Panda Bear is the moniker of Noah Lennox, a founding member of Animal Collective.

Lennox grew up in the Roland Park section of Baltimore, Maryland. As a child, he played sports, studied piano and cello. He later sang tenor in his high school chamber choir. After graduation, he attended Boston University but dropped out in 2000 and moved to New York to dedicate his efforts towards music.

His first solo release was the self titled Panda Bear in 1999, which was released under Soccer Star Records, a label founded by fellow Animal Collective member Deakin.

After the creation of Animal Collective, Lennox focused on that project, leaving his solo career on the margins. He retook it with the release of Young Prayer (2004) and followed with the critically acclaimed Person Pitch (2007), an album that is said to be the primary inspiration behind Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavillion (2009).

In Animal Collective, Noah’s primary role is samples although,until recently, he has been primarily percussionist. Though he also plays other instruments and sings. He adopted the name Panda Bear from an early tape of his material, on which he drew a panda.

He currently lives in Lisbon, Portugal with his wife and daughter.