# Thundercat (musician)
**Thundercat** is the stage name of Stephen Bruner, a Los Angeles-based bassist, singer, and songwriter known for nimble, groove-heavy basslines and a sweet tenor voice, whose solo albums move freely across jazz fusion, funk, R&B, hip hop, and electronic music.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073) He rose in the 2000s as a session bassist for artists ranging from the crossover thrash band [Suicidal Tendencies](https://www.edgepedia.org/suicidal-tendencies) to [Erykah Badu](https://www.edgepedia.org/erykah-badu) and [Flying Lotus](https://www.edgepedia.org/flying-lotus), became a core figure of the producer Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder collective, and played a prominent role on Kendrick Lamar's 2015 album *To Pimp a Butterfly*.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073) • [2](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/thundercat-review-it-is-what-it-is-tracklist-features-stream-mac-miller-flying-lotus-a9437926.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Real name | Stephen "Thundercat" Bruner, a Los Angeles-based bassist and tenor vocalist[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073) |
| Early band | Joined Suicidal Tendencies at age 16 alongside his brother, drummer Ronald Bruner Jr.[3](https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/bassists/thundercat-on-getting-his-start-with-hardcore-punk-legends-suicidal-tendencies) |
| Label home | Brainfeeder, Flying Lotus's Los Angeles label, released his solo albums[4](https://www.thefader.com/2015/08/26/brainfeeder-flying-lotus-label-interview) |
| Grammys | First Grammy as one of the voices on Kendrick Lamar's "These Walls"; *It Is What It Is* won Best Progressive R&B Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073) |
| Solo albums | *The Golden Age of Apocalypse*, *Apocalypse* (2013), *The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam* (2015), *Drunk* (2017), *It Is What It Is* (2020), and *Distracted* (2026), his fifth[2](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/thundercat-review-it-is-what-it-is-tracklist-features-stream-mac-miller-flying-lotus-a9437926.html) • [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073) |
| Commercial peak | *It Is What It Is* entered the Billboard 200 at number 38, his most successful album[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073) |
| Other screen work | Portrayed the Modifier in an episode of *The Book of Boba Fett*[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073) |
## Early life and Suicidal Tendencies
Music ran in the family. His father, Ronald Bruner Sr., was a Motown session drummer who performed with [The Temptations](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-temptations) and [Diana Ross](https://www.edgepedia.org/diana-ross).[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/thundercat-review-meltdown-festival-southbank-nile-rodgers-drunk-album-a9039511.html) Bruner has credited the teacher Reggie Andrews, who retired after many years of teaching high school music, with teaching him theory and everything he knows about being a musician, after early study at Yamaha music school.[6](https://eltonsounds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web-thundercat.pdf)
**Punk apprenticeship.** At 16 he joined Suicidal Tendencies, the Californian crossover thrash band, alongside his brother, drummer Ronald Bruner Jr.[3](https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/bassists/thundercat-on-getting-his-start-with-hardcore-punk-legends-suicidal-tendencies) He later described the experience as informal training that shaped his playing and stage presence: frontman [Mike Muir](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-muir) pushed him to play more, the crowd threw shoes and beer cans when he overplayed, and the environment taught him not to fear the audience.[3](https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/bassists/thundercat-on-getting-his-start-with-hardcore-punk-legends-suicidal-tendencies) He has recalled his main memory of the period as thinking that if he stood still for too long, he would get hit with a beer can.[7](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/thundercat-on-his-time-in-hardcore-legends-suicidal-tendencies)
## Session career and Brainfeeder
After his punk years, Bruner became the go-to bassist for forward-looking artists spanning punk to hip-hop, including Sa-Ra, Erykah Badu, and Flying Lotus, whose Brainfeeder label became his home for solo releases.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073) His improvisational style did not always fit conventional session roles: [Raphael Saadiq](https://www.edgepedia.org/raphael-saadiq) once told him to throw his bass away, and in [Snoop Dogg](https://www.edgepedia.org/snoop-dogg)'s band he was asked to make his bass "sound like more of a bass."[8](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jul/05/thundercat-bass-collaborations) His own account of the Snoop band years is blunter: while playing an expansive solo on stage, Snoop told him, "Ain't nobody told you to play all that."[9](https://www.theguardian.com/music/ng-interactive/2026/feb/13/thundercat-interview-stephen-bruner-snoop-dogg-bass-star-wars)
