Stevens is the indie-troubadour whose twee, heartfelt songs have won him the love of hipsters and wizened music critics alike.

Raised in Michigan by parents who moved their six kids around as they followed various religious creeds and cults—the name "Sufjan" is Muslim, and was given to him by a cult leader—Stevens was a music geek as a kid and taught himself how to play the oboe and piano. He later abandoned his parents' religious beliefs and converted to Christianity, attending a religious college where he played with a folk band called Marzuki, and recorded a solo album called A Sun Came. But the album, which was "released" on Asthmatic Kitty Records, a label he'd created in 1999 with his stepfather and named after his family's sick cat, didn't make much of an impact and Stevens ended up moving to New York to pursue a master's in fiction writing at the New School. He didn't give up on music, though; in 2001, he recorded an instrumental album called Enjoy Your Rabbit, based on each different animal in the Chinese Zodiac. After his step-dad convinced him to return to songs with actual lyrics and melodies, he produced his 2003 breakout album, Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State, a series of tunes dedicated to his home state. A Christian-inspired folk album Seven Swans came along in 2004 and Come On Feel the Illinoise debuted in 2005.

While his lyrics are frequently too abstract to interpret, Stevens is open about the fact that he addresses religious issues in his music—he's a proud Christian. Even so, he's been embraced by the indie pop community: His hyper-gentle, painfully earnest, and breathy folk songs are on heavy rotation at coffee shops across Brooklyn, he's a favorite of music critics, and a staple on year-end "best of" lists. The ambitious Stevens reportedly planned on penning an album for each of the states in the Union, his so-called "50 States" project, and even though Michigan and Illinoise were ostensibly the first two records of the series, he's since admitted it was a "promotional gimmick." Stevens is still inspired by his local environs: In 2007, he debuted The BQE, a seven-movement "symphonic and cinematic exploration of New York City's infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway," and he's followed up with albums All Delighted People, The Age of Adz, and Christmas albums. [Image via Getty]