antonoff wrote eight songs and produced eleven tracks together for Swift's seventh studio album,
Lover, including the promotional single "
The Archer", the
title track, which served as the album's third single, and the number-one single "
Cruel Summer". In 2020, Swift and Antonoff worked together on Swift's eighth studio album,
Folklore. Along with
Aaron Dessner and Swift, Antonoff serves as one of the songwriters and producers for the album, with Antonoff helping to co-produce six songs and co-write four, including the third single, "
Betty". Antonoff continued to collaborate with Swift on
Folklore "sister album", which is Swift's ninth studio album,
Evermore, in which he co-wrote the tracks "Gold Rush" and "Ivy", and co-produced the former. Both projects earned a Grammy nomination for
Album of the Year, with
Folklore winning the award. Antonoff worked with Swift on her
re-recorded albums, co-producing most of the "From the Vault" tracks that were not included on the original albums. In 2021, Swift and Antonoff produced four tracks on ''
Fearless (Taylor's Version)'': "
Mr. Perfectly Fine", "
That's When", "Don't You", and "Bye Bye Baby". Swift and Antonoff also produced three tracks on ''
Red (Taylor's Version)'' (2021): "
Babe (Taylor's Version)", "Forever Winter", and the number-one song "
All Too Well (10 Minute Version)". On ''
Speak Now (Taylor's Version) (2023), Swift and Antonoff produced the tracks "I Can See You", "Castles Crumbling" and "Timeless". Later in the year Swift and Antonoff also produced every vault track for 1989 (Taylor's Version), and produced the tracks they originally produced on 1989'' (2014). Antonoff co-produced all tracks from the standard edition of Swift's 2022 album
Midnights and co-wrote eleven of the thirteen standard tracks, including the number-one single "
Anti-Hero" and "
Bejeweled", in which he appeared in the music video for the track. He co-wrote six songs and co-produced seven songs on
Til Dawn Edition of
Midnights and co-wrote and co-produced "
You're Losing Me".
Midnights was a commercial success across all consumption metrics: streaming, digital sales, and physical sales. It was the biggest-selling album in the U.S. that year. The album won Antonoff two
Grammy Awards for
Album of the Year and
Best Pop Vocal Album in 2024. Antonoff was one of the songwriters and producers on Swift's 2024 album
The Tortured Poets Department, co-writing ten songs and co-producing sixteen songs across the album's standard and double album editions, including the number-one single "
Fortnight". The album broke numerous consumption records, leading publications to opine that it "cemented Swift as the biggest pop star this century by many metrics" and became the longest-leading chart topper of her career.
Lorde In 2017, Antonoff co-wrote and produced
Lorde's
Melodrama which was released in June.
USA Today described it as "the best pop album of 2017 so far".
Rolling Stone praised Antonoff's production specifically, noting his use of "empty space to spectacular effect, [as] the arrangements veer from stark clarity to delirium." He then performed "
Liability" alongside Lorde on
Saturday Night Live. The album also received a nomination for the 2018
Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Beginning from 2018 until 2021, Antonoff co-wrote, produced, and performed on Lorde's third album
Solar Power. However, Antonoff did not participate on Lorde's 2025 album
Virgin. In a Rolling Stone interview, she said she is "very vibes-based" and that she "just has to trust when my intuition says to keep moving."
Love, Simon In 2018, Antonoff produced the soundtrack for the
20th Century Fox romantic comedy-drama film
Love, Simon. Bleachers also contributed four songs. On working on the ground-breaking film, the first major studio picture to focus on a gay teenager, Antonoff said "I believe
Love, Simon is pivotal, a major step for a new generation" and added that he was "honored" that "genius" director
Greg Berlanti asked him to work on the soundtrack. He also said he was "very lucky to be a part of [
Love, Simon]" and "loved every moment of making this soundtrack" after stating he was "beyond blown away" by the response to the film and soundtrack.
Red Hearse On June 26, 2019, Antonoff previewed a new musical project with
Sam Dew and
Sounwave called Red Hearse. The project was teased with the release of two singles, "Red Hearse" and "Honey". On July 22, 2019, Red Hearse made their television debut on
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performing "Half Love". Their debut self-titled studio album was released on August 16, 2019, via
RCA Records.
