Margaret Debay Rogers (born April 25, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer from Easton, Maryland. Her big break came when her song "Alaska" was played to Pharrell Williams during a master class at New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2019. She graduated from Harvard Divinity School in May 2022.
After the Pharrell video went viral, several different record labels tried to sign Rogers. She ended up negotiating a recording contract with Capitol Records where "she licenses her music to them through her own imprint, Debay Sounds." As a result, she has more control over her sound and image than many artists at a similar place in their music careers.
Rogers' EP, Now That the Light Is Fading, was released on February 17, 2017. She released her major-label debut studio album, Heard It in a Past Life, on January 18, 2019. The album debuted at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200.
In April 2019, Rogers covered the Taylor Swift song "Tim McGraw" as a Spotify Single. She told Rolling Stone, "This song so distinctly belongs to one of — I think, personally — the greatest living songwriters".
Rogers made her television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on February 15, 2017.
Rogers made her musical guest debut on Saturday Night Live on November 3, 2018, the fourth episode of Saturday Night Live's 44th season, hosted by actor and comedian Jonah Hill, which he returned to host for the 5th time, thus making him a five-time host to enter the Five-Timers Club. She performed "Light On" and "Fallingwater" with Rostam Batmanglij on piano.
She also made her Today Show debut on July 12, 2019.
Rogers cites Carrie Brownstein, Patti Smith, Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, and Björk as her musical inspirations, while prominent singers Brandi Carlile and Sharon Van Etten — whom she calls her "musical big sisters" — have become mentors.
She guested with Dead & Company, a rock band consisting of former Grateful Dead members, performing cover versions of the latter's "Friend of the Devil" and the Band's "The Weight" on November 1, 2019, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Rogers earned a nomination for Best New Artist at the 62nd Grammy Awards.
Rogers performed during the 2020 Democratic National Convention, appearing remotely from Scarborough, Maine due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. She was introduced by Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives and 2020 US Senate candidate from Maine Sara Gideon.
On November 13, 2020, Rogers collaborated with Phoebe Bridgers on a cover version of the Goo Goo Dolls' 1998 single "Iris", which Bridgers said she would make if Donald Trump lost the 2020 United States elections. The song was released as a one-day exclusive on Bandcamp and was downloaded 28,000 times, with all proceeds going to Fair Fight Action. Despite only being available for purchase for one day, the song debuted at number one on the Digital Song Sales chart and No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it both artists' first entry on the latter chart. The song also charted in Australia, New Zealand, and Scotland.
On December 18, 2020, Rogers released Notes from the Archive: Recordings 2011–2016 via her label Debay Sounds. The album is a compilation of songs she wrote and recorded in the past ten years of her recording career. Some of the songs are from her first two independently released albums: The Echo (2012) and Blood Ballet (2014). Other songs are from her previously unreleased 2016 rock EP and a band she was previously in with Holden Jaffe, Del Water Gap. The album was released along with a deluxe version in which Rogers provides an auditory commentary talking through each stage of her music career that the songs in that section reflect.
On March 30, 2022, Rogers announced her second studio album, Surrender, which was released on July 29, 2022. It was supported by the singles "That's Where I Am", "Want Want", and "Horses". The album features a couple of contributions from notable singers. The track "Shatter" features Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine providing additional vocals and playing tambourine, and "I've Got a Friend" features Clairo and Claud speaking.