Bon Iver

Bon Iver ( /boʊn iːˈvɛər/ bone-ee-VARE ) is a Grammy award-winning American indie folk band founded in 2007 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. The band also includes Michael Noyce, Sean Carey and Matthew McCaughan. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago independently in July 2007. The majority of that album was recorded while Vernon spent three months in a cabin in northwestern Wisconsin. Bon Iver won the 2012 Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album for their album Bon Iver, Bon Iver. The name Bon Iver is derived from the French phrase bon hiver, meaning "good winter", taken from a greeting on Northern Exposure.

In an interview on 89.3 The Current, Frontman Justin Vernon was questioned about current plans for the band and expressed their desire to take a break:

winding it down. I look at it like a faucet. I have to turn it off and walk away from it because so much of how that music comes together is subconscious or discovering. There’s so much attention on the band, it can be distracting at times. I really feel the need to walk away from it while I still care about it. And then if I come back to it – if at all – I'll feel better about it and be renewed or something to do that.

During the last performance of their 2012 tour in Dublin's The O2, Justin Vernon announced on stage that this was to be their last performance as a band "... at least for a while...". While these two events have provoked speculation as to whether this is a definite end to the band or simply a hiatus, a representative for Bon Iver's label, Jagjaguwar, issued the statement "They are just going off cycle after two very busy years on this record."