Portrait of Matthew Friedberger

Birthday profile

Matthew Friedberger

Matthew Friedberger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Born
October 21, 1972
Age in 2026
54
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1972

About Matthew Friedberger

Matthew Friedberger (born October 21, 1972, in Oak Park, Illinois, United States) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work in the indie rock duo the Fiery Furnaces with his sister Eleanor Friedberger. == Background and career == Matthew and Eleanor grew up singing with their grandmother Olga Sarantos and family in a Greek Orthodox Church. Details of events in Sarantos' life are depicted on their Rehearsing My Choir album. Matthew has been a vegetarian since childhood. The first song Matt ever wrote was in fourth grade. He was assigned to make a weather barometer for class but didn't feel like doing that, so instead he convinced his teacher to let him write a song on the piano about weather. The song was titled "Cumulous Nimbus Cloud" and was what Matt describes as "mostly pounding on the piano". Before starting the Fiery Furnaces, Matthew Friedberger played in bands including Corndolly, Liquorette, the Mezzanines and the Grand Vizars. At the age of 17, Matthew moved to Germany only to return shortly thereafter. He attended the University of Illinois for a while and continued to live there, writing comic books, until the age of 26 when he moved back home.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Matthew Friedberger timeline

  1. Aside from his work with the Fiery Furnaces, Friedberger released a two-disc solo album, titled Winter Women and Holy Ghost Language School by 859 Recordings in August 2006.
  2. The first six albums were set to ship every two months in 2011 and featured Friedberger on vocals accompanied by a single instrument, while the last two were bonus albums that shipped with the final installment and featured multiple instruments.

The world when Matthew Friedberger was born

Matthew Friedberger was born in 1972. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1972

  • #1 song"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" – Roberta Flack
  • Top movieThe Godfather
  • Top TV showAll in the Family
  • Best-selling bookJonathan Livingston Seagull – Richard Bach

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentMark Spitz wins 7 gold medals at Munich Olympics
  • Top headlineWatergate break-in begins Nixon's downfall
  • Technology milestoneAtari founded
  • Defining fadPong (first mainstream video game)
  • Notable inventionPong video game
  • World population3.85 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderRichard Nixon
  • Sports championOakland Athletics (World Series)
  • Also wonLos Angeles Lakers (NBA)
  • U.S. population209.9M

1972 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Matthew Friedberger's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19722026
Gas$0.36$3.45/gal
Average home$19,800$435,000
Average income$12,600$67,500
Minimum wage$1.60$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$1.70$11.95
Postage stamp$0.08$0.73
Population209.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, MusicBrainz. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.