With ‘Barely Breathing’, Duncan Sheik Became an Accidental Pop Star
Sheik’s song “Barely Breathing” spent 55 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the late 1990s. But the success only propelled him closer to Broadway.
Duncan Sheik, a singer-songwriter and composer, has died at the age of 56 from organ failure. His song "Barely Breathing" from his 1996 self-titled debut spent 55 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 16, according to the Malay Mail.
Sheik's success with "Barely Breathing" earned him a Grammy nomination. However, his most enduring impact came a decade later with the musical Spring Awakening, which he created with lyricist and playwright Steven Sater. The rock-infused adaptation of Frank Wedekind's 19th-century play opened on Broadway in 2006 and ran for over 860 performances.
Spring Awakening won eight Tony Awards, including best musical, as well as the Grammy for best musical show album. The original cast included performers such as Jonathan Groff. Sheik told the Associated Press in 2007 that he and Sater aimed to "shake things up a bit" and create a "really cool piece of theatre," the Malay Mail reported.
Brief written by urgent.news from NYT Arts, Malay Mail — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
