Duncan Sheik | |
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Background information | |
Born | Montclair, New Jersey, United States | November 18, 1969
Origin | Los Angeles, California |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, composer, actor |
Instrument(s) | Guitar, piano, vocals, electronics |
Years active | 1993–present |
Labels | |
Website | duncansheik |
Duncan Sheik (born November 18, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Sheik is known for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing", which earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. He has composed music for motion pictures and Broadway musicals, winning the 2007 Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations for his work on the musical Spring Awakening .
Sheik is a native of Montclair, New Jersey. Following his parents' divorce, he split time between his father's house in New Jersey and his mother's home in South Carolina. [1] He is the half-brother of Broadway actress Kacie Sheik. [2] Sheik's Juilliard-trained grandmother introduced him to the piano, and he later took up the electric guitar. By age 12, he was playing guitar with high school students in a cover band. [3] After graduating from Phillips Academy, Andover in 1988, [4] Sheik studied semiotics at Brown University; [5] while at Brown, he played guitar in a band with fellow Brown student Lisa Loeb. Following his graduation from Brown in 1992, he moved to Los Angeles. [3]
Early in his musical career, Sheik played guitar for other artists, including Liz and Lisa (with Elizabeth Mitchell and Lisa Loeb). Sheik also played on His Boy Elroy's 1993 album through his connections from a fellow Brown alum, Tracee Ellis Ross. [6]
In 1996, Sheik released his self-titled debut album, which was certified gold. [7] The album featured the hit single "Barely Breathing", which peaked at number 16 [8] and remained on the Billboard Hot 100 for 55 consecutive weeks. [9] "Barely Breathing" also enjoyed Top 20 success on Adult Contemporary radio, [8] reached No. 2 on the Adult Top 40 charts, [8] and garnered Sheik a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. [10]
In 1998, Sheik recorded "Embraceable You" for Red Hot + Rhapsody , a George Gershwin tribute to increase AIDS awareness, and also recorded "Songbird" for another tribute, Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.[ citation needed ] Also in 1998, Sheik released Humming , an experimental follow-up with string arrangements.[ citation needed ]
Sheik sang a duet with singer Howard Jones on Jones' 2000 single entitled Someone You Need. [11]
Sheik released Phantom Moon , a Nick Drake-influenced album on which he collaborated with poet and writer Steven Sater, in 2001.[ citation needed ] The following year, Sheik released Daylight , a brighter, more modern-sounding album which included the singles, "On A High" and "Half-Life".[ citation needed ] After a four-year recording break, Sheik released White Limousine (2006), an album which included companion software on a DVD-ROM to remix individual tracks.[ citation needed ] In 2008, Sheik was a judge at the 7th annual Independent Music Awards.[ citation needed ]
In 2009 he released Whisper House , a concept album which provided the score for the musical of the same name. [12] The stage musical premiered at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in January 2010, after a workshop at Vassar College, produced by New York Stage and Film in 2009. [13] [14]
In 2011, Sheik released Covers 80's , an album including covers of popular 1980s songs. Concert dates in support of the album were later canceled due to Sheik seeking treatment for alcohol addiction. [15] A remixed version of the album was released the following year. [16] Sheik released a new studio album entitled Legerdemain in October 2015. [17]
In addition to being a singer-songwriter, Sheik has also composed music for plays, musicals, and movie soundtracks. He composed original music for the 2002 New York Shakespeare Festival production of Twelfth Night . [18]
In 2004, he composed the score for the film A Home at the End of the World . The AllMusic reviewer wrote: "...takes the sensitivity and tension of the film's plot and crafts incidental music and new songs that complement the movie well." [19] He composed the score for the 2005 film Through the Fire with Pete Miser. [20] [21]
Sheik wrote the music for Spring Awakening (2006) in collaboration with Steven Sater. Written over a period of eight years, the musical, which premiered off-Broadway during the summer, opened on Broadway to critical acclaim later in the fall. The musical was based on the controversial German expressionist play The Awakening of Spring , written by Frank Wedekind. Sheik won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for his work on Spring Awakening, [22] and he and Sater won a Tony Award for Best Original Score. [23] In addition, Spring Awakening won the Tony Award for Best Musical [24] and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. [25] The guitar that Sheik used to compose songs for Spring Awakening was displayed at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. [26] As of 2012, Sheik was composing music for a feature-film adaptation of Spring Awakening, an adaptation almost a decade in the making. [27]
In 2012, Sheik wrote Alice By Heart , an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , along with collaborator Sater. Directed by Jessie Nelson with musical direction by Lance Horne, the musical was workshopped at the Royal National Theatre and commissioned by the National Theatre Connections. [28]
Sheik wrote the music and lyrics to the 2013 musical adaptation of American Psycho , [29] which opened at the Almeida Theatre in London, and was later staged on Broadway in 2016. [30]
In 2013, Sheik wrote the music for the musical adaptation of the novel Because of Winn-Dixie , which premiered at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. [31] Dixie was a collaboration with then-director John Tartaglia and Nell Benjamin, who wrote the book and lyrics. [31] The musical ran at the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut from July 2019 to September 2019, directed by John Rando. [32]
