{"id":99845,"date":"2026-09-18T16:17:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T16:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/duncan-sheik-singer-songwriter-behind-barely-breathing-and-broadways-spring-awakening-dies-at-56\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T16:17:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T16:17:26","slug":"duncan-sheik-singer-songwriter-behind-barely-breathing-and-broadways-spring-awakening-dies-at-56","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/duncan-sheik-singer-songwriter-behind-barely-breathing-and-broadways-spring-awakening-dies-at-56\/","title":{"rendered":"Duncan Sheik, singer-songwriter behind &#8220;Barely Breathing&#8221; and Broadway&#8217;s &#8220;Spring Awakening,&#8221; dies at 56"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>Duncan Sheik, the singer behind the &#8217;90s hit &#8220;Barely Breathing&#8221; and later the Tony Award-winning composer of Broadway&#8217;s &#8220;Spring Awakening,&#8221; has died at 56 years old, his family said Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sheik died Thursday from cardiac arrest, his mother Suzanne Sheik told The New York Times. Sheik&#8217;s family <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Ddbq0xIxObY\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said on Instagram<\/a>\u00a0he died on Thursday &#8220;surrounded by love.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His family had previously\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theduncansheik\/p\/DdXf1kmpfW1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said on social media<\/a> on Thursday that Sheik was &#8220;receiving medical care&#8221; and was in critical but stable condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/09\/18\/c82912d9-5b13-4a02-922b-2eff1602c864\/thumbnail\/620x414\/b28d64c17275d36a2e6cd5ccda2b4808\/gettyimages-596443037.jpg#\" alt=\"Duncan Sheik \" height=\"414\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/09\/18\/c82912d9-5b13-4a02-922b-2eff1602c864\/thumbnail\/620x414\/b28d64c17275d36a2e6cd5ccda2b4808\/gettyimages-596443037.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/09\/18\/c82912d9-5b13-4a02-922b-2eff1602c864\/thumbnail\/1240x828\/ecd8a3a1f4caa9f7b5e65d144096e1ac\/gettyimages-596443037.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Duncan Sheik performs at Carnegie Hall in New York on Nov. 21, 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Jack Vartoogian \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Sheik moved to Los Angeles to work as a musician in the early 1990s, and rose to pop stardom with the 1996 single &#8220;Barely Breathing.&#8221; The song charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/duncan-sheik\/chart-history\/hsi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">over a year<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He continued to release music throughout the &#8217;90s and early 2000s. In 1999, Broadway playwright Steven Sater approached Sheik to discuss working together on a musical based on the German play &#8220;Spring Awakening.&#8221; Their eventual collaboration would lead to a musical of the same name that opened on Broadway in 2007 and starred <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/broadway-baby-lea-michele-is-back-where-it-all-began\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Lea Michele<\/a><\/span>, <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/jonathan-groff-merrily-we-roll-along-tony-awards\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Jonathan Groff<\/a><\/span> and <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/newyork\/pictures\/75th-annual-tony-awards-red-carpet\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">John Gallagher Jr<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Spring Awakening&#8221; went on to win eight Tony Awards, including best musical. Sheik won best orchestrations and best original musical score. The show is due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/newyork\/video\/open-call-for-spring-awakening-revival-draws-crowds-of-young-performers\/?intcid=CNM-00-10abd1h\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">return to New York City<\/a> with an off-Broadway run in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/09\/18\/3a8a0289-e63b-43b6-95e9-4e5180e26586\/thumbnail\/620x437\/fae54d07e5b83763b8044cec8e5e180b\/ap070610028121.jpg#\" alt=\"ap070610028121.jpg \" height=\"437\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/09\/18\/3a8a0289-e63b-43b6-95e9-4e5180e26586\/thumbnail\/620x437\/fae54d07e5b83763b8044cec8e5e180b\/ap070610028121.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/09\/18\/3a8a0289-e63b-43b6-95e9-4e5180e26586\/thumbnail\/1240x874\/f279d6ad5a6d833f691c9e634a83b528\/ap070610028121.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Duncan Sheik, left, and Steven Sater pose with their Tony Awards for best original score for their musical &#8220;Spring Awakening&#8221; on June 10, 2007.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Richard Drew\/AP<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Sheik also worked on a musical adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis&#8217; &#8220;American Psycho,&#8221; which bowed on Broadway in 2016, and &#8220;Alice by Heart,&#8221; a musical retelling of &#8220;Alice in Wonderland&#8221; that played off-Broadway in 2018. He also continued to release his own music.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sheik is survived by his parents, his wife Nora, their daughter Ines, and two half-siblings, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/18\/arts\/music\/duncan-sheik-dead.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The New York Times reported<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Duncan was a father, husband, son, brother, and friend,&#8221; his family said on Instagram. &#8220;He will be remembered for his sensitivity, wit, inteligence, and depth of spirit he brought to those who knew and loved him.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  \">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">More from CBS News<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"component__item-recirc-block\">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">Go deeper with The Free Press<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__tags\">\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/duncan-sheik-singer-barely-breathing-spring-awakening-dies\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Duncan Sheik, the singer behind the &#8217;90s hit &#8220;Barely Breathing&#8221; and later the Tony Award-winning composer of Broadway&#8217;s &#8220;Spring Awakening,&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[352,1541],"class_list":["post-99845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-music","tag-obituary"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Duncan Sheik, singer-songwriter behind &quot;Barely Breathing&quot; and Broadway&#039;s &quot;Spring Awakening,&quot; dies at 56 - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Duncan Sheik died on Thursday night, his family said.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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