Duncan Sheik Explained

Duncan Sheik
Birth Date:	November 18, 1969
Birth Place:	Montclair, New Jersey, United States
Origin:	Los Angeles, California
Instrument:	Guitar, piano, vocals, electronics
Occupation:	Singer-songwriter, composer, actor
Years Active:	1993–present

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]

Career

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]

Singer-songwriter

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. Also in 1998, Sheik released Humming, an experimental follow-up with string arrangements.

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. The following year, Sheik released Daylight, a brighter, more modern-sounding album which included the singles, "On A High" and "Half-Life". 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. In 2008, Sheik was a judge at the 7th annual Independent Music Awards.

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]

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 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. 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]

Other work

Sheik produced singer-songwriter Micah Green's 2000 debut album^[37] as well as his 2012 follow-up.^{[38] [39] [40]}

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.

In 2006, Sheik recorded the song "A Purple Trail" for Other Songs and Dances, Vol. 1. In 2008, Sheik participated in , an initiative to support Tibet, Dalai Lama, and Tenzin Gyatso.^[41]

Personal life

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]

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Work	Category	Result
1997	Billboard Music Awards	Himself	Top Adult Top 40 Artist
		"Barely Breathing"	Top Adult Top 40 Track
1998	Grammy Awards		Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
1999	BMI Pop Awards		Award-Winning Song
2007	Tony Awards	Spring Awakening	Best Original Score
			Best Orchestrations
	Drama Desk Awards		Outstanding Music
			Outstanding Orchestrations
2008	Grammy Awards		Best Musical Show Album
2016	Outer Critics Circle Awards	American Psycho	Outstanding New Score	Discography Artist: Duncan Sheik Studio: 9 Live: 1 Compilation: 2 Ep: 2 Singles: 23 Option: 1 Option Name: Remix albums Albums Studio albums Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications (sales threshold) US ^[46] US Heat ^[47] 1996 Duncan Sheik Release date: May 20, 1996 Label: Atlantic, Rhino Formats: CD, cassette, digital download, streaming 83 1 US: Gold^[48] 1998 Humming Release date: October 6, 1998 Label: Atlantic, Rhino Formats: CD, cassette, digital download, streaming 163 — 2001 Phantom Moon Release date: February 27, 2001 Label: Nonesuch Formats: CD, cassette, digital download, streaming — — 2002 Daylight Release date: August 22, 2002 Label: Atlantic, Rhino Formats: CD, cassette, digital download, streaming 110 — 2006 White Limousine Release date: January 26, 2006 Label: Zoë Formats: CD+DVD, digital download, streaming — — 2009 Whisper House Release date: January 27, 2009 Label: RCA Victor, Sony BMG, Masterworks Broadway Formats: LP, CD, digital download, streaming 181 — 2011 Covers 80s Release date: June 7, 2011 Label: Sneaky Formats: CD, digital download, streaming — — 2015 Legerdemain Release date: October 9, 2015 Label: Sneaky Formats: CD, digital download, streaming — — 2022 Claptrap Release date: August 26, 2022 Label: AntiFragile Formats: Digital download, streaming — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart Compilation albums Year Album details 2006 Release date: October 23, 2006 Label: Rhino Formats: 2xCD, digital download, streaming 2007 Greatest Hits - Brighter: A Duncan Sheik Collection Release date: March 6, 2007 Label: Rhino Formats: CD, digital download, streaming Extended plays Year Album details 2005 Rhino Hi-Five: Duncan Sheik Release date: September 20, 2005 Label: Rhino, Warner Strategic Marketing Formats: Digital download, streaming 2011 Harvest (Music from the Motion Picture) Release date: May 3, 2011 Label: Harvest Film Formats: Digital download, streaming Singles Year Single Peak chart positions Album 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" — — — — — — style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3" 2020 "Barely Breathing 2020 'Dear 45'" — — — — — — 2021 "Better Things For Better Living" — — — — — — 2022 "Experience" — — — — — — Claptrap "Maybe" — — — — — — "Something Happening Here" — — — — — — "Chimera II" — — — — — — "There's No Telling" — — — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart Stage credits Twelfth Night – 2002 Nero (Another Golden Rome) – 2006 (San Francisco)^[55] ^[56] Spring Awakening – 2006 The Nightingale – 2003, 2005 (workshop) 2006 (based on The Nightingale) Whisper House – 2010 (Old Globe Theatre, San Diego) Carson McCullers Talks About Love (with Suzanne Vega) — 2011 (Off-Broadway)^[57] ^[58] Alice by Heart – 2012 American Psycho — 2013^[59] The Taming of the Shrew — 2016 (Washington, DC)^[60] The Secret Life of Bees — 2019 (Atlantic Theater Company, New York), 2023 (Almeida Theatre, London) Film and television credits 1996 "Barely Breathing", Party of Five "Reasons for Living", ER 1997 "In the Absence of Sun", The Saint "Serena", Fall 1998 Beverly Hills 90210, onscreen, uncredited, episode "The Morning After" "Wishful Thinking", Great Expectations 1999 "Alibi", Teaching Mrs. Tingle "That Says It All", Three to Tango 2000 "View from the Other Side", Friends "A Body Goes Down", Jeff Buckley: Goodbye and Hello "Now or Never", Boys and Girls 2002 "On a High", Birds of Prey 2003 "Half Life", What a Girl Wants "Beyond the Sea" (performed as Bobby Darin), American Dreams 2004 "Something Somewhere"/"There's a Home", A Home at the End of the World 2005 "I Am a Pilgrim", Transamerica 2007 "Barely Breathing", Cold Case "I Wouldn't Mind"/"As Shadows Do", The Cake Eaters 2010 "Mama Who Bore Me", 90210 2012 "Barely Breathing", Glee "Barely Breathing", Girls See also List of number-one dance hits (United States) List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart External links Duncan Sheik at Rounder Records

