The Revival of Folk: Is 2025 the Year of Folk Music’s Renaissance?
Could 2025 be the year that folk music returns to the forefront of pop culture? Although we’re currently only 3 months into the year, there have been a lot of signs that this will be a golden year for folk music.
In late December of 2024, Bob Dylan’s biopic A Complete Unknown was released in the United States. The movie would undoubtedly make a huge wave in popular culture considering Timothee Chalamet, one of today’s biggest actors, was cast as the lead. Making over 132 million dollars in box office revenue, it’s safe to say that the movie was a huge commercial success. According to Billboard, Bob Dylan’s discography reached 20 Million on-demand streams in the US by January. His weekly streaming numbers eventually grew by 150% after the movie’s release. This was the first step in creating a demand for folk music’s revival this year.
Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.
Another event that solidified Folk music’s return was not even a month later, when Sabrina Carpenter– who is arguably one of the biggest pop culture influences in the music industry today– performed a cover of folk song Homeward Bound alongside Paul Simon himself for Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary special. Considering that SNL’s 50th anniversary created more buzz than usual for the show (with Vogue magazine covering the star-studded gala thrown in its honor) the performance certainly did not go unnoticed by the general public. In fact, according to AP news, the 50th anniversary show was watched by over 15 million people, making it NBC’s most viewed telecast in 5 years.
Sabrina Carpenter and Paul Simon perform “Homeward Bound” on SNL50: The Anniversary Special on February 16, 2025. - Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC
This clear trend in the music industry has also seemed to trickle down into fashion. The aesthetic associated with folk music is, of course, bohemian. Hippy-inspired clothes with flowy materials, earthy color palette, and a down-to-earth vibe, bohemian was the essence of many folk artists from back in the day such as Stevie Nicks, Janis Joplin, George Harrison and many others. The Fall/Winter collections of 2024 were where this increase in popularity can be witnessed, seeing as bohemian was the main inspiration for the Chloé and Isabel Marant collections. With a focus on textures such as fringe and suede, earth tones, and interesting layered pieces, the collections were clearly a direct reference to the bohemian style of the 70’s with a modern twist. The collections clearly made an impact, seeing as, according to Vogue Business, sales for the brand Chloé after the debut of their collection went up by about 130 percent. The trend carrying into 2025, pieces that mimic the collection can still be seen in retail stores such as Zara and Bershka.
Right: Stevie Nicks Photo by Clayton Call/Redferns
Left: Look 14 Chloé FW2024 collection
It seems that music festivals have caught onto this trend as well and have considered it in their programming. One festival that is welcoming more folk artists than previous years to their lineup is Brighton’s The Great Escape. Bands such as The New Eves, M Ên An Tol, Bishopskin, and Folk Bitch Trio will be performing at the festival. Of the 130 new artists that the festival is welcoming, many are folk artists. Considering that the new artists that the festival welcomes are a reflection of demand from the industry, this could mean that the rebirth of folk music is included in that demand.
Speaking of live music, many artists are going on tour this year that have added folk songs to their new music or at least added some folk elements to their typical style. Ethel Cain has experimented with folk in her most recent album “Willoughby Tucker I’ll Always Love You”. She announced her upcoming tour ‘Willoughby Tucker Forever’ that is set to begin in August of 2025.
For a year that has just begun, in 2025 there are already so many examples in the current events of music that could lead one to believe that folk music is making a comeback. Its presence is slowly taking over not only the music industry, but the film and fashion industry as well. That being said, the trends in the pop culture of any given time period, without fail, always reflect what is happening in our society. What are the similarities in our culture today and the culture where this trend initially started? Mainly, it’s a need for change. The 70’s were a time where our world called upon its people to stand up and challenge our governments and our societies to make a change. It's a desire for world peace. Here's to hoping that this trend lasts longer than most of today’s trend cycles.