His profile rose sharply with [Kendrick Lamar](https://www.edgepedia.org/kendrick-lamar)'s *To Pimp a Butterfly* in 2015, on which his incendiary bass playing made him synonymous with the recent jazz renaissance that also involved his childhood friend, the saxophonist [Kamasi Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/kamasi-washington).[2](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/thundercat-review-it-is-what-it-is-tracklist-features-stream-mac-miller-flying-lotus-a9437926.html) • [10](https://www.allaboutjazz.com/thundercat-on-kendrick-lamar-kamasi-washington-erykah-badu-and-the-great-la-jazz-renaissance-thundercat-by-rob-garratt) He won his first Grammy as one of the voices on Lamar's "These Walls."[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073) In 2016 he joined Flying Lotus and George Clinton for the "Brainfeeder at the Hollywood Bowl" concert; Lamar had introduced Clinton to the two when he recruited them for the 2015 album.[11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-brainfeeder-roundtable-20160916-snap-story.html)
## Solo albums
His debut, *The Golden Age of Apocalypse*, presented him as a composer, arranger, singer, and songwriter influenced as much by [Stevie Wonder](https://www.edgepedia.org/stevie-wonder) as by the bassist [Jaco Pastorius](https://www.edgepedia.org/jaco-pastorius).[12](https://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/thundercat-the-golden-age-of-apocalypse) The Flying Lotus-co-produced *Apocalypse* (2013) carried the emotional shadow of Austin Peralta, the Brainfeeder keyboardist who had played on the debut, and marked a voice more prominent and freewheeling in his songs.[13](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18156-thundercat-apocalypse/)
**Drunk.** The 2017 album *Drunk* was his breakthrough as a solo artist, an idiosyncratic third outing that packed squelching lounge-funk grooves, electro-pop hooks, gymnastic falsetto croons, and leftfield stoner humor into 23 tracks shuffled across less than 52 minutes.[10](https://www.allaboutjazz.com/thundercat-on-kendrick-lamar-kamasi-washington-erykah-badu-and-the-great-la-jazz-renaissance-thundercat-by-rob-garratt) It brought in [Kenny Loggins](https://www.edgepedia.org/kenny-loggins) and Michael McDonald, artists he noted had been pigeonholed by the media as "yacht rock," a term that made him grimace.[14](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/features/thundercat-interview-kendrick-lamar-new-album-release-date-drunk-album-jazz-pharrell-wiz-khalifa-flying-lotus-a7672296.html) The album pondered serious subjects, including the death of a close musician friend, police brutality, and his own demons, contrasted with fart sound effects, snoring, and meowing cat noises; its single "Them Changes," sung in his signature falsetto, was singled out as the track where his myriad influences converge into a weird, lovable pop song.[15](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/2017/NME-2017-02-24.pdf)
**It Is What It Is.** His fourth album, released on Brainfeeder in 2020, was shaped by the death of his friend and collaborator [Mac Miller](https://www.edgepedia.org/mac-miller), whom "Fair Chance" and the title track directly address; it also carried lighter comic material such as "Dragonball Durag" and "Funny Thing," the latter connected to his cat, Tron.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073) • [16](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/apr/04/thundercat-it-is-what-it-is-review-stephen-bruner) The album entered the Billboard 200 at number 38 and won Best Progressive R&B Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards the following March.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073) Reviewers noted how he made complex structures and zigzagging rhythms feel human, with few songs passing the three-minute mark and a mid-section built from skits.[2](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/thundercat-review-it-is-what-it-is-tracklist-features-stream-mac-miller-flying-lotus-a9437926.html) Miller's death, Bruner later said, was an extremely traumatic experience that was "definitely a very key element and fundamental" in his sobriety.[17](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/singles-albums/macs-death-was-an-extremely-traumatic-experience-for-me-that-was-definitely-a-very-key-element-and-fundamental-in-my-sobriety-thundercat-on-how-losing-mac-miller-made-him-change-his-life)
## Distracted and recent work
Between the two albums he appeared widely: on Flying Lotus's "Black Gold," Silk Sonic's "After Last Night," and Kaytranada's "Be Careful"; he co-produced H.E.R.'s "Bloody Waters," covered the [Steve Miller Band](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-miller-band)'s "Fly Like an Eagle" for the *Minions: The Rise of Gru* soundtrack, remodeled Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Thousand Knives," and featured on the title track of Gorillaz's 2023 album *Cracker Island* before releasing the Tame Impala collaboration "No More Lies."[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073) A 2026 profile added that he has backed Ariana Grande and Herbie Hancock, appeared in *Star Wars*, and become a dedicated boxer.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/music/ng-interactive/2026/feb/13/thundercat-interview-stephen-bruner-snoop-dogg-bass-star-wars)
