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Behind Bright Eyes

By GINA VIVINETTO
Published February 3, 2005

	[Publicity photo]
	Finding his place With the simultaneous release of two very different albums, Conor Oberst appears ready to accept the success predicted for him years ago.

If you're asking yourself who is this Bright Eyes guy, and why is he all over the pages of Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and Spin this month, don't fret. Here's a timeline chronicling the sudden blast of once-upon-a-time "shy" guy Conor Oberst into pop culture.

In addition to his prodigious talent, Oberst, who many call the best songwriter of his generation, has a knack for letting people know - and that's all the right people - just how very sensitive he is.

1993: A 13-year-old Oberst begins writing and recording music.

1994: Oberst, 14, attracts the attention of the indie rock world by ably fronting the band Commander Venus.

Around this time, Oberst creates the record label Saddle Creek as a school project. The label is now home to his bands Bright Eyes and Desaparecidos as well as indie rock giants the Faint, Rilo Kiley, and Cursive.

2002: He releases Lifted or The Story Is In the Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground, which garners rave reviews in every major music publication and cracks the Billboard 200, selling nearly 200,000 copies - remarkable for an independent release receiving virtually no commercial radio or video play.

2003: Oberst records a video interview with Peta2.com, the animal rights organization's pop culture savvy Web site, explaining why he is a vegan and how he detests cruelty to animals.

-- Oberst is romantically linked to Hollywood star Winona Ryder (or at least tabloids print photos of the two kissing in a parking lot as Oberst holds a bottle of wine). Ironically, Oberst was quoted the year before saying of the actor, whose alt-rock romantic liaisons include Beck, Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum and Ryan Adams: "I don't think I would date Winona. She's kinda old. I like Natalie Portman." (Ryder is nine years older than Oberst.)

2004: Oberst is named "Our New Crush" by Elle Girl, which gushes over the moody musical "wunderkind," who tells the magazine's readers he had a "brutal" time at his all-boys Jesuit high school because he was a loner, not into football like the rest of the guys.

-- Bright Eyes lands on the bill of the star-packed moveon.org Vote For Change tour featuring Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, R.E.M. and many others. It introduces Oberst to a wider fan base and makes him chums with several of his heroes, including Michael Stipe of R.E.M. and Springsteen. The Boss, months later, according to the Chicago Tribune, sends him a thrift store coat in the mail as a gift.

-- In November, Bright Eyes becomes the first act to dominate the top two spots on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles sales chart. No one has pulled this off since Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs in 1997.

2005: I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, one of the two Bright Eyes albums released last month, features several collaborations with the legendary Emmylou Harris.

[Last modified February 2, 2005, 13:38:02]