Notes and References

1. Web site: Duncan Sheik gets his Jersey on in South Orange. Lisa. Rose. March 8, 2010. nj.com.
2. Web site: Fox. Sandra Diamond. November 18, 2015. Happy Birthday To Garrison's Duncan Shiek. Putnam Daily Voice.
3. Web site: Matsumoto. Jon. April 15, 1997. Waiting to Exhale : 'Barely Breathing' Singer-Songwriter Duncan Sheik, Busy Touring, Can't Wait to Get Back in the Studio. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20190621050618/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-04-15-ca-48742-story.html. 21 June 2019. The Los Angeles Times.
4. Web site: Smith. Jenn. 8 April 2015. Duncan Sheik to roll out new material at Drury show. The Berkshire Eagle.
5. Loveline, September 8, 1996.
6. Web site: Price. Betsy. 5 May 2015. Duncan Sheik talks about composing for 'Winn-Dixie'. delawareonline.
7. Web site: Gold & Platinum. 22 January 2021. RIAA.
8. Duncan Sheik Barely Breathing Chart History. Billboard.
9. Web site: Boskamp. Elsie. Update: East End Favorites Expected To Rock Out During Inaugural Hamptons Music Festival – The Arts – Live Music View. www.hamptons.com. October 15, 2014 .
10. Web site: Iwasaki. Scott. February 1, 2008. New awakening spurs 2nd Grammy bid for Sheik. DeseretNews.com.
11. Web site: Iwasaki. Scott. July 7, 1999. The people have their say: Hojo rocks. DeseretNews.com.
12. Web site: Hetrick. Adam. 8 January 2009. Track List Announced for Sheik's 'Whisper House'; Concert Dates Added. 23 January 2021. Playbill.
13. Jones, Kenneth (May 3, 2009). "Old Globe Will Premiere Duncan Sheik's Whisper House and Bricusse's Sammy Davis Jr. Musical". Playbill.
14. Rothstein, Mervyn (January 20, 2010). "A Ghostly Awakening: Duncan Sheik's Whisper House". Playbill.
15. News: Miller. Michael H.. 8 June 2011. Duncan Sheik Cancels Tour Dates to Deal with Alcohol-Related Addiction. Observer.com. February 16, 2012.
16. Web site: Kevin Thomas . Duncan, chic . Dallasvoice.com . November 30, 2012 . December 4, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151208071424/http://www.dallasvoice.com/duncan-chic-10132949.html . December 8, 2015 . dead .
17. Web site: Powers. Ann. October 16, 2014. Hear Two Songs From Duncan Sheik's Next Album : The Record. December 4, 2015. NPR.
18. News: PUBLIC LIVES; Decisions, Decisions. Name Recognition or Nirvana? . The New York Times . Robin . Finn . July 2, 2002.
19. Theakston, Rob. "A Home at the End of the World Original Soundtrack" allmusic.com, retrieved July 24, 2019
20. Catsoulis, Jeanette. "Review. Through the Fire. The Golden Road to a Basketball Dream" The New York Times, February 10, 2006
21. Scheib, Ronnie (July 14, 2005). "Review. Through the Fire". Variety.
22. Web site: 29 April 2011. Duncan Sheik In Concert. NPR.
23. Web site: McPhee. Ryan. October 18, 2018. Spring Awakening Writers Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater at Work on Twelfth Night-Inspired Amazon Musical Series. Playbill.
