Every famous musician on Substack to follow

Substack is having a moment. Since launching in 2017, the publishing platform that’s a mix of blog and newsletter has emerged as the website du jour for musicians and celebrities. Largely known as a platform that nurtured independent writers and journalists, in the past few months legacy media and now big-name artists have joined its ranks, the latest being Charli xcx, who announced her new Substack on November 12 and immediately amassed a legion of readers to the tune of 13,000 subscribers.

It’s no secret that the reigning social media apps have become a plague for high-profile creatives — artists like Indigo de Souza and Mitski have expounded on how platforms like X and Instagram foster hate comments and toxic fan communities. Could Substack be the new artist-friendly alternative? Lorde, who has always been reclusive, seems to jive with the concept as one of the earliest adopters of this alternate form of fan communication with her email newsletter — a feature that Substack also offers. And Charli xcx is not alone in this move — Rosalía, Dolly Parton, and a mass of other artists have already set up shop on the website. Ahead, we put together a list of all the artists who’ve already made the move to Substack and whom you should consider subscribing to.

The Brat queen debuted her TikTok with a 1,500 word blog reflecting on the end of brat and the start of her new creative era as the executive producer of Emerald Fennel’s Wuthering Heights‘ soundtrack. The pop star already wields a prolific and famous presence on movie review site Letterboxd, and it seems we can expect to bear witness to similar kinds of intimate insight with her Substack. You can subscribe to itscharlibb here.

The Spanish superstar is another newcomer to Substack, debuting her page ahead of the release of her album Lux. It’s quite barren, with just four posts, but today, November 13, she published her recipe for a “14 karat sponge cake” or bizcocho, an apparent nod to her Motomami song “Bizcochito.”

Nowadays you can’t really find Patti Smith anywhere except on a book tour, as she is now for her new memoir, Bread of Angels, and Substack. Her very active account is basically her Instagram page, holding content that veers from short videos showing off the enviable view from her Paris hotel room balcony, to musings about the 50th anniversary of Edmund Fitzgerald. Most recently, however, she published a post wondering if she should delete her Substack. So subscribe to her Substack while you still can.

Perfume Genius makes beautiful, emotionally fragile music. The aura of his Substack is similar. He posts everything from cryptic, all-cap poems to work-in-process songs and demos, like this one inspired by a BBC video of an orangutan using a saw. Subscribe here.

Over 24,000 people subscribe to “I Think We’re Alone Now,” the Substack by Tegan and Sara. With its sunny, yellow background, their account gives off a welcoming and friendly vibe, like catching up over coffee with two old friends. Their informal blog posts are written like letters from them to yourself, talking about everything from facing writers block to dishing about the mice in their storage room. Subscribe here.

Reading Dolly Parton’s Substack is kinda like reading a boomer’s Facebook, except it’s absolutely delightful because it’s Parton. You can’t read her bio, “🦋 The Official Substack of Dolly Parton 🦋 I’m here to share stories and be inspired by you all,” without hearing it in her Nashville twang, a sensation that extends to all her posts, from random words of wisdom to sharing old interviews. Subscribe here.

In 2024, I spoke with Alice Longyu Gao about their frustrations fighting the social media algorithm daily as a small artist. Their solution? A Substack, where they share random musings, exclusive content, pictures of their “girl dinners” and their favorite music. It’s giving the new diary. Subscribe here.

Of all the artists on this list, Jeff Tweedy might boast the biggest Substack presence with over 138,000 subscribers. For good reason: The venerated singer-songwriter is, well, just a human being on his Substack, sharing covers of Paramore songs and him eating a massive sausage pizza. Get a glimpse into his life by subscribing here.

Neko Case is another prolific Substacker, who publishes exclusive writing, drawing, photos, and interviews on her account. Her writings about life, as expected, is poetic and sweet: “a bouquet of good news” titles a recent blog about visiting an old friend and a kitty. Subscribe here.