Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and composer Duncan Sheik has died at the age of 56, just hours after reports emerged that he had been hospitalized in New York City in critical condition.

Sheik, best known for his 1996 breakthrough single Barely Breathing, died of organ failure on Wednesday, according to a moving statement issued by a spokesman.

The statement said: ‘It is with profound sadness that we confirm the passing of Duncan Sheik.

‘The world has lost a singular talent and a deeply influential voice in music and theater.

‘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.

‘Duncan was a father, husband, son, brother, and friend. He will be remembered for the sensitivity, wit, intelligence, and depth of spirit he brought to those who knew and loved him.

‘We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love from his fans, friends, collaborators, and the artistic community.

‘His musical legacy will continue to inspire generations to come. Duncan passed away last night surrounded by love.’

Sheik is survived by his wife, Nora Ariffin, and their 7-year-old daughter Ines. 

As well as his recording career, Sheik’s adaptation of Spring Awakening racked up a number of Tony Award wins in 2007, including Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations.

His death comes hours after his team revealed he was in ‘critical but stable condition’ in an Instagram statement.

The statement continued: ‘We kindly ask for privacy during this incredibly difficult time and will provide updates when appropriate. Thank you for the continued love and support.’

It was not clear what specific health issue had caused the performer to be taken in for medical care.  

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Sheik.

Barely Breathing reached the 16th spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 55 weeks in a row on the chart. 

The track was from his self-titled debut album, which also featured the singles She Runs Away and Reasons for Living.

Sheik has had a busy career as a solo artist, having put out nine studio albums, as well as a composer.

Sheik penned the score for Twelfth Night for the New York Shakespeare Festival in 2002, which marked the beginning of his endeavors in composing. 

He won the Grammy in 2008 for Best Musical Show Album for Spring Awakening (along with Steven Sater). 

An off-Broadway production of Spring Awakening is slated to begin running at the venue Studio Seaview in coming months.

Previews for the limited engagement show are slated to commence on November 27, with opening night slated for December 17 and the final show slated for February 14. The production is based on a Manga written by Moyoco Anno. 

Sheik also has worked on an adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel and film American Psycho, which debuted in London in 2013 and on Broadway three years later.

Speaking with Rolling Stone in 2016, he spoke about his artistic mentality in adapting the macabre production.

‘There’s a version of American Psycho that you could do that is campy, kitschy and incredibly broad and comic,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t interested in that. I wanted it to be a little deeper and more ambiguous weird and strange and, hopefully, beautiful.’

Sheik spoke about the difference of being a solo artist and musical composer in a 2017 chat with Hartford Stage, saying he was satisfied in blending the ‘ability to make music’ with elements such as ‘set designers, light designers, narrative [and] choreography.’

He added: ‘All these other elements that combine together to make a powerful experience on the stage.

‘As a recording/touring artist, I was never at the place where I could afford to tour with the extra trucks full of stuff. It is great to experience the music with all the trappings.’

Sheik told Local Life SC in 2017 that he felt there are ‘two kinds of happiness.

He said: ‘There’s a surface kind of happiness – ‘Oh, I’ve made a lot of money or I won an award,’ and that’s fine. But I’m always searching for a deeper happiness that’s about creating value, doing something that moves other people and being part of a community. That takes work, and I do my best.’

He added that ‘creating value in the world can help you find a deeper happiness.’

The wife of one of the world’s wealthiest men has emerged as a behind-the-scenes force in Michigan athletics, with her alleged role in the firing of former football coach Sherrone Moore sparking conflicting accounts.

Jolin Ellison, the sixth wife of Oracle co-founder and billionaire Larry Ellison, graduated from the Ann Arbor school in 2012 with a degree in international studies. She and her husband are among Michigan’s biggest Name, Image and Likeness, or NIL, contributors, giving roughly $10 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.

After Michigan’s 24-22 victory over Northwestern on Nov. 15, Moore told a colleague that athletic director Warde Manuel had informed him Jolin would stop donating unless the coach was fired.

Jolin disputed that claim.

“I was contributing to Michigan athletics at the time and continued afterward, regardless of the change in head coach,” she told the publication. 

Moore was ultimately fired on Dec. 10 over an alleged affair with staffer Paige Shriver. He was later arrested on charges of home invasion, stalking and breaking and entering.

Jolin said she did meet with Manuel weeks before Moore’s dismissal and told him that, if the rumors were confirmed, she did not believe Moore should remain Michigan’s coach.

CBS Sports reported last year that the alleged relationship between Moore and Shriver was considered the “worst-kept secret” within the football program.

Manuel declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal on the allegations.

Moore also told former colleagues that Jolin was unusually involved with the team, alleging that she “frequently called and texted him.”

