2013–2019: Career beginnings, About U and Saves the World Based in
Los Angeles, the trio met in college at the
University of Southern California and began working together in 2013 with Maskin and McPherson playing together on guitars and Gavin adding synth bass and vocals. Gavin had introduced McPherson to Maskin. Gavin and Maskin were music majors, while McPherson double-majored in narrative studies and American studies & ethnicity. The two guitarists, Maskin and McPherson, had been used to playing
ska and
progressive rock, but settled on a different sound when their initial collaboration with singer Gavin resulted in a pop song. Beginning their collaboration in an experimental mode, they evolved towards hooky
electronic pop. In the summer of 2014, they self-released their debut EP,
More Perfect, on
Bandcamp and
SoundCloud. Its success led to their signing by
RCA Records in the US and
Columbia Records in the UK. Gavin and McPherson dated for three years and broke up shortly after being signed. Muna played Lollapalooza 2016 in Chicago in July 2016, toured America with
Grouplove in the fall of 2016, and made their late-night network television debut on November 7, 2016, on
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In June 2017, it was announced that the band would be the opening act on the North American and European tour dates for
Harry Styles. In 2017, their song "I Know a Place" was featured in
The Carmilla Movie, following the original
web series based on
Sheridan Le Fanu's
novella of the same name. In 2018, Muna was featured playing "I Know a Place" live in the Netflix movie
Alex Strangelove, which chronicles the sexual awakening of teen protagonist Alex Truelove. In 2018, the band began work on their second full-length record. In June 2019, the band announced their second album,
Saves the World, which was released on September 6, 2019. The album was preceded by its lead single, "Number One Fan," followed by the singles "Who," "
Stayaway," and "Taken". Following their London shows at the Village Underground, it was announced that Muna would be returning to the UK for their Saves the World Tour in December 2019.
2020–2024: Record label change and Muna In 2020, shortly after the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic, Muna was dropped by RCA for "not making enough money". It was then announced in May 2021 that Muna had signed with
Saddest Factory Records, the record label founded by
Phoebe Bridgers, which operates in partnership with Secretly Group's
Dead Oceans. In September 2021, Muna released their single "Silk Chiffon" featuring Bridgers, their first since signing to the label.
Rolling Stone called it a "buoyant track with an uncharacteristically bright declaration of queer love". The "Silk Chiffon" music video featuring Phoebe Bridgers is a tribute to the themes and visuals of the 2000s film ''
But I'm a Cheerleader. Band member Naomi McPherson said it is "a song for kids to have their first gay kiss to". The song was chosen by a number of publications for their year-end lists of 2021, including Rolling Stone
, Consequence of Sound, and The Line of Best Fit'', who ranked it at number one. Muna later joined
Kacey Musgraves on her 15-city winter tour between January and February 2022. In March 2022, the band released the single "Anything But Me", and announced that their third studio album,
Muna, would be released on June 24, 2022, through Saddest Factory and Dead Oceans. The following month, they performed the single on the final season of
The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The album's third single, "Kind of Girl", was released in April 2022, alongside a Western-inspired music video where the trio plays "with the gendered nature of the song". The band performed the song on
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon the following month. Their self-titled album
Muna is acclaimed by music critics, who have scored it as the band's highest-rated album, according to media aggregate site
Metacritic. It became the band's first charting album on multiple lists, including the
UK Albums Chart, US
Billboard 200, and others in Australia and Scotland. The album's fourth single, "What I Want", was released on the same day as
Muna, with an accompanying music video. The trio also released their cover of "
Sometimes" (1999) by
Britney Spears for the
Hulu LGBTQ American
romantic comedy film
Fire Island in June 2022. In March 2023, Muna performed to a sold-out crowd of 15,000 people at the closing ceremony of
WorldPride Sydney, alongside
Ava Max and
Kim Petras. Later that month, Muna was an opening act on selected Australian dates of
Lorde's
Solar Power Tour. In April 2023, the band performed their first set at
Coachella. Shortly after, Muna released a new single, "One That Got Away", alongside a music video inspired by a "criminal underworld". Muna was also an opening act on selected June through July 2023 US dates of
Taylor Swift's
The Eras Tour. Muna wrapped up the last leg of their
Life's So Fun Tour in October 2023 with two sold-out shows at the
Greek Theatre in
Los Angeles. In June 2024, the band released a live album of the performance, titled
Live at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. During 2024, Katie Gavin worked on her debut solo album,
What A Relief, still on Phoebe Bridgers' Saddest Factory Records label. In July, Muna appeared at the
Pitchfork Music Festival, performing
"Ironic" with
Alanis Morissette.
2025–present: Dancing On The Wall On February 4, 2026, Muna released video clips on Instagram promoting the new song "It Gets So Hot", which was released via the band's website five days later on February 9. They then announced on Instagram that same day that "Dancing On The Wall" would be released on February 10. Along with the release of the latter single, they announced their fourth album,
of the same name, was to be released on May 8. On March 17, they released the second official single from the album, So What. == Artistry ==