Stephen Lee Bruner, better known by his stage name Thundercat, is an American musician, singer, record producer, songwriter, and bassist from Los Angeles, California.
First coming to prominence as a member of crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, he returned to his musical roots, placing a strong focus on funk, soul, progressive R&B, psychedelia and jazz-fusion. He has since released five solo studio albums and is noted for his work with producer Flying Lotus and his appearances on
Kendrick Lamar's 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly.
In 2016, Thundercat won a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Performance for his work on the track "These Walls" from To Pimp a Butterfly. In 2020, Thundercat released his fourth studio album, It Is What It Is, which earned him a Grammy Award for Best Progressive R&B Album. Rolling Stone has ranked him as one of the greatest bass players of all time.
In 2021, he received the Libera Award for Best R&B Record 2021 for his album It Is What It Is (Brainfeeder Records) by the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM). The album was also nominated as Record of the Year, but lost to Phoebe Bridgers' album Punisher.
On January 29, 2026, Thundercat released the track "I Did This To Myself", featuring
Lil Yachty, as a single from his then upcoming fifth studio album, Distracted.
Bruner is most often seen playing his six-string Ibanez Custom Shop model bass (tuned to BEADGC); it has a hollowed-out maple body, five-piece maple/jatoba neck, and rosewood fingerboard. It utilizes EMG magnetic pickups, Graph Tech Ghost piezo saddles, and a MIDI-capable in/out.
-Wikipedia
: Stephen Lee Bruner
: Los Angeles, California, U.S.