Ex-staffers told the outlet that Jolin reached out more than any other booster.

Moore reportedly became so miffed by the development that he made one staffer her go-to contact, and she allegedly conversed about the team’s play.

Jolin countered that she sent Moore three texts between September and December of last year: two congratulatory messages after wins and one other unspecified note. She told the outlet she may have called him once.

“I certainly did not question or advise any Michigan coaches about in-game play-calling after every game,” she told the publication.

Jolin’s influence within the football program goes back even further.

Her foray into booster status reportedly began during Michigan’s 2023 champion season when she emailed the school’s NIL group, Champions Circle.

She later received credit for helping flip former No. 1 prospect Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood from LSU in 2024 for an NIL deal worth at least $10 million.

The Wall Street Journal said that deal is worth $3 million per season and that recruiting win was considered transformational for the program.

After Michigan landed Underwood, Champions Circle thanked Jolin.

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Michigan is spending roughly $36 million-40 million on its 2026 roster, according to The Athletic, which ranks inside the top 15 in the sport.

“We are very excited to keep Bryce home in Michigan as he continues to build his legacy,” Champions Circle said in a December 2024 statement. “I want to personally thank Larry and his wife Jolin who were instrumental in making this happen by providing Champions Circle with invaluable guidance and financial resources.

“Jolin, a proud Michigan alum, shared ‘I am a big fan of the University of Michigan and Michigan Athletics. We are excited to support our student-athletes, so they can go compete at the highest level in college sports.’”

Jolin has also aided the national-title winning men’s basketball team, reportedly donating $1 million to the team’s approximate $12 million budget last year.

Forrmer coach Dusty May — now the head coach of the Mavericks — told the WSJ that Jolin asked him about recruiting and team development during an event at her family’s Florida estate earlier this year.

Former Michigan staffers told the publication that she helped land other Michigan stars, hosted young players for workout and food and even texted feedback to employees.

“The coaches decide which players they want, how they want to run the team,” Jolin told the Wall Street Journal, “and we as Michigan supporters help support their efforts.”

Champions Circle co-founder and CEO Jared Wangler lauded Jolin for her efforts.

“A woman without a traditional athletics background becoming actively involved in a part of college sports historically dominated by older white men should be celebrated, not viewed with suspicion,” he told the outlet. “I hope her example inspires more people from different backgrounds to get involved.”

Beyond donations to the school’s elite athletic department, Jolin has taken on an important behind-the-scenes roll that has her among the who’s who of Wolverines backers.

Larry, the world’s seventh-richest person with a net worth of $192 billion, per Forbes, reportedly held a May barbecue at his Palm Beach County, Fla. estate that featured prominent Michigan figures.

Jolin hosted a meeting that day that included Larry, Manuel, board of regents members and the school’s top donor, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, per the WSJ.

Regent Michael Behm told the outlet that Jolin proposed creating what the Wall Street Journal described as “a semi-independent entity to pay the university for the use of certain assets, such as premium seating, as a way to raise revenue for athletes.”

They also reportedly discussed placing more premium seating within Michigan Stadium, the home of the football team, and the Crisler Center, the home of the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Behm told the publication that as a public university, though, Michigan does not sell university assets in such manners.

That Jolin would be pitching such ideas shows how fast she has risen in quick time after leaving China to attend the Big Ten school earlier this century.

Jolin told the outlet that sports did not have much of a hold on her in her younger days, but they grew on her after beginning college.

Larry has no known ties to the university aside from his wife, per the outlet.

“I went to my first Michigan football game in Ann Arbor, and for some mysterious reason, I fell in love with it,” she told the WSJ.

She added: “I’m a fan, not a coach or an investor. I support Michigan because I want the team to win—not because I expect anything in return.”

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.“

The Pentagon has published its sixth batch of UFO records, including footage and documents describing groups of alleged unidentified craft moving through the skies across several decades.

Released on Friday morning, the latest collection centers on a well-known 1952 UFO incident near Tremonton, Utah, recorded by a Navy photographer.

The newly disclosed film shows between 10 and 14 bright objects against a clear blue sky. Navy warrant officer Delbert Newhouse, who was vacationing with his family when he made the recording, said the objects appeared to resemble two discs placed one atop the other — the familiar shape associated with a “flying saucer.”

In his incident reports, Newhouse said the UFOs had a gleaming metallic or gunmetal appearance. He described them as moving in a loose circular pattern while generally traveling west.

Project Blue Book, the US Air Force’s former UFO investigation program, spent months examining the footage but was never able to offer a complete explanation for what Newhouse recorded.

More than 70 years later, US military aircraft operating over the Middle East captured another unexplained cluster of UFOs moving in a tightly coordinated formation.

