Tegan and Sara

Early career and breakthrough

Tegan and Sara Quin began writing songs together at the age of 14 in Calgary, with one of their first compositions being a track called "Tegan Didn't Go To School Today" written by Sara. Initially performing under the name Plunk, which was short for "light punk" and reflected their lack of a drummer and bassist, they recorded their first demo albums, So Who's in Your Band? and Play Day, in their school's recording studio in 1997. A major opportunity came in 1998 when they won Calgary's Garage Warz competition, which awarded them professional studio time they used to record a demo known as the Yellow Tape under the name Sara and Tegan, followed by the Orange and Red Tapes. Their first major show was opening for Hayden in Calgary in May 1998. The duo released their debut album, Under Feet Like Ours, in 1999 under the name Sara and Tegan, with producer Jared Kuemper. The album included two songs from the Red Tape and two from the Orange Tape. Following a listening session, music executive Elliot Roberts flew from Los Angeles to meet them at the Starfish Room in Vancouver and offered them a record deal that same night, leading to their signing with Neil Young's Vapor Records. Their second album, This Business of Art, was released through Vapor in 2000, and the early years without a manager taught them to be deeply involved in all aspects of their career. They changed their name to Tegan and Sara because people regularly misheard "Sara and Tegan" as "Sara Antegan".

Mainstream success and artistic evolution

The duo's third album, If It Was You, arrived in 2002, but it was their 2004 release So Jealous that brought them wider international attention and critical acclaim. This album was released through both Vapor and Sanctuary Records. Their 2007 album, The Con, marked a significant artistic step, co-produced by Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie and featuring collaborations with musicians like Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie, Matt Sharp of The Rentals, Hunter Burgan of AFI, and Kaki King. The album was released by Vapor and Sire Records after Sanctuary ceased new US releases. In 2009, they released Sainthood, again produced with Walla alongside Howard Redekopp, which debuted at number 21 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 24,000 copies in its first week. The song "Paperback Head" was the first song on any of their albums that they wrote together. This period also saw the release of a three-volume book set titled ON, IN, AT with photographs by Lindsey Byrnes and Ryan Russell, and the live CD/DVD package titled Get Along in 2011, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Long-Form Music Video in 2013. The duo's sound began a notable shift toward a more synth-pop oriented style with their seventh studio album, Heartthrob, released in January 2013. Produced primarily by Greg Kurstin, with contributions from Mike Elizondo and Justin Meldal-Johnsen, the album was a commercial breakthrough, debuting at number 3 on the Billboard 200 and number 2 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 49,000 copies in its first week. It earned them three Juno Awards in 2014 for Single of the Year, Pop Album of the Year, and Group of the Year, and was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize in 2013.

Their subsequent studio albums continued to explore pop territory while maintaining their distinctive lyrical style. Love You to Death was finished in November 2015 and released in June 2016, preceded by the single "Boyfriend" in April. The duo released a music video for each track on the album. In 2017, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of The Con, they curated The Con X: Covers, a charity album featuring covers of the original tracks by 17 artists including Cyndi Lauper, with proceeds benefiting the Tegan and Sara Foundation. The duo also toured an acoustic version of the album that year, dedicating a portion of ticket sales to the foundation. After a period focused on their foundation and other projects, they returned in 2019 with the album Hey, I'm Just Like You, which featured 12 re-recorded versions of songs they originally wrote as teenagers, released three days after their memoir High School. In 2022, they released Still Jealous, an acoustic reimagining of So Jealous, and their tenth studio album, Crybaby, after signing a new record deal with Mom + Pop Music and releasing the singles "Fucking Up What Matters" and "Yellow".

Recent projects and activities

In 2023, Tegan and Sara expanded their creative output into graphic novels with Junior High, illustrated by Tillie Walden, which explores themes of growing up, coming out, and self-discovery and serves as a loose prequel to their memoir. In early 2024, they began the Not Tonight Tour, a series of dates in Ontario celebrating their 2002 album If It Was You, starting in Richmond Hill in March and ending in Guelph in April. That same year, they enhanced their direct connection with fans by launching a paid subscription tier for their existing Substack newsletter, called The Loners Club, which revived their pandemic-era Instagram show "Where Does the Good Grow". Their activism remained prominent, as they used their platform at the 2024 Juno Awards, where they received the Juno Humanitarian Award, to speak out against proposed policies in Alberta affecting LGBTQ+ youth. Looking forward, the duo is scheduled to join Hilary Duff as a supporting act for part of the American leg of her The Lucky Me Tour in 2027. Their most recent musical release noted is the September 2026 single "Our Year", a collaboration with fellow Canadian artists Lights and Felix Cartal, accompanied by a music video filmed at Vancouver locations including the Museum of Vancouver, Kitsilano Pool, Burrard Bridge, and the City Centre Artist Lodge. That same month, Tegan released her first solo novel titled Merry Christmess.

