For the past decade, Sufjan Stevens has not been a touring artist. After wrapping up his travels supporting Carrie & Lowell in 2016, Stevens gave two live performances in 2017 and two more in 2018, including his Oscars appearance. He hadn't been onstage again until last month. In the interim, he released six full-length albums, including the "proper" Sufjan LPs The Ascension and Javelin and various collaborative efforts and side projects. There was also a global pandemic, the death of his partner Evans Richardson, and a battle with Guillain-Barré Syndrome that left him learning to walk again.
Since going public with his grief and his health struggles, Stevens has been easing his way back into public life with behind-the-scenes work, including producing John Legend's Christmas album and guest spots for various indie artists. His live return occurred Sept. 25 at Tempo in Kingston, NY, where he provided piano and vocals at Meg Lui's album release show. Stevens produced Lui's new album Instant Validation, a project that brought together lots of talented folks from their Hudson Valley friend group. People on r/sufjan noticed at the time of the gig, but the news has been circulating broadly more recently on social media.
News of Stevens' return to the stage comes just before next week's release of Worst Christmas Ever!, a new album paring his extensive catalog of Christmas music down to one disc. Out Nov. 6, it includes the new song "On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better)," his first new Christmas song in 15 years. "On this Christmas, I ask forgiveness for all the funny things I’ve said and done," he explained of the track in a press release.
You can watch Stevens backing up Lui here and get more details on Worst Christmas Ever! here.