Lana Del Rey Antonoff co-produced
Lana Del Rey's sixth studio album
Norman Fucking Rockwell!, which was released on August 30, 2019. He also co-wrote a majority of the songs on the album including the singles "
Mariners Apartment Complex" and "
Venice Bitch". The album received critical praise with
NME Rhian Daly noting that the "bohemian folk" sound of the record was a departure from Antonoff's "brand of crystalline euphoria." Other critics noted the album's 60s inspired,
psychedelic rock sound. The album was nominated for Grammy Album of the Year and won NME Album of the Year in 2020. Antonoff also produced Del Rey's subsequent albums
Chemtrails Over the Country Club in 2021 and ''
Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd'' in 2023, the latter including the duet "
Margaret" which Del Rey wrote about Antonoff's wife.
Shadow of the City Festival In 2015, Antonoff started his own music festival called Shadow of the City, which raises funding for The Ally Coalition. Antonoff told Rolling Stone he wanted to start the festival because, "I grew up in New Jersey and lived there for 28 years. New Jersey is part of who I am. I've always thought that it's the perfect place for a festival." In an interview published in the book
New Jersey Fan Club, Antonoff says he wants to bring his audience closer to New Jersey as it really is. The first festival, held on September 19, 2015 at
The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, featured
Charli XCX,
Vic Mensa,
the Front Bottoms,
MisterWives,
Cults,
How to Dress Well and
Robert Delong, with Bleachers headlining. Subsequent festivals included the artists
Carly Rae Jepsen,
The 1975,
Brian Fallon, Khalid,
Titus Andronicus,
Nicole Atkins,
Hayley Kiyoko,
Julien Baker,
Japanese Breakfast, and others.
Other projects Antonoff co-wrote "
Brave" with
Sara Bareilles after the two were introduced by Sara Quin of the band
Tegan and Sara. Bareilles said to
Billboard: "We met for breakfast one day, and I was just so enamored with him and his personality ... The first day we sat down together was the day we wrote 'Brave'." Antonoff wrote the song about a friend's struggle to speak openly about his sexuality. The quickly written song was released on April 23, 2013 and by the end of June, "Brave" had sold 160,000 digital copies and peaked at number 61 on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart. He founded The Ally Coalition circa 2014 with his sister,
Rachel Antonoff. It hosts an annual benefits concert, called "The Talent Show", which has raised more than $2 million to support
LGBT issues. In 2015, he created a
Google Play docuseries titled
Thank You and Sorry, which combined scripted scenes and footage from Bleachers shows. It was released in six 15-minute episodes and included cameos from
Lena Dunham,
Rosie Perez,
Olivia Wilde,
Colin Quinn, and
Jason Mantzoukas. Also in 2015, Antonoff portrayed the character Baby Goya in the comedy-drama film
Hello, My Name Is Doris. In 2017, he contributed to the production of
Pink's seventh studio album,
Beautiful Trauma, and produced
St. Vincent's fifth studio album,
Masseduction. In early 2019, he handled production on
Brockhampton frontman
Kevin Abstract's solo album,
Arizona Baby. Antonoff appeared in the 2021 documentary
The Sparks Brothers, talking about his admiration for the band
Sparks. The same year, he contributed to St. Vincent's sixth studio album,
''Daddy's Home'', and
Clairo's sophomore record,
Sling. In 2022, Antonoff produced eight tracks off
Florence and the Machine's fifth studio album,
Dance Fever. His credits on the album include the singles "
King" and "
Free". He also co-produced
the 1975's fifth studio album,
Being Funny in a Foreign Language, and the soundtrack for the animated film,
Minions: The Rise of Gru. In 2023, he started his own record label in collaboration with Jamie Oborne. The record label, called Shadow of the City, is an
imprint of Oborne's label, called
Dirty Hit. That year, he co-produced Rob Grant's debut studio album,
Lost at Sea, including the single "Hollywood Bowl" which features Grant's daughter,
Lana Del Rey. In 2024, Antonoff produced the soundtrack for the
Apple TV+ series
The New Look. He co-wrote and produced five tracks on
Sabrina Carpenter's sixth studio album ''
Short n' Sweet'', including her first number-one single "
Please Please Please". Antonoff produced a remix version of
Paramore's track "Sanity",
Kendrick Lamar's diss track "
6:16 in LA", and
Gracie Abrams's track "
Us" featuring Taylor Swift. In late 2024, Antonoff co-wrote and produced 11 out of 12 tracks from Lamar's sixth studio album
GNX, including the number-one singles "
Squabble Up" and "
Luther". In 2025, Antonoff also co-wrote and co-produced the majority of Carpenter's seventh studio album ''
Man's Best Friend'' alongside Carpenter and
John Ryan. ==Accolades==