top of page
Writer's pictureStand-Up Comedy Historian

Bo and Phoebe: 10 Fun Facts about the Couple

Updated: Jun 24, 2023

With Phoebe Bridgers cryptically confirming the Keith Urban TikTok from Philly yesterday, it seems like Phoebo is a go officially!



As such, here are the ten most interesting facts I could find about the newly branded power couple. Enjoy!


1) Bo and Phoebe are both Leos.


Bo was born on August 21, 1990 (yeah, he was born in 1990), while Phoebe's birthday is 4 days before (but 4 years after) on August 17, 1994.



It makes sense as they are consummate performers who love attention (albeit more of a love/hate relationship for Bo)!


2) Both have received former President Barack Obama's seal of approval.


Bo's directorial debut was included on Obama's list of favorite movies of 2018, while Phoebe's song Kyoto was one of Obama's favorite songs in 2020. Incredible!



Fun fact: Bo wrote an endearing and thoughtful letter on Instagram to the former president on his final day in office. How nice of him!



3) Speaking of Eighth Grade, Phoebe's bandmates mentioned the film during a performance in February.


One of the clues that Bo and Phoebe were getting closer was her bandmates, including former boyfriend Mashall Vore, bringing up Josh Hamilton's understated performance as Kayla's father in the film.



My best guess is that they were all catching up on Bo's works (and loving them, obviously!).



4) Bo and Phoebe have sung a duet (of sorts) in public together.


While there is unfortunately no footage because of the venue's strict no-recording policy, we do know that Phoebe and Bo joined Pete Holmes at the Largo on Wednesday August 3rd, 2021, where Bo played the keyboard while Phoebe sang That Funny Feeling. Per Variety, he added "subtle vocal harmonies" to the song.



Bo also performed The Chicken at the end of that show, and he's not been onstage since!



5) Both are Grammy-nominated artists.


Phoebe was nominated for four Grammys in 2021 but lost to Megan Thee Stallion (Best New Artist), Fiona Apple (Best Rock Performance and Best Alternative Album), and Brittany Howard ("Stay High" won Best Rock Song).



And of course Bo was nominated for two Grammys in 2022 (should have been up for and won Best Comedy Album, but I digress).


He lost to Summer of Soul for Best Music Film, but he WON for All Eyes on Me and is now halfway to EGOT status!


He wasn't there, y'all, but he did capture the win at Jerrod Carmichael's apartment.



6)They each have had beloved small dogs.


While Bo's Chihuahua mix named Bruce is currently living with Lorene after the breakup, Phoebe had a pug named Max that passed away in 2019. She does, however, have another black pug named Maxine that she adopted in 2021.


Fun fact: Maxine has a vegan taco named after her!



Update: Here's a pic someone snapped of the pair with Bo holding Maxine on Father's Day weekend—so adorable!



7) Bo and Phoebe learned to play guitar at a young age.


Bo taught himself how to play when he was 16, and Phoebe took lessons at 13 since she found it to be "more rebellious" than the piano her mom wanted her to play per this New Yorker profile:

Bridgers started playing guitar seriously around age thirteen, after Jamie tried to get her to learn piano. “I fucking hated being forced to do something. Reading music felt like math homework,” she said. “Guitar was my rebellion."

[Ed. note: You can read more about Bo's history with musical instruments here: Part 1 and Part 2.]



8) Both were accepted to prestigious colleges in Massachusetts and decided not to go.


Per that same New Yorker profile, Phoebe decided to not pursue higher education and stuck to CA instead:

After high school, Bridgers was accepted to the Berklee College of Music, in Boston, but the orientation was “heinous”—she stayed in Los Angeles.

Similarly, Bo was accepted to Harvard in Cambridge, MA and Brown in Rhode Island, but he decided to attend NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 2008. He deferred going for one year to tour around the country and then never went to college, opting to pursue his burgeoning comedy career instead.


9) They each have worn skeleton suits while on the road performing.


Phoebe's skeleton outfit has been a quintessential element of her shows, but Bo had worn his own similar suit at a Halloween performance in 2014.



10) No nepo babies here—both come from middle-class backgrounds.


Bo's parents are not musically inclined and have no connections to Hollywood—Scott owns a construction company (GENERAL CONTRACTOR!) and Pattie is a hospice nurse.


Similarly, Phoebe's father Tony (who recently passed away) was a set builder and her mother Jamie was a receptionist.


However, this tidbit about her parents in the New Yorker profile caught my attention:

“Since they got divorced, she’s started doing standup comedy,” Bridgers said. “Which is incredible. Her brand is very ‘divorced.’ She also just got her real-estate license.”

Jamie does STAND-UP COMEDY?!


Apparently! The New York Times confirmed it during this 2021 interview:


I know that your mom has started doing stand-up. Have you seen her perform?
Oh, yeah. When she told me she was taking a comedy class — concerning. Then she invited me to go see her — so concerning. I don’t drink that much, but I ordered five drinks and was shwasted by the time she came onstage. And she crushed it. Went to see her the next time, totally dry, she was still funny as [expletive]. It was a relief. Like if you’re dating someone and they start writing poetry, you have to be like, “Oh, cool.” But this was my mom. She’s always been hilarious, but I was nervous.
Did she tell jokes about you?
Yeah. There was one involving my sending her a picture when I thought I had an S.T.D. when I was a teenager.
You got a little of your own medicine.
Totally. I gave her permission to joke about me, too. I was like, I’ve definitely subjected you to a weird spotlight.

Well, Bo could certainly give her some pointers if she wants them haha...he started when he was seventeen years old!




Congratulations to the newly minted Hollywood couple, and I hope we see them performing together at some point—taking their TFF duet on the road, maybe? 🙏



For a thorough timeline of Bo and Phoebe's friendship, please click here.


For more on Bo and Taylor Swift, please click here.

Comments


bottom of page