Noah Kahan

Noah Berkenkamp Kahan is an American singer and songwriter recognized for his folk and pop music. He gained national and international recognition through his breakthrough single "Hurt Somebody" and his third studio album, Stick Season. His fourth album, The Great Divide, achieved record-breaking streaming and vinyl sales for a rock album debut on the Billboard 200. Over his career, Kahan has earned a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and has launched his first stadium tour.

Kahan was born on January 1, 1997, in Strafford, Vermont, where he grew up on a tree farm as the third of four children. His father taught him to play the guitar, while his mother, an author of parenting guides, helped him learn to write. He received his first guitar at ten years old, having already begun writing songs at age eight and uploading them to SoundCloud and YouTube. He later attended Hanover High School in Hanover, New Hampshire. Kahan's father is Jewish and his mother is Christian, and he considers his Jewish background an important part of his identity.

At age nineteen, Kahan began touring as an opening act for the German rock band Milky Chance, and he signed a record deal with Republic Records in 2017. After living in New York City and working in Los Angeles and Nashville, he released his debut studio album, Busyhead, in 2019. The record featured the single "Hurt Somebody," performed with Julia Michaels, which earned gold certification in the United States and marked his first appearance on a Billboard chart. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he returned to Vermont and wrote his 2020 extended play Cape Elizabeth, before releasing his second album, I Was / I Am, in September 2021.

Kahan achieved major commercial success by transitioning from pop to a folk-centric style. After sharing clips of his song "Stick Season" on TikTok starting in late 2020, he released the full track in July 2022. His third studio album, Stick Season, debuted in October 2022 and launched him into mainstream prominence. He expanded the project through subsequent re-releases in 2023 and 2024, featuring collaborations with artists such as Post Malone, Kacey Musgraves, Hozier, Gracie Abrams, Brandi Carlile, and Zach Bryan. The title track reached the top position on charts in the United Kingdom and Australia while reaching number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.

Following his breakthrough, Kahan was nominated for Best New Artist at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards and was named to the TIME100 Next list in 2023. He released the live album Live From Fenway Park in 2024 and performed at the Glastonbury Festival in 2025. In April 2026, he issued his fourth studio album, The Great Divide, recorded across Vermont, Tennessee, New York, and Nashville. Supported by singles including "Porch Light," the record topped the UK Albums Chart and held the number one spot on the Billboard 200 for three consecutive weeks, leading into The Great Divide Tour.

Beyond recording music, Kahan founded the Busyhead Project to support mental health resources in Vermont, an initiative recognized by the state's governor in September 2024 with an official commemorative day and a benefit concert. Kahan has spoken openly about his personal experiences with anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, which are featured in the Netflix documentary Noah Kahan: Out of Body. He married his long-time partner, Brenna Nolan, in August 2025 in Strafford, and the couple resides in Vermont.