Artistic influences and style

They have consistently credited bands like Green Day, Nirvana, and Hole for cementing their desire to write and perform their own music. During their teenage years, their influences expanded to include artists such as Hayden, The Smashing Pumpkins, Violent Femmes, Dinosaur Jr., and Teenage Fanclub. As their career progressed, their musical palette broadened to encompass a diverse range of pop and rock acts, which they have cited as inspirations for their own evolution toward a more polished pop sound. Key influences from this later period include Depeche Mode, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Madonna, Kate Bush, David Bowie, Mike Elizondo, Pink, Lily Allen, Erasure, Ace of Base, Tom Petty, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Ani DiFranco, the New Pornographers, Cyndi Lauper, Sinéad O'Connor, Against Me!, and Bruce Springsteen. This blend of gritty alternative roots and sophisticated pop sensibility has defined their journey from guitar-driven indie rock to the synth-pop anthems of their most commercially successful work.

Activism and the Tegan and Sara Foundation

Tegan and Sara have been outspoken advocates for LGBTQ+ equality throughout their careers. Their activism includes appearing on the cover of Under the Radar magazine's "Protest" issue in 2012, where they were photographed holding a sign reading "The rights of the minority should never be subject to the whim of the majority." They actively supported Quebec students protesting against the provincial government and were vocal during California's Proposition 8 debates. In 2013, they partnered with the Coolhaus ice cream truck to create a "Til Death Do Us Part" sandwich featuring double chocolate cookies and salted caramel ice cream in support of same-sex marriage. They also collaborated with Revel & Riot on a T-shirt featuring animals labelled with their Latin names and the text "Gay behaviour is found in over 1500 species. LGBTQ equality now," with all proceeds funding LGBTQ rights work. Their profile in the community was recognized with the Outstanding Music Artist award at the GLAAD Media Awards, and they performed at the closing ceremonies of WorldPride in Toronto in June 2014. In November 2016, they performed in North Carolina despite the HB2 law and donated their proceeds to Equality North Carolina, inspiring the band Matt and Kim to match their donation.

In December 2016, following the US presidential election, they formally established the Tegan and Sara Foundation, which advocates for economic justice, health, and representation for LGBTQ+ girls and women. The foundation has been supported through various initiatives, including proceeds from The Con X: Covers album, a portion of ticket prices from The Con's 10th-anniversary tour, and a partnership with Kiehl's on limited-edition Ultra Facial cleansers. In 2024, they organized an open letter signed by over 400 Canadian musicians opposing proposed legislation in Alberta that would impact transgender youth by outing them to parents and limiting medical care, demonstrating their ongoing commitment to political advocacy. At the end of The Con's 10th-anniversary tour in 2017, they stated their plan to take two years off from touring to focus on the foundation and to make a new record.

Touring history and live performances

Tegan and Sara began touring extensively after high school graduation in 1998, initially travelling by car and Greyhound bus. An early career highlight was touring with Neil Young and the Pretenders in 2000. They have since shared stages with a wide array of artists as both support acts and headliners, including Ryan Adams, Weezer, the Black Keys, Ben Folds, Cake, City and Colour, Death Cab for Cutie, the Killers, Paramore, and Rufus Wainwright. Their extensive festival appearances include the Mariposa Folk Festival in 2001, Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair in 1999 and 2010, Coachella in 2005, 2008, and 2013, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Glastonbury in 2010, Osheaga, and the Newport Folk Festival in 2011. A characteristic element of their live shows is the sisters' onstage banter, where they share stories about their childhood, politics, and life on the road. Major touring cycles have accompanied each album release, including large-scale tours for Heartthrob and Love You to Death. They have also served as opening acts for major pop stars, joining Katy Perry's Prismatic World Tour in 2014 and Lady Gaga's ArtRave tour that same year, performing for an audience of 80,000 in Quebec City. Their 2016 tour for Love You to Death started in London and passed through Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan before looping back to Canada and the US. Their 2022 Crybaby tour marked their first major concert run in three years, spanning North America from Philadelphia to Vancouver. Selected Major Tours and Opening Slots

• Touring with Neil Young and the Pretenders (2000)
• Opening for Fun. on the Most Nights Summer Tour, from Toronto to Bridgeport, Connecticut (2013)
• Katy Perry's Prismatic World Tour, North American leg (September-October 2014)
• Let's Make Things Physical Tour with supporting acts like Lucius and the Courtneys (May-November 2014)
• Opening for Lady Gaga's ArtRave: The Artpop Ball Tour in Quebec City (July 2014)
• Love You to Death World Tour, including Asia, North America, and Europe (2016)
• The Con 10th Anniversary Acoustic Tour (2017)
• Performance at the WayHome festival in Oro-Medonte, Ontario (2017)
• Crybaby Tour from Philadelphia to Vancouver (October-November 2022)
• Not Tonight Tour in Ontario (March-April 2024)

