Wishbone (album)

In 2024, Conan Gray released his third studio album, Found Heaven, and embarked on his fifth headlining concert tour, Found Heaven On Tour. On May 22, 2025, Gray announced his fourth studio album, Wishbone, revealing that he had been slowly working on new music over the previous two years while on tour. He also discussed the writing process, stating that "before [he] knew it [he] was surrounded by an album" that he had not initially planned to release. The lead single of Wishbone, titled "This Song", was released on May 30. Wishbone is the first album that Gray owns the rights to. To support the album, Gray is set to embark on the Wishbone Pajama Show in September and October 2025. The second single, "Vodka Cranberry", which appears as the album's third track, was released on July 11, 2025. The third single, "Caramel", was released with the album. The music videos for "This Song", "Vodka Cranberry", and "Caramel" were released together as a short film titled The Wishbone Trilogy on August 28, 2025. The 12-track record sees him reuniting with producer Dan Nigro, whom he enlisted as executive producer. Additionally, he collaborated with Ethan Gruska, Noah Conrad, Elvira Anderfjärd and Luka Kloser. Gray started to see himself "in full picture" with songs he had always seen himself writing before but never did. He referred to the set of tracks as "an egregiously niche soundtrack to our own lives in real time". The album, described by Gray as his "wet dream album", goes on a journey of his relationship as he goes through heartbreak, grief, anger, and realization. Gray explains his assignment when creating the album was to do anything he wanted visually as long as it felt real to him. He says he knew very early on that he wanted to be in a sailor costume jumping in the air with a huge wishbone to symbolize jumping right into the center of the heartbreak. It is set to be released on April 24. "The Best", the lead single from the deluxe edition, was released on March 27. A week and a half before the deluxe came out, April 15, 2026, Gray had fans on an internet scavenger hunt to uncover the titles to the deluxe songs. Some of these were on his Instagram status and a crossword puzzle. ==Composition==

Wishbone has primarily been described as a pop and pop rock record, pulling notable influences from styles like 90's pop, classic pop, alternative rock, and grunge. The album opening track is "Actor", where Gray compares love to someone hiding behind a mask. "This Song" explores hope and yearning towards someone. In "Vodka Cranberry", Gray explores the detachment of a straining relationship. In "Romeo", Gray accepts the frustration and pain of realizing someone undeserving of your love, and turns it into a powerful release of anger. "My World" further explores the release of pain and adds a further contrast from the first three songs of the album. "Class Clown" reflect someone hiding pain behind a mask of laughter while feeling like everyone is watching and laughing at you. Gray describes this song as one of his favorites on the album "Nauseous" explores how trauma can develop after a toxic relationship. In "Caramel", Gray captures the yearning of a past relationship while also understanding the toxicity present. "Connell" explores the lesson learned from an exhausting heartbreak. The title references one of the main characters of Sally Rooney's novel, Normal People "Sunset Tower" explores the dynamics between wishing a past partner the best but also feeling bittersweet about them moving on. On "Eleven Eleven", Gray yearns for what once was as he connects superstition to his heartbreak. The album closes with "Care", whereby Gray accepts his grief and heartbreak while embracing the idea that moving on does not mean forgetting about the past. ==Tours==

A week from the album's announcement, on May 29, Gray announced the Wishbone Pajama Show to support the album, featuring nineteen dates in North America. It marked his sixth headlining concert tour. The tour began on September 11, 2025, in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and concluded on October 19, 2025, in Monterrey, Mexico. Hemlocke Springs is serving as the opening act in the United States, while the opening act for Mexico has yet to be announced. Act I of the tour begins with Gray riding on stage with a bicycle in a sailor outfit. The act is set in a field with a windmill, mailbox and tall mounds of grass. In the second act, Gray takes his sailor coat off, revealing a sparkly blue and white striped pajamas. Here, the set shifts to a dreamy ambiance with red lighting and big clouds while Gray lies on a bed set center stage. Act III changes with the set of a large lake. Here, Gray adds a surprise song not featured on the setlist, one of the most anticipated parts of the show. He picks an audience member to break a wishbone with him, and whoever gets the larger half gets to pick between two songs. This has led fans to show up in pajama sets and sailor hats, specifically in light blue and white, similar to one of Gray's tour costumes. On October 20, 2025, Conan took to Instagram to announce the "Wishbone World Tour" after mailboxes started to pop up at different event centers around the world. The tour started on February 19, 2026, in Minneapolis, MN and is set to conclude on October 8 in Perth, Australia. == Critical reception ==

