Her indie folk music typically centers around acoustic guitar and electronic production, with melancholic lyrical themes.

A frequent collaborator, she has worked with various artists including Taylor Swift, the 1975's Matty Healy, The Killers, Muna, SZA, Kid Cudi, Christian Lee Hutson, Shame, and the National.

[3][6] As a child, she made extra money by busking at the Pasadena Farmers Market,[5] and started playing guitar around the age of 13.

[9] Bridgers was a member of various groups while still in high school, including Einstein's Dirty Secret and Sloppy Jane, and frequently played shows around Los Angeles as a solo act.

[10][11] After deciding not to attend college to focus on her career, her growing presence in the L.A. music scene led to her befriending producer Tony Berg, who began working with her on her first album for free.

[12] Playing in an Apple commercial with Sloppy Jane had given her some financial security, so she planned to complete her record and then sell it to a label, rather than attempting to get signed first.

[13] Around this time, Bridgers met American singer-songwriter Ryan Adams through mutual collaborators, and he put out her EP Killer on his label PAX AM.

[22] Bridgers joined The Joy Formidable and Ryan Adams for select dates on their respective U.S. tours before playing at South by Southwest in March 2017.

[26] Numerous songs from the record were featured in television productions throughout 2018, including Switched at Birth,[27] Castle,[28] Burden of Truth,[29] Lethal Weapon[30] and Trinkets,[31] among others.

Bridgers has been referred to as a "serial collaborator", and has either been featured on or co-released tracks with: Lord Huron, Fiona Apple, Matt Berninger and the National, Andrew Bird, Manchester Orchestra, the 1975, Maggie Rogers, Kid Cudi, Taylor Swift, and SZA, among others.

[32][33] In 2018, Bridgers teamed up with fellow indie singer-songwriters Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus to form the supergroup Boygenius, signed to Matador Records.

[39][40] Bridgers and Conor Oberst announced the formation of their band, Better Oblivion Community Center, on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in January 2019.

[42] Bob Boilen, creator of the Tiny Desk Concerts, said of their album: "It's that rare musical partnership where each injects vibrancy into the other's creative side.

[52][53] On November 10, Bridgers announced an EP of four reworked tracks from Punisher, entitled Copycat Killer, in collaboration with Rob Moose.

[56] In December 2020, she released a music video for the song "Savior Complex", directed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and starring Paul Mescal.

That same month Bridgers also featured on Kid Cudi's track "Lovin Me", on his album Man on the Moon III: The Chosen (2020), and sang backing vocals on two songs by Charlie Hickey.

[57][58] Bridgers was a musical guest on the eleventh episode of the 46th season of Saturday Night Live, playing "Kyoto" and "I Know the End" and closing the performance by smashing her guitar on a fake stage monitor.

[72] On April 15, 2022, Bridgers released "Sidelines", a song featured on Conversations with Friends, a Hulu adaptation of Sally Rooney's novel of the same name.

[75] In August 2022, it was announced that Bridgers would be starring in I Saw the TV Glow, an A24 horror film directed by Jane Schoenbrun and produced by Emma Stone and Dave McCary.

[78] The song was provided with vocals from Andrew Bird, organist Ethan Gruska, guitarist Harrison Whitford and Bridgers' then-partner, actor Paul Mescal.

[83] In February 2023, Bridgers featured on "Adderall" by English post-punk band and Dead Oceans labelmate Shame, the third single from their third album Food for Worms.

Themes include death, trauma, therapy, depression and strained relationships, "undercut by her dry wit" and "straightforward delivery.

[108][109][105][110][111] Her music often features a wide variety of popular culture references[112] — the writing of author Joan Didion, ASMR videos, television series Fleabag, and true crime podcast My Favorite Murder were all influential in the making of Punisher.

[117][118] Bridgers, Fiona Apple, and Matt Berninger released a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's 1966 song "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" updated to reflect events in 2019, including the murder of Botham Jean, the opioid epidemic in the United States, and the testimony of Mick Mulvaney in President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial.

[52][53] In October 2020, Bridgers performed as part of the virtual fundraiser festival "Village of Love" benefiting Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles and New York.

[123] Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, Bridgers shared a post from another account on Instagram which mourned the victims of colonialism during the monarch's reign.

[124] While performing with Boygenius at Coachella in April 2023, the band spoke in support of trans rights following bills proposed in states like Florida and Missouri.

"[129] Also at the 66th Grammy Awards, Bridgers' red carpet outfit, coordinated with the other members of Boygenius, featured Artists4Ceasefire pins calling for a ceasefire in the midst of the Israeli invasion of Gaza.