In 2015, Sheik wrote the musical thriller Noir with Kyle Jarrow. It premiered as part of New York Stage and Film's season in July to August 2015 at the Powerhouse Theater at Vassar College. Inspired by live radio plays and classic film noir, the musical was directed by Rachel Chavkin. [33] [34] [35]
In 2016 he prepared the music for the Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington, D.C.) production of The Taming of the Shrew , described in The Washington Post as "an assortment of preexisting songs by singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik". [36]
Sheik produced singer-songwriter Micah Green's 2000 debut album [37] [ better source needed ] as well as his 2012 follow-up. [38] [39] [40] [ better source needed ]
In 2000, Sheik wrote the foreword to The Way of Youth: Buddhist Common Sense for Handling Life's Questions, by Soka Gakkai International leader Daisaku Ikeda.[ citation needed ]
In 2006, Sheik recorded the song "A Purple Trail" for Other Songs and Dances, Vol. 1. In 2008, Sheik participated in Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace , an initiative to support Tibet, Dalai Lama, and Tenzin Gyatso. [41]
Concert dates in support of Sheik's 2011 album Covers 80's were canceled when Sheik sought treatment for alcohol use disorder. [15] In a message to fans on his tumblr blog, Sheik noted that he had entered a treatment center on the same day his latest album was released and had told his staff, "My record is coming out and I’m checking in." [42]
Sheik has a daughter with his girlfriend, model Nora Ariffin. [43] [44]
Sheik practices Nichiren Buddhism and is a member of the US branch of the worldwide Buddhist association Soka Gakkai International. [45]
Year | Awards | Work | Category | Result |
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1997 | Billboard Music Awards | Himself | Top Adult Top 40 Artist | Nominated |
"Barely Breathing" | Top Adult Top 40 Track | Won | ||
1998 | Grammy Awards | Best Male Pop Vocal Performance | Nominated | |
1999 | BMI Pop Awards | Award-Winning Song | Won | |
2007 | Tony Awards | Spring Awakening | Best Original Score | Won |
Best Orchestrations | Won | |||
Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | Won | ||
Outstanding Orchestrations | Nominated | |||
2008 | Grammy Awards | Best Musical Show Album | Won | |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | American Psycho | Outstanding New Score | Nominated |
Duncan Sheik discography | |
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Studio albums | 9 |
EPs | 2 |
Live albums | 1 |
Compilation albums | 2 |
Singles | 23 |
Remix albums | 1 |
Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
US [46] | US Heat [47] | |||
1996 | Duncan Sheik | 83 | 1 | |
1998 | Humming
| 163 | — | |
2001 | Phantom Moon
| — | — | |
2002 | Daylight
| 110 | — | |
2006 | White Limousine
| — | — | |
2009 | Whisper House
| 181 | — | |
2011 | Covers 80s
| — | — | |
2015 | Legerdemain
| — | — | |
2022 | Claptrap
| — | — | |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Year | Album details |
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2020 | Live at the Cafe Carlyle (New York, NY / 2017)
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Year | Album details |
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2012 | Covers 80s Remixed
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Year | Album details |
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2006 | Brighter/Later: A Duncan Sheik Anthology
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2007 | Greatest Hits - Brighter: A Duncan Sheik Collection
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Year | Album details |
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2005 | Rhino Hi-Five: Duncan Sheik
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2011 | Harvest (Music from the Motion Picture)(with David Poe)
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Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
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CAN [49] | US [50] | US AC [51] | US Adult [52] | US Dance [53] | US Pop [54] | ||||
1996 | "Barely Breathing" | 12 | 16 | 19 | 2 | — | 10 | Duncan Sheik | |
1997 | "She Runs Away" | — | — | — | 24 | — | — | ||
"Reasons for Living" | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | |||
"Wishful Thinking" | — | 103 | — | — | — | — | Great Expectations(soundtrack) | ||
1998 | "Bite Your Tongue" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Humming | |
1999 | "That Says It All" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2001 | "A Mirror in the Heart" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Phantom Moon | |
2002 | "On a High" | — | — | — | 21 | 1 | — | Daylight | |
"Half-Life" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
2005 | "White Limousine" | — | — | — | — | — | — | White Limousine | |
"The Dawn's Request" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
2008 | "We're Here to Tell You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Whisper House | |
2009 | "Earthbound Starlight" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Play Your Part" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
2012 | "Shout" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Covers Eighties Remixed | |
2013 | "Lay Down Your Weapons" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
2020 | "Barely Breathing 2020 'Dear 45'" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2021 | "Better Things For Better Living" (with Simon Kafka) | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2022 | "Experience" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Claptrap | |
"Maybe" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Something Happening Here" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Chimera II" (featuring Oora) | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"There's No Telling" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
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Spring Awakening is a coming-of-age rock musical with music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. It is based on the 1891 German play Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind. Set in late 19th-century Germany, the musical tells the story of teenagers discovering the inner and outer tumult of adolescent sexuality. In the musical, alternative rock is employed as part of the folk-infused rock score.
