ARTIST · ART POP / INDIE

Gotye

Collage producer with a confessional tenor—found sound, vintage samples, and heartbreak mathematics.

Art pop
Indie pop

Updated 27 October 2026

Listen on NCR All artists

Biography

Gotye built albums like installation pieces, layering organic instruments with deliberate digital fractures.

Somebody That I Used to Know paired Kimbra's counter-voice with minimalist percussion that haunted every format.

Earlier singles such as Hearts a Mess hinted at the melodic sophistication before the breakout arrived.

Lossless playback keeps xylophone attack, vocal breath, and stereo panning precise on headphone systems.

Wouter De Backer, known as Gotye, was born in Bruges, Belgium, and raised in Melbourne. He was a member of the band The Basics before finding success as a solo artist. Making Mirrors (2011), assembled from recordings in a barn on his family property, included Somebody That I Used to Know with New Zealand singer Kimbra.

The song won the Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance in 2013. De Backer has largely stepped back from the spotlight since, returning only occasionally.

Interesting facts about Gotye

01 Belgian-Australian multi-instrumentalist born Wouter De Backer, working under the stage name Gotye.
02 Making Mirrors (2011) included Somebody That I Used to Know, a chart-topping worldwide phenomenon.
03 Won multiple Grammy Awards in 2013 including Record of the Year for Somebody That I Used to Know.
04 Born in Bruges, Belgium, and raised in Melbourne.
05 Somebody That I Used to Know won the Grammy for Record of the Year.