Other ventures and collaborations

Beyond their core discography, Tegan and Sara have engaged in numerous collaborative and solo projects. In 2014, they collaborated with The Lonely Island on the song "Everything Is Awesome" for The Lego Movie soundtrack. Both sisters have worked as producers, with Tegan producing for char2d2 on the 2009 Small Vampires EP and Sara working on the 2010 debut albums for Fences and Hesta Prynn. Tegan has contributed vocals to tracks by Against Me! on "Borne of the FM Waves of the Heart", Rachael Cantu on "Saturday", and Astronautalis on "Contrails" from his 2011 album This Is Our Science, also appearing in the accompanying music video. She also wrote and recorded the song "His Love" for the audio version of Augusten Burroughs's book A Wolf at the Table in 2008 and headlined a benefit for Housing Works with Burroughs that same year. In the literary field, they co-authored the memoir High School in 2019 with publishers MCD Books, Simon & Schuster Canada, and Virago Press, which was adapted into a television series for Amazon Freevee in 2022, filmed in their hometown of Calgary from April to June 2022 with twins Railey and Seazynn Gilliland cast in the lead roles. Tegan released her first solo novel, Merry Christmess, in September 2026. Their work extends to multimedia, including the three-volume book set ON, IN, AT released alongside Sainthood, which documented their touring in America in late 2008, writing in New Orleans, and touring Australia. In 2011, they launched "2011: A Merch Odyssey", releasing at least one new item in their online store every month for the entire year.

Personal lives and public profile

Both Tegan and Sara Quin publicly identify as lesbian and are married. Sara married her longtime partner Stacy Reader in 2011, and they welcomed their first son in August 2022. As of 2026, they have two children. Tegan married Sofia Snow in 2018 after dating for two years. Originally from Calgary, both sisters moved to Vancouver at age 19. Sara later moved to Montreal in 2003, and both have lived in various cities including Los Angeles and New York City before permanently returning to Vancouver as of 2019. They are cousins to musician Jen Twynn Payne, drummer and lead vocalist for the Vancouver band The Courtneys. Their public advocacy extends beyond LGBTQ+ issues to include support for music education, literacy, and cancer research, integrating their personal values with their professional platform. During the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, they created a live Instagram show called "Where Does the Good Grow" with merchandise designed by EE Storey, which aired weekly on Thursdays at 3 p.m. PST until its finale on July 23, 2020.

Discography and chart performance

Their 2011 video album Get Along received a Grammy nomination for Best Long-Form Music Video. They have won three Juno Awards for Single of the Year, Pop Album of the Year and Group of the Year in 2014. They also won the Juno Humanitarian award in 2024. They were awarded Outstanding Music Artist at the GLAAD Media Awards.

Questions about Tegan and Sara

Are Tegan and Sara twins?

Yes, Tegan and Sara are identical twin sisters. They were both born on September 19, 1980, in Calgary, Alberta. The duo began writing songs together at the age of 14 and have performed as a musical partnership since 1998. Their twin dynamic is a central feature of their music and their public persona, often referenced in their lyrics and their characteristic onstage banter during concerts.

What is the Tegan and Sara Foundation?

The Tegan and Sara Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by the sisters in December 2016. Its mission is to advocate for economic justice, health, and representation for LGBTQ+ girls and women. The foundation raises funds through various initiatives, including merchandise sales, benefit concerts, partnerships with companies like Kiehl's, and proceeds from the charity album The Con X: Covers. In 2024, the foundation organized a major campaign, publishing an open letter signed by over 400 Canadian musicians to oppose proposed legislation in Alberta affecting transgender youth.

What was Tegan and Sara's first big hit?

While they gained an indie following with earlier albums, their first major mainstream pop hit was "Closer" from the 2013 album Heartthrob. The song's synth-driven sound marked a significant shift in their musical style. The Heartthrob album itself was a major commercial breakthrough, debuting at number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. It earned the duo three Juno Awards in 2014 for Single of the Year, Pop Album of the Year, and Group of the Year.

Have Tegan and Sara won any Juno Awards?

Yes, Tegan and Sara have won multiple Juno Awards. In 2014, they won three awards for their work on Heartthrob. They won Single of the Year, Pop Album of the Year, and Group of the Year. This made them the first female band and first duo to win the Group of the Year award. More recently, in 2024, they were honoured with the Juno Humanitarian Award for their work with the Tegan and Sara Foundation.

Is there a TV show based on Tegan and Sara's lives?

Yes, a television series titled High School, based on their 2019 memoir of the same name, was released on Amazon Freevee in the fall of 2022. The series was directed by Clea DuVall and filmed in Calgary from April to June 2022. It stars twins Railey and Seazynn Gilliland as teenage versions of Tegan and Sara. The show explores their youth, musical beginnings, and exploration of their sexuality.

Where do Tegan and Sara live now?

As of 2019, both Tegan and Sara reside in Vancouver, British Columbia. They moved there from their hometown of Calgary at age 19. Over the years, Sara has also lived in Montreal and New York City, while Tegan has lived in Vancouver and Los Angeles. They both returned to Vancouver permanently, which serves as their home base for their music, writing, and advocacy work.

Sources and further reading

• Tegan and Sara (Wikipedia)
• WE ARE MAKING SOMETHING!!! - by Tegan and Sara (teganandsara.substack.com)

Checked by the Yadude Books desk. Last updated 2026-11-03.