Duncan Sheik

New Jersey singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik moved to Los Angeles after finishing his studies at Brown University and began playing guitar with fellow Brown alumni Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell in their band Liz and Lisa. Whilst at Brown Sheik met Tracee Ellis Ross, daughter of The Supremes vocalist Diana Ross and she subsequently introduced him to the band His Boy Elroy. Sheik played on their self-titled 1993 album and this helped launch his career as a solo artist and he signed to Atlantic.

His debut album went gold and spawned the top 20 single 'Barely Breathing' which set a new record by remaining in the Billboard Hot 100 for 55 consecutive weeks and earned him a Grammy nomination.

The success of 'Barely Breathing' led to Sheik being commissioned to write tracks for a variety of film and TV scores. In 2006 Sheik's long awaited musical 'Spring Awakening' was released. Ten years in the making, the musical opened on Broadway to an enthusiastic reception from critics and theatre goers garnering no less than eight prestigious Tony Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards for its West End production and a subsequent Grammy Award for the soundtrack album. Sheik maintains his career as a solo artist but is best known for his stage, TV and film music work.