David Longstreth (born December 17, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band is the project of singer-songwriter David Longstreth, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The b ...

, whom he has fronted since 2002 and with whom he has recorded ten studio albums. In addition to his work with Dirty Projectors, Longstreth composed the score to the 2025

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

, '' The Legend of Ochi'', directed by

Isaiah Saxon Isaiah Saxon (born 1983)Mike Sager"These Are the Directors of the Future,"''Esquire'', November 19, 2009. is an American film and music video director. He co-founded the animation studio Encyclopedia Pictura, and the online community DIY.org. E ...

and released by

A24 A24 Films LLC, commonly referred to as A24, is an American Privately held company, independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. The studio is based in Manhattan. The company ...

. He has collaborated with

Solange Solange may refer to: People with the given name * Solange Knowles (born 1986), American R&B/soul singer * Solange of Bourges (d. 880), Christian saint * Solange (psychic) (1952–2021), Italian TV personality, psychic and commentator * Solange A ...

, Bombino and

Joanna Newsom Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. After recording and self-releasing two EPs in 2002, Newsom signed to the independent label Drag City (record label), Drag City. Her debut album, ''The Milk-Eyed ...

amongst others, and co-wrote the 2015 single, "

FourFiveSeconds "FourFiveSeconds" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna, American rapper Kanye West, and English musician Paul McCartney. It was written and produced by McCartney, West, Mike Dean, Dave Longstreth and Noah Goldstein with additional ...

" by

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

Biography

Longstreth was born in

Southbury, Connecticut Southbury is a New England town, town in western New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. It is north of Oxford, Connecticut, Oxford and Newtown, Connecticut, Newtown, and east of Brookfield, Connecticut, Brook ...

. Longstreth attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and majored in music shortly before dropping out halfway through his second year. He stated that "he rarely ventured out of his dorm room. He found himself completely absorbed in making his own music, though there wasn’t really anyone to play it for."Brooklyn's Sonic Boom – Why Dirty Projectors Is One of the Most Risk-Taking Groups of All Time
/ref> After dropping out, he moved in with his brother in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

and worked on his first album '' The Graceful Fallen Mango'', which he released in 2002. Shortly after completing the album, Longstreth returned to Yale to finish his degree and began making music under the ''Dirty Projectors'' title. He proceeded to record multiple records under the name during his time at Yale. In 2015, he contributed to "

", a collaborative song by

and

. That same year, he composed a classical composition called "Michael Jordan". It was composed for New York group ''Ensemble LPR''. He also contributed to the orchestral

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

for the song "Time, As a Symptom" on the album '' Divers'' by American musician

. In 2016, he produced the album ''

Azel Azel, proper name, may refer to: *'' Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG'', a 1998 video game *A descendant of Saul (I Chronicles 8:37; I Chronicles 9:43-44) Books of Chronicles *A variant spelling of Azal, a place name referred to in Zechariah 14:5 Book of Z ...

'' by Nigerien musician Bombino and collaborated on the

release, ''

A Seat at the Table ''A Seat at the Table'' is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Solange. It was released on September 30, 2016, by Saint Records and Columbia Records. During the process of creating the album, Solange released an EP, titled ' ...

''. In January 2025, he released a David Berman covers EP.

Personal life

Longstreth is the younger brother of American painter, musician, and internet radio personality

Jake Longstreth John Pullman "Jake" Longstreth Jr. (born February 3, 1977) is an American painter, musician, and radio personality. He is currently the co-host of the Apple Music 1 show, '' Time Crisis with Ezra Koenig'' and member of a Grateful Dead cover band, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longstreth, David American rock singers American rock guitarists American male guitarists 1981 births Living people People from Southbury, Connecticut Yale School of Music alumni Dirty Projectors members Domino Recording Company artists 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American guitarists