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.
Early life
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]
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 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]
Composer
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 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 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]
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]