Andrew Bird Earns First Emmy® Nomination For The Pitt's "Need Someone"

Listen To The Newly Extended Version: HERE

Orchestral Tour Celebrating The Mysterious Production of Eggs' 20th Anniversary Resumes August 1, Including NYC's Central Park SummerStage, LA's Walt Disney Concert Hall, Chicago's Symphony Hall & More

Congratulations to Andrew Bird, who has earned his first career Emmy® Awards nomination, in the category of Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics. Nominated alongside his collaborator and The Pitt composer, Gavin Brivik, the 2026 nod honors Bird's work on "Need Someone," written and produced for a crucial scene in the sixth episode ("12:00 P.M.") of The Pitt’s second season. As the first-ever original song composed for HBO Max's #1 Max Original drama series – which leads this year's Drama category with 26 Emmy® nominations – "Need Someone" delivered "the perfect sendoff for a beloved patient" (Esquire): Louie Cloverfield, played by Ernest Harden Jr., who is currently Emmy®-nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Hailed as "gorgeous" (NPR Music), "emotional" (Stereogum), "haunting" (Collider) and "heartbreaking" (Mashable), "Need Someone" soared to #2 on Shazam's Global Top 200 after its onscreen debut, as The Pitt amassed more than one billion minutes viewed that week.

"It never would've occurred to me that a TV show could be healing, that is, until I was asked to write a song for The Pitt," says Andrew Bird. "The show helps us come to terms with things that happened in the past: the pandemic, the makeshift morgues and ER doctors committing suicide, and in the future: chances are the last people we see before we leave this life will be healthcare workers. I tried to hint at the adversity these characters face and the universal desire not to die alone into two verses and a chorus."

On the heels of The Pitt's season two finale, Andrew Bird and Gavin Brivik gave their debut live performance of "Need Someone" at Deadline's Sound & Screen Televisionevent, alongside a full orchestra and panel discussion. They also performed the song during a very special concert at LA's Largo at the Coronet last month, benefiting mental health organizations for healthcare workers. "Suddenly we were transported to a fictional Pittsburgh hospital to relive our collective heartbreak over a beloved character's death," wrote the Los Angeles Times. "In the company of Bird's loyal fans and 'The Pitt' collaborators — including actor Ernest Harden Jr., who played Louie Cloverfield, the character 'Need Someone' was written to send off — the weight of those words hung heavy. It was a testament to an intimacy fueled by shared experience, the kind stoked both by live music and watercooler television at its best."

Following its on-screen premiere, Andrew Bird and Gavin Brivik recently released a full-length, rerecorded rendition of "Need Someone," expanded with Andrew Bird on guitar, vocals and violin, Gavin Brivik on guitar and synths, a rhythm section of Alan Hampton on bass and Kosta Galanopoulos on drums and piano, and, most notably, a sweeping string section arranged by Maxwell Karmazyn.

Listen to the newly extended "Need Someone" via Loma Vista Recordings:

HERE

Ernest Harden Jr., Andrew Bird, Gavin Brivik

In addition to The Pitt, the GRAMMY®-nominated Andrew Bird has composed music for movies by Judd Apatow, Lynn Shelton and Chris Pine, FX series Baskets and PBS documentary Storm Lake, while performing in Disney's The Muppets and making his professional acting debut on the cast of FX's Fargo. Bird has also released 20 acclaimed albums, headlined concerts at Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Red Rocks and festivals around the globe, delivered TED Talks and New York Timesop-eds, recently reimagined all of the newly reissued, cult classic Buckingham Nicks LP alongside GRAMMY®-winner Madison Cunningham (Cunningham Bird), and worked with everyone from Fiona Apple to Phoebe Bridgers.

Andrew Bird is currently celebrating the 20th Anniversary of The Mysterious Production of Eggs, the era-defining LP that cemented his enigmatic style into the indie music canon, inspired decades of imitation from others, and epitomized the ingenious form of whistling and emotional resonance that still prevails on songs like "Need Someone."

See Andrew Bird's upcoming list of tour dates below, featuring performances of The Mysterious Production of Eggs with renowned orchestras around North America, and find more information at andrewbird.net.