Duncan Sheik Dead at 56, 'Barely Breathing' Singer and Spring Awakening Creator...

Duncan Sheik, the New Jersey-born songwriter behind the 1996 pop-rock staple "Barely Breathing," died of cardiac arrest in a Manhattan hospital at 56. The song spent 55 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned him a Grammy nomination, but Sheik later found greater cultural impact through Broadway, composing the score for Spring Awakening—the 2006 Tony Award–winning musical adaptation of Frank Wedekind's play that introduced his alt-rock approach to teen angst and sexuality to a generation of theatergoers. He continued writing for stage musicals, including adaptations of American Psycho and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.