Laura Ashley Bell Bundy–Hinkle is an American actress and singer. Her career started as a child, when her mother entered her in beauty pageants, where she would sing as a talent. After recognizing her singing ability, her mother took her to New York City, where she found success as a child actress and model, signing with Ford Modeling Agency in 1986. She was cast as the lead in Ruthless! at age 9 in 1991.
"Barely Breathing" is a song by American singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik from his eponymous debut studio album (1996). It was released as the lead single from the album on May 3, 1996, by Atlantic Records. Sheik is the sole writer of the song, while production was helmed by Rupert Hine. The song became a chart hit in North America in early 1997, receiving several accolades in the years following its release.
Steven Sater is a Tony Award, Grammy Award, and Laurence Olivier Award-winning American poet, playwright, lyricist, television writer and screenwriter. He is best known for writing the book and lyrics for the Tony Award-winning 2006 Broadway musical Spring Awakening.
Simon Hale is a British composer, arranger, and keyboardist.
Kyle Jarrow is a Los Angeles–based writer and rock musician.
Jonathan Drew Groff is an American actor and singer. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he has received several awards including a Tony Award and a Grammy Award as well as a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award.
Lea Michele Sarfati is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She began her career as a child actress on Broadway, appearing in productions of Les Misérables (1995–1996), Ragtime (1997–1999), Fiddler on the Roof (2004–2005), and Spring Awakening (2006–2008). Michele came to prominence playing Rachel Berry on the Fox series Glee (2009–2015), for which she received nominations for an Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. She also contributed to music recorded for the series, which spawned multiple hits on the Billboard charts, and earned her a Grammy Award nomination.
John Howard Gallagher Jr. is an American actor and musician best known for originating the role of Moritz Stiefel in the 2006 rock musical Spring Awakening, which earned him a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He also played Johnny in Green Day's Broadway musical, American Idiot, Lee in the 2011 Broadway production of Jerusalem, Edmund in the 2016 Broadway revival of Long Day's Journey Into Night, and Mate in the 2024 Broadway production of Swept Away. He portrayed Jim Harper in Aaron Sorkin's drama series The Newsroom, starred in the HBO mini-series Olive Kitteridge, and played Emmett DeWitt in 10 Cloverfield Lane.
Whisper House is the sixth studio album and second musical by American singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik. It was released on RCA Victor in 2009.
JenniferDamiano is an American actress and singer. She made her Broadway debut in 2006 as an ensemble member in the original production of Spring Awakening, and went on to originate the role of Natalie Goodman in the musical Next to Normal, for which she was nominated for the 2009 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical, becoming one of the youngest nominees for the award at age 17. Her other Broadway roles include Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark in 2011 and Jean in the 2016 musical American Psycho, in addition to a number of roles off-Broadway.
Taylor Hunt Trensch is an American stage and film actor.
Christine "Christy" Altomare is an American actress and singer-songwriter.
American Psycho is a musical with music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik and a book by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. It is based on the controversial 1991 novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, which also inspired a 2000 film of the same name, that starred Christian Bale. Set in Manhattan during the Wall Street boom of the late 1980s, American Psycho is about the daily life of Patrick Bateman, a young and wealthy investment banker who is also secretly a serial killer.
Benjamin Schiff Platt is an American actor and singer. The son of film and theater producer Marc Platt and philanthropist Julie Platt, he began his acting career in musical theater as a child and appeared in productions of The Sound of Music (2006) and The Book of Mormon (2012–2015), rising to prominence for originating the title role in the Broadway coming-of-age musical Dear Evan Hansen (2015–2017). His performance in the latter earned him multiple accolades, including the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical, a Daytime Emmy, and a Grammy Award. Platt reprised the role of Evan Hansen in the 2021 film adaptation of the musical, produced by his father. He then played Leo Frank in the 2022 New York City Center Gala production of Parade, which transferred to Broadway in 2023 and earned him another Tony nomination and another Grammy nomination.
Cody Lassen is an American Tony Award-winning and Grammy nominated theater producer and consultant. He is best known for producing the revival of Spring Awakening, which won him an Ovation Award and a Tony nomination.
Alice by Heart is a musical with music by Duncan Sheik, lyrics by Steven Sater, and a book by Sater with Jessie Nelson. The musical is inspired by Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and was originally presented by London's Royal National Theatre in 2012.
Nell Benjamin is a lyricist, writer, and composer noted for her work in musical theatre. With her husband and frequent collaborator Laurence O'Keefe, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for writing Legally Blonde in 2011. And in 2007, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Original Score for Legally Blonde, and then again in 2018 for her lyrics for Mean Girls.
Jeb Brown is an American actor known for his work in theatre. Brown has appeared in productions on- and off-Broadway including Grease, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, in which he originated the role of Don Kirshner.
Legerdemain is a 2015 studio album by American singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik. The album has received positive reviews from critics and is a transitional one for Sheik as a songwriter, borrowing from his love of electronic music as well as his work scoring musical theater. The music was written contemporaneously to scoring American Psycho, and is his first album of original popular music in almost a decade and was supported by live performances around his Broadway theatre schedule.