Wishbone was met with critical acclaim from music critics after its release. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from publications, the album received a score of 82 based on 4 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Overall, the general public opinion of “Wishbone” is very positive, with critiques mainly about repetitive topics and strange production. Conan Gray's Video Music Awards (VMAs) 2025 performance went viral for his set, special cameo, and impressive vocals, which added to the public's reception of the album. == Commercial performance ==

Wishbone debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 with 71,000 album-equivalent units, marking Gray's third top 10 album and his highest-charting album to date. ==Track listing==

Note • signifies an additional producer • signifies a co-producer • Track lengths of "Eleven Eleven" and "Care" differ on the CD releases. ==Personnel==

Credits adapted from Tidal. Musicians • Conan Gray – vocals (all tracks), background vocals (tracks 4, 5, 11, 12), whistle (4), acoustic guitar (7) • Daniel Nigro – acoustic guitar (1, 3, 8, 11, 12); background vocals, electric guitar (1, 3, 8, 12); percussion (1, 3, 8), bass (1, 3, 11), string arrangement (1, 3), programming (1, 8, 11, 12), Mellotron (1), slide guitar (4), keyboards (11) • Sterling Laws – drums (1, 3) • Paul Cartwright – viola, violin (1); string arrangement (10), strings (12) • Rob Moose – viola, violin (2, 3, 5, 6, 9), string arrangement (2, 5, 6, 9) • Ethan Gruska – bass, guitar, percussion, programming (2, 5, 6, 9); keyboards (5, 6, 9), Marxophone (6, 11) • Matt Chamberlain – drums (2, 5, 6, 9) • Lily Elise – background vocals (3) • Noah Conrad – acoustic guitar, percussion, programming (4, 7, 11, 12); drums (4, 7, 11); background vocals, banjo, trumpet (4); electric guitar, keyboards (7, 11, 12); bass (7, 12) • Pera Krstajić – bass (4) • Meg Duffy – electric guitar (5, 6) • Jon Buscema – bass, drums, guitar (8) • Alexander 23 – guitar (8) • Kane Ritchotte – drums (9) • Dylan Day – electric guitar (9) • Gabe Noel – upright bass (9) • Elvira Anderfjärd – bass, drums, keyboards, percussion, string arrangement, strings (10) • Luka Kloser – bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, percussion, string arrangement (10) • Adam Melchor – background vocals (11) • Lily Aron – vocals, background vocals (12) • Aksel Coe – drums (12) • Tyler Baliey – drums (track 7–10, 12) Technical • Mitch McCarthy – mixing (1–3, 5–7, 9–12) • Serban Ghenea – mixing (4) • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (8) • Daniel Nigro – engineering (1, 3, 4, 8, 11, 12) • Chris Kasych – engineering (1, 8) • Jon Buscema – engineering (1, 8) • Ethan Gruska – engineering (2, 5, 6) • Rachel White – engineering (2, 5, 6) • Will Maclellan – engineering (2) • Noah Conrad – engineering (4, 7, 11, 12) • Elvira Anderfjärd – engineering (10) • Luka Kloser – engineering (10) • Aksel Coe – engineering (12) • Rob Moose – string engineering (2, 3, 5, 9) • Bryce Bordone – additional mixing (4) • Zach Szydlo – immersive mixing ==Charts==