24. Web site: Wallenberg. Christopher. December 10, 2018. From the Archives: Jonathan Groff, Lea Michele, and John Gallagher Jr. of Spring Awakening Reflect on 'Surreal' Success. Playbill.
25. Web site: Gans. Andrew. February 10, 2008. Spring Awakening Wins 2008 Best Musical Show Album Grammy; Krieger and Dale Also Win. Playbill.
26. Web site: Anthony. Ellen. Hidden Broadway Treasures Revealed. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110923164730/http://www.broadway.tv/broadway-features-reviews/Hidden-Broadway-Treasures-Revealed. September 23, 2011. December 4, 2015. Broadway.TV.
27. Web site: Cerasaro. Pat. 16 November 2012. BWW EXCLUSIVE SCOOP: Duncan Sheik Teases SPRING AWAKENING Movie; Filming in Spring 2013 & New Cast?. December 4, 2015. BroadwayWorld.
28. Web site: Hetrick. Adam. 24 May 2011. EXCLUSIVE: Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik Workshopping New 'Alice' Musical at London's National Theatre. 23 January 2021. Playbill.
29. Cox. Gordon. February 2, 2010. 'American Psycho' musical takes shape. Variety. 23 January 2021.
30. Web site: Simonson. Robert. July 17, 2015. In Case You Missed It: Duncan Sheik Is Having a Busy Season and Do Critics Have Faith in Amazing Grace?. August 2, 2022. Playbill.
31. Web site: Purcell. Carey. July 18, 2013. Because of Winn Dixie, New Musical by Duncan Sheik and Nell Benjamin, Will Premiere in Arkansas; John Tartaglia Directs. August 2, 2022. Playbill.
32. Verini, Bob (July 22, 2019). "From Connecticut: Because of Winn Dixie is Not Arf Bad". New York Stage Review.
33. Web site: McPhee. Ryan. July 22, 2015. Exclusive: Duncan Sheik on His New Show Noir, American Psycho Casting & Spring Awakening Film's Delay. December 4, 2015. Broadway.com.
34. Web site: Noir. July 24, 2019. powerhouse.vassar.edu.
35. Viagas, Robert (July 6, 2015). "NAMT Flash: Busy Duncan Sheik Has Another New Musical in the Pipeline". Playbill.
36. Marks, Peter (May 25, 2016). "Shakespeare Theatre Company’s ‘Shrew’: An all-male muddle". Washington Post.
37. Web site: The Top 100 Artists on ARTISTdirect – Pop, Rock & Hip Hop Music Styles – Free Music Download, Music Video, MP3 music and Music CD . Artistdirect.com . December 4, 2015.
38. Web site: August 28, 2012. Duncan Sheik produced Micah Green's latest album I Know, I Know, I Know, due out Tuesday August 28th via MRI/Sneaky Records « Duncan Sheik Duncan Sheik – Official Website. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20121014003738/http://www.duncansheik.com/duncan-sheik-produced-micah-greens-latest-album-i-know-i-know-i-know-due-out-tuesday-august-28th-via-mrisneaky-records. 14 October 2012. December 4, 2015. DuncanSheik.com.
39. Farber, Jim (September 2, 2012). "The top 10 CD picks for the week of Sept. 2, 2012". New York Daily News.
40. https://www.last.fm/music/Micah+Green/+wiki "Micah Green Biography"
41. Web site: Finn. Natalie. July 22, 2008. Sting, Matthews, Mayer Gamer for Tibet Than Beijing. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20080724212652/http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/b147502_sting_matthews_mayer_gamer_tibet_beijing.html. 24 July 2008. December 5, 2019. E! Online.
