Michael Kiwanuka was born on 3 May 1987 in Muswell Hill, north London, to Ugandan parents. He first worked as a session guitarist, including for Chipmunk and Bashy, before focusing on his own songs and playing London’s acoustic circuit. Communion Records released his EPs Tell Me a Tale and I’m Getting Ready in 2011; that same year, Michael Kiwanuka won the BBC Sound of 2012 poll. His debut album, Home Again (2012), combined soul with folk and reached number 4 on the UK Albums Chart. The follow-up, Love & Hate (2016), topped the UK chart and brought wider attention to “Cold Little Heart,” later used as the opening theme for HBO’s Big Little Lies. Michael Kiwanuka also won the 2017 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for “Black Man in a White World.” His third album, Kiwanuka (2019), earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album and won the 2020 Mercury Prize. After releasing the live EP Out Loud! in 2018 and collaborating with Danger Mouse and Inflo on his next two studio albums, he put out Small Changes in 2024; it became his second UK Number 1 album. On October 23, 2026, Michael Kiwanuka released Fudge, his fifth studio album, preceded by “Summer Clothes” as its first single.