Singer-songwriter and Broadway composer Duncan Sheik has died, according to a post on his Instagram account.
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Sheik → die → account
His mother, Suzanne Sheik, told the New York Times that he died of organ failure and that he died Thursday night.
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he → tell → failure
She did not provide any other details about his condition or what led to the organ failure.
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what → provide → failure
“The world has a lost a singular talent, and deeply influential voice in music and theater.
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world → lose → music
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,” the Instagram statement said.
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statement → nominate → landscape
He will be remembered for his sensitivity, wit, inteligence [sic], and depth of spirit he brought to those who knew and loved him,” it continued.
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it → remember → him
The statement said “We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love from his fans, friends, collaborators, and the artistic community.
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We → say → fans
His musical legacy will continue to inspire generations to come.”
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legacy → continue → generations
“Duncan passed away last night surrounded by love,” the statement added.
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statement → pass → love
Sheik had recently been receiving medical care, with his family saying in a statement on Wednesday that he was in “critical but stable condition.”
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he → receive → condition
At the time, it was not immediately clear what he was being treated for or where.
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he → treat → what
Sheik shared a daughter with his longtime girlfriend, Nora Ariffin, and was a practicing Buddhist.
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Sheik → share → girlfriend
Sheik exploded onto the pop music scene in 1996 with the hit single “Barely Breathing.”
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Sheik → explode → single
The song earned him a Grammy nomination for best male pop vocal performance.
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song → earn → performance
He went on to release nine studio albums over his career, but “Barely Breathing” remains at the top of Sheik’s Spotify page.
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Breathing → go → page
His most recent album was released in 2022.
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album → release → 2022
In 2020, he told HuffPost that he used to resent performing “Barely Breathing” because “it lived on the radio far longer than it should have,” he said.
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he → tell → radio
“And then other things that I was hoping would make it onto the radio never got a chance to, so I was being cock-blocked by my own song at the time.”
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I → hop → time
Breaking out on Broadway
Sheik also found his footing composing for the theater.
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Sheik → break → theater
His first gig for the stage came in 2002, when he composed the music for the New York Shakespeare Festival production of “Twelfth Night.”
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he → come → Night
Sheik saw his biggest theater break in 2006, when he and Steven Sater wrote the music for the breakout Broadway musical “Spring Awakening,” an adaptation from a German play from the 1800s.
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he → see → 1800s
The show proved to be a big break for many: Actors Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff got their first major Broadway jobs playing the starring roles.
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Michele → prove → roles
Sheik went on to win two Tony Awards for the “Spring Awakening” music, including best orchestrations and best original score, which he shared with Sater.
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he → go → Sater
“Spring Awakening” also won best musical that year at the Tony Awards and earned a Grammy Award for best musical show album.
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Awakening → win → album
According to a 2012 Broadway World article, Sheik said he had been working on the music for a film adaptation of “Spring Awakening.”
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he → accord → Awakening
The show’s off-Broadway revival, however, is set to begin previews on Nov. 27 and officially open on Dec. 17.
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revival → set → Dec.
Sheik told freelance music journalist Daniel Van Auke that he met Sater through Buddhism.
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he → tell → Buddhism
He said it was Sater who pitched turning “Spring Awakening” into a musical.
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who → say → musical
“So, Steven said, ‘Why don’t we adapt this show [Spring Awakening] as a musical?’” Sheik recalled to Van Auke in 2024.
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Sheik → say → 2024
“Initially, I was like, ‘It’s a f---ing terrible idea.
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It → ’ → ?
I don’t want to write a musical!’
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I → want → musical
But then we did it!
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we → do → it
And that’s how it went down.”
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it → ’ → ?
Sheik penned the music for several other shows throughout his career, including “Alice by Heart” (2012), “American Psycho” (2013), “The Taming of the Shrew” (2016) and “The Secret Life of Bees” (2019).
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Sheik → pen → 2019
Sheik told Billboard in 2016 that writing the music for “American Psycho” “became very exciting and cool to create a piece of musical theater where you had the initial emergence of house music and early techno and then all the things that came out of it.”
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that → tell → it
He said that, at first, “the main thing was understanding the world Patrick Bateman was living in and what that music might have sounded like.”
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music → say → what
In 2011, Sheik canceled tour dates in support of his album “Cover 80s.”
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Sheik → cancel → album
In a since-archived post from Sheik’s Tumblr account, the artist told fans he had been receiving care for alcohol addiction at the time.
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he → archive → time
“While this episode may sound like a low point, the experience actually confirmed for me how much I want to go forward in my creative life, and how much I sincerely value all of those who have supported me,” Sheik wrote in the post.
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Sheik → sound → post
After receiving treatment, Sheik wrote he was working on music for several musical theater projects while spending time in Jakarta, Indonesia.
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he → receive → Jakarta
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
