Songfacts®:

• In 2023, astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a supermassive black hole that is creating stars instead of just sucking them up. This is the first time a black hole has been observed to be actively involved in star formation.
  
  Inspired by this cosmic twist on the idea that destructive forces can be reproductive, Boygenius' Julien Baker began writing a song about unexpected rebirth.
  
  The headlines said this morning
  Were bein' spat out by what we thought
  Was just destroyin' everything for good
  
  The news now reveals a different truth. The end of a relationship once seen as ruin is now the harbinger of new life.
• Following Baker's first verse, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers take the stage. They address a man of dualities, good and bad. While he's beyond their grasp, they crave his voice for solace. Is this a parallel to Baker's black hole metaphor? Perhaps, as they contrast the man's split personality with the destructive and constructive forces of black holes. Ultimately, they find his goodness, akin to Baker's generative black hole inspiration.
• Amid a chaotic ensemble of clashing drums, the melody stands as the sole unchanging element. The expansive song shifts from an urgent piano to a looming darkness, reminiscent of the gravitational pull of a black hole.
• The genesis of this song occurred when Dacus shared a tweet with Baker detailing the discovery of a black hole giving birth to stars.
  
  "Everybody on the internet was like, 'Can't wait to see how many people put this in a poem!'" Baker recalled at the band's live in-store performance at Fingerprints on October 13, 2023. "And I was like, 'Yeah, I'm gonna be one!'"
• Boygenius recorded "Black Hole" for their The Rest EP. The record was nearly finished when Baker showed the first half of the song to Dacus and Bridgers.
  
  "‘What if we tracked this?'" she recalled saying. "It was like day 29. I love to have an unhinged idea."
• Boygenius played the song live for the first time on September 25, 2023, during the first of two consecutive concerts at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston.
• Julien Baker also played the keyboards. The other musicians are:
  
  Marshall Vore: drums
  Collin Pastore: pedal steel
  Calvin Lauber: bass
  Jake Finch: strings. keyboards
  Ethan Gruska: keyboards
  
  Marshall Vore is Bridgers' touring drummer.
• The five musicians and three Boygenius members produced the song between them.
• Following the release of The Rest, "Black Hole" debuted at #56 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's and its members' first entry on the listing.