Duncan Sheik, the Tony Award-winning composer of “Spring Awakening” and the singer-songwriter known for the hit “Barely Breathing,” has died at 56, according to a post on his Instagram account.
A statement posted Friday morning said the “father, husband, son, brother, and friend” died Thursday night while “surrounded by love.”
Earlier this week, Sheik’s family shared a message on his Instagram saying that he was receiving medical care and was in critical but stable condition.
“The world has lost a singular talent, and deeply influential voice in music and theater,” Friday’s statement said. “From his Grammy-nominated hit ‘Barely Breathing’ to his groundbreaking, Tony and Grammy Award-winning work on Spring Awakening, Duncan’s artistry touched many and leaves an indelible mark on the cultural landscape.”
Born Nov. 18, 1969, in Montclair, New Jersey, Sheik broke through in 1996 with his self-titled debut album, which featured “Barely Breathing.”
The song reached No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned Sheik a Grammy nomination for best male pop vocal performance.
He followed his debut with the albums “Humming” in 1998, “Phantom Moon” in 2001 and “Daylight” in 2002.
Though “Barely Breathing” made Sheik a prominent singer-songwriter, he later broadened his career into musical theater and found major success as a composer.
Working with lyricist Steven Sater, Sheik composed the music for “Spring Awakening,” which opened on Broadway in 2006.
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In a 2015 interview with Broadcast Music, Inc., Sheik said that while creating the score for “Spring Awakening,” he was not “a huge fan” of the music then being made for Broadway. He said he wanted to create music that could reach an audience “beyond the normal crowd that would go to a Broadway musical.”
The rock musical, based on Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play and starring Jonathan Groff, Lea Michele and John Gallagher, became a major success. It won eight Tony Awards in 2007, including best musical, best original score and best orchestrations.
He went on to compose music for several other stage productions, including “American Psycho,” “Because of Winn-Dixie” and more. He also collaborated with Sater again on “Alice by Heart” and “The Secret Life of Bees.”
In his interview with Broadcast Music, Inc., he added that working on musical theater has “helped broaden my palette.”
Sheik went on to release several more albums throughout his career, including “White Limousine,” “Whisper House,” “Covers 80s,” “Legerdemain” and “Claptrap.”
In May, it was announced that Sheik’s new musical, “Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen,” would make its off-Broadway debut this fall. The musical is based on Moyoco Anno’s manga graphic novel of the same name.
In a statement shared in a press release, Sheik said he was “a bit flummoxed” about writing the score about a famous manga, but was ultimately “excited to help put this work in front of an audience.“
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