*Distracted*, his fifth solo album, landed in April 2026, with the producer Greg Kurstin brought in as co-writer and co-producer in place of Flying Lotus.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073) • [18](https://theweek.com/culture-life/music/reviews-thundercat-courtney-barnett-angine-de-poitrine) Pitchfork scored it 7.8, describing an album of silky cosmic funk with guest spots from Tame Impala, A$AP Rocky, Willow Smith, Lil Yachty, Channel Tres, and Mac Miller, the last drawn from a collaboration recorded before Miller's 2018 death.[19](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/thundercat-distracted/) Rolling Stone's review, quoted by The Week, heard him "staring down loss while making the struggle as beautiful, funny, spacey, and vibe-y as he can," with Kurstin making things "smoother, shinier, and less weird."[18](https://theweek.com/culture-life/music/reviews-thundercat-courtney-barnett-angine-de-poitrine)
## Live performance
The critical record on his live shows is mixed. A consensus aggregation of 109 concert reviews rates him an entertaining live performer whose shows critics describe as adventurous, expansive, rhythmic, hypnotic, and exciting.[20](https://www.liverate.com/artists/thundercat) At the other end, a 2019 Meltdown Festival review at the Royal Festival Hall described a frantic 90 minutes of relentless crescendos and musical chaos that mostly came across as self-indulgent, with more than one audience member walking out.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/thundercat-review-meltdown-festival-southbank-nile-rodgers-drunk-album-a9039511.html)
## References
1. [Thundercat Biography by Andy Kellman, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thundercat-mn0002424073)
2. [Thundercat review – It Is What It Is, The Independent (2020)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/thundercat-review-it-is-what-it-is-tracklist-features-stream-mac-miller-flying-lotus-a9437926.html)
3. [Thundercat on getting his start with Suicidal Tendencies, Guitar World (2026)](https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/bassists/thundercat-on-getting-his-start-with-hardcore-punk-legends-suicidal-tendencies)
4. [How Flying Lotus Built Brainfeeder, The FADER (2015)](https://www.thefader.com/2015/08/26/brainfeeder-flying-lotus-label-interview)
5. [Thundercat review, Meltdown festival, The Independent (2019)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/thundercat-review-meltdown-festival-southbank-nile-rodgers-drunk-album-a9039511.html)
6. [Thundercat interview transcript, Elton Sounds PDF](https://eltonsounds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web-thundercat.pdf)
7. [Thundercat on his time in Suicidal Tendencies, LouderSound (2026)](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/thundercat-on-his-time-in-hardcore-legends-suicidal-tendencies)
8. [Thundercat finds a place for bass, The Guardian (2013)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jul/05/thundercat-bass-collaborations)
9. [Thundercat interview, The Guardian (2026)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/ng-interactive/2026/feb/13/thundercat-interview-stephen-bruner-snoop-dogg-bass-star-wars)
10. [Thundercat interview, All About Jazz (2019)](https://www.allaboutjazz.com/thundercat-on-kendrick-lamar-kamasi-washington-erykah-badu-and-the-great-la-jazz-renaissance-thundercat-by-rob-garratt)
11. [Brainfeeder at the Bowl roundtable, Los Angeles Times (2016)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-brainfeeder-roundtable-20160916-snap-story.html)
12. [Thundercat – The Golden Age Of Apocalypse, musicOMH](https://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/thundercat-the-golden-age-of-apocalypse)
13. [Thundercat: Apocalypse Album Review, Pitchfork (2013)](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18156-thundercat-apocalypse/)
14. [Thundercat interview on Drunk, The Independent (2017)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/features/thundercat-interview-kendrick-lamar-new-album-release-date-drunk-album-jazz-pharrell-wiz-khalifa-flying-lotus-a7672296.html)
15. [NME review of Drunk, New Musical Express (2017)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/2017/NME-2017-02-24.pdf)
16. [It Is What It Is review, The Guardian (2020)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/apr/04/thundercat-it-is-what-it-is-review-stephen-bruner)
17. [Thundercat on Mac Miller and sobriety, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/singles-albums/macs-death-was-an-extremely-traumatic-experience-for-me-that-was-definitely-a-very-key-element-and-fundamental-in-my-sobriety-thundercat-on-how-losing-mac-miller-made-him-change-his-life)
18. [Music reviews: Thundercat and Courtney Barnett, The Week](https://theweek.com/culture-life/music/reviews-thundercat-courtney-barnett-angine-de-poitrine)
19. [Thundercat: Distracted Album Review, Pitchfork (2026)](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/thundercat-distracted/)
20. [Thundercat Live Tour & Concert Review Consensus, LiveRate](https://www.liverate.com/artists/thundercat)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Rock, metal, and popular-band musicians › Funk, soul, and R&B bands*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license