42. Web site: Peter Vidani . Duncan Sheik News Archive (Message + Song From Duncan) . Dsnews.tumblr.com . February 16, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160107204143/http://dsnews.tumblr.com/post/9345502953/message-song-from-duncan . January 7, 2016 .
43. Web site: Wong. Curtis M.. 2020-11-19. Duncan Sheik Looks Beyond 'Barely Breathing' To Deliver Moody Pop For Chaotic Times. 23 January 2021. HuffPost.
44. Web site: Cheong. Justin. 3 February 2016. Singapore Supermodel Nora Ariffin Talks About Stripping And Surviving In The 80s. March 18, 2018. HerWorld.
45. News: SGI-USA Arts Division Conference. February 8, 2008. Soka Gakkai International News. https://web.archive.org/web/20131020134207/http://www.sgi.org/news/events/events2008/events080211.html. October 20, 2013. dead.
46. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=Duncan Sheik|chart=Billboard 200}} Duncan Sheik Album & Song Chart History (Billboard 200)]. Billboard. August 10, 2014.
47. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mw0000184350/charts-awards|pure_url=yes}} allmusic (((Duncan Sheik > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums)))]. Allmusic. August 10, 2014.
48. Web site: RIAA – Gold & Platinum – August 10, 2014: Duncan Sheik certified albums. Recording Industry Association of America. August 10, 2014.
49. Web site: Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . December 4, 2015.
50. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=duncan sheik|chart=all}} Duncan Sheik Album & Song Chart History – Hot 100]. Billboard. March 26, 2011.
51. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=duncan sheik|chart=Adult Contemporary}} Duncan Sheik Album & Song Chart History – Adult Contemporary]. Billboard. March 26, 2011.
52. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=duncan sheik|chart=Adult Pop Songs}} Duncan Sheik Album & Song Chart History – Adult Pop Songs]. Billboard. March 26, 2011.
53. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=duncan sheik|chart=Dance/Club Play Songs}} Duncan Sheik Album & Song Chart History – Dance/Club Play Songs]. Billboard. March 26, 2011.
54. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=duncan sheik|chart=Pop Songs B}} Duncan Sheik Album & Song Chart History – Pop Songs]. Billboard. March 26, 2011.
55. Hetrick, Adam (November 15, 2007). "Sater and Sheik's The Nightingale Tries Its Wings in NYC with Chorus Line's Tam". Playbill.
56. Harvey, Dennis (February 26, 2006). "Review. Nero (Another Golden Rome). Variety.
57. Web site: Suskin. Steven. 2011-05-06. Carson McCullers Talks About Love. Variety.
58. Hetrick, Adam (April 20, 2011). "Suzanne Vega Debuts Carson McCullers Talks About Love Off-Broadway April 20". Playbill.
59. Web site: Jones. Kenneth. 2 February 2010. Duncan Sheik and Robert Aguirre-Sacasa Will Make American Psycho Sing. 2021-01-23. Playbill.
60. Web site: The Taming of the Shrew. Shakespeare Theatre Company.