The glowing orbs were seen passing an oil rig at high speed, traveling side by side in an almost flawless horizontal line before separating into smaller groups of three.

The latest files also include dozens of eyewitness accounts, videos of UFO sightings and newly declassified records detailing how a private firm owned by billionaire Robert Bigelow received a Pentagon contract to examine UFO reports and advanced technology.

Among the hundreds of pages of never-before-seen documents released on Friday were expense reports coming from the Defense Intelligence Agency – the Pentagon’s military intelligence service which studies foreign military technology and possible future threats.

The documents detailed how tens of millions of dollars were spent on a program called AAWSAP: Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program. It ran from 2008 to 2012.

Among the futuristic technology the group secretly contracted researchers to investigate were space-age materials including metallic glass, a faster-than-light method of travel known as warp drive, the ability to make objects invisible using a cloaking device and the creatin of laser weapons for the military.

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Among the files, were drawings of an experimental craft that would, in theory, be able to travel to distant planets by creating a ‘warp bubble’ that could allow the ship to travel faster than light by contracting spacetime in front of it and expanding spacetime behind it.

In simpler terms, defense officials were working on a way to move this wheel-shaped ship through space and time without the craft actually moving faster than light locally – like riding through an invisible expressway in the fabric of the universe. 

The files on cloaking reviewed ideas for making an object harder to see by bending or hiding light, heat or radar signals around it.

Meanwhile, researchers also surveyed high-powered laser weapons and how that technology had developed over the years. The Department of War publicly revealed in May that ‘directed energy weapons’ were now a part of the military’s arsenal.

The group awarded the contract for this work was Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS).

BAASS was a company set up by Robert Bigelow, the businessman behind Budget Suites of America and Bigelow Aerospace. He has also been known to have a strong personal interest in UFOs and government transparency.

In July, UFO researcher and documentary filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee alleged that Bigelow was part of President Trump’s inner circle which convinced the president to prepare a speech which would announce the existence of UFOs and extraterrestrial life.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Bigelow for comment on the UFO files and the claims by Lee.

This is a breaking story. More details to follow. 

They’re taking pouch-maxxing to a whole new level.

Capri Sun, the juice-box alternative that defined countless 1990s school lunches, is rolling out its biggest product ever just as summer winds down. The Capri Sun Big Pouch is a supersized metallic version of the brand’s familiar drink pouch, created to mark the final official days of summer. It is also the largest single product in Capri Sun’s 58-year history.

There is one important catch.

Unlike a standard Capri Sun pouch, the Big Pouch arrives empty. Beginning Monday, Sept. 21, shoppers can purchase the $6 metallic pouch on Walmart.com. It stands nine inches tall and holds up to 24 ounces of liquid.

Once it arrives, fans can fill and refill the nostalgic oversized pouch with whatever they choose, from Capri Sun and filtered water to iced coffee. It could even hold pineapple-infused vodka, provided it is consumed legally and responsibly.

The limited-edition Capri Sun Big Pouches will be sold through Walmart’s website until Sept. 24. Inventory will be replenished daily, though only while supplies last.

“Capri Sun fans have strong feelings about the pouches that shaped their childhoods, and that passion plays an important role in how we think about innovation,” Claire Lukaszewski, Capri Sun’s associate brand director, said in a statement.

“There’s an emotional connection to this brand that spans generations, and we don’t take that for granted. We want our fans to have a meaningful role in shaping what we do and the Big Pouch is one way we’re putting that belief into practice.”

Kraft Heinz, which manufactures and distributes Capri Sun products in the United States, described the Capri Sun Big Pouch as the brand’s “fans’ No. 1 request.”

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According to the company, devoted Capri Sun drinkers sent in thousands of requests for a larger pouch. About 80% of customer feedback specifically called for a reusable pouch, a mega-sized drink, or both.

Because of this demand, the company said they’re exploring making the big, reusable pouch into a permanent Capri Sun offering.

“Fans can share feedback using #CapriSunBigPouch to help determine whether the Big Pouch earns a permanent spot in the Capri Sun lineup,” the company said.

It’s not the first time that Capri Sun has admitted that when it comes to juice packs, size does matter.

Just two years ago, Kraft Heinz dropped its Capri Sun Multi-Serve, a 96-fluid-ounce jug worth about 32 pouches of fruit punch.

Capri Sun has also tested the sugary waters of fashion collaborations.

Last year, designer Christian Siriano released a limited-edition $200 “pouch purse” with the brand and debuted it on his September catwalk. And this spring in London, rising runway star Chet Lo made Capri Sun clutches for his catwalk show, with proceeds from the stylish sippers going to support children caught in global war zones.

At just $6, this new Walmart version could be a chance for the trend to go mainstream.