Jake Shears
Encyclopedia
Jake Shears is the lead male vocalist for the American
music group Scissor Sisters
.
mother, Shears grew up on San Juan Island
, north of Seattle While living on San Juan Island, he attended school at Friday Harbor High School, where he was bullied. At 18, he moved into a dorm at The Northwest School in Seattle and finished high school there.
Shears attended Occidental College
in Los Angeles
. At 19, he traveled to Lexington, Kentucky
to visit a classmate, who introduced him to Scott Hoffman
(Babydaddy). Shears and Hoffman hit it off immediately and, a year later, both moved to New York
.
, who later called his advice "the worst I've ever given".
In 2010, he participated in Savage's It Gets Better Project.
In New York, Shears attended The New School
's Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts
, where he studied fiction writing and was classmates with Travis Jeppesen
, and wrote pieces for the gay
magazine HX. For a while, Shears, who is openly
gay, was a fixture on the New York gay and electroclash
scene.
In 2000, Shears also worked as a music reviewer for Paper magazine
.
, where Shears lived. After a couple years struggling in New York (working with record label A Touch of Class, who produced "Comfortably Numb" and "Filthy/Gorgeous"), the Sisters finally found success in the UK
and Ireland
—ending 2004 with the biggest-selling album of the year in the UK.
In concert
, Shears is known for provocative dancing, flamboyant outfits, and near-nudity. (During his early years while he was struggling to make it in New York, he would often earn extra money as a Go-go dancer
and male erotic dancer at gay-oriented strip clubs.) His musical influences include ABBA
, Blondie
, David Bowie
, Duran Duran
, Roxy Music
, The New York Dolls, Queen
, Cyndi Lauper
, Madonna
, Paul McCartney
, Pet Shop Boys
, The Beatles
, and Dolly Parton
. He, along with his band, has become especially popular in the queer
community. The Scissor Sisters video for Filthy/Gorgeous
was directed by John Cameron Mitchell
after Shears met him at a gathering of the Radical Faeries
.
Shears attended Sir Elton John
's "stag" party before John's civil partnership
ceremony with David Furnish
in 2005. John and Shears discussed each other in The Observer
in 2006.
's Andy Bell
on "Thought It Was You", on Bell's 2005 album
Electric Blue
.
He has also collaborated with Tiga
with Hot in Herre
, You Gonna Want Me and What You Need from the new Tiga album Ciao!
, as well as on Finnish House musician Luomo's "If I Can't".
He and Babydaddy also co-wrote with Kylie Minogue
on the hit single
"I Believe in You
" for Minogue's greatest hits compulation, Ultimate Kylie
. Shears and Minogue also co-wrote "Too Much" with Calvin Harris
for her number one selling album Aphrodite.
In 2011 Shears collaborated with John Garden to write the music for a musical version of the book Tales of the City
. The show is directed by Jason Moore
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
music group Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters are an American band "spawned by the scuzzy, gay nightlife scene of New York" who took their name from a sexual position between two women also known as tribadism...
.
Early life and education
Born in Arizona as the son of an entrepreneur father and a BaptistBaptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
mother, Shears grew up on San Juan Island
San Juan Island
San Juan Island is the second-largest and most populous of the San Juan Islands in northwestern Washington, United States. It has a land area of 142.59 km² and a population of 6,822 as of the 2000 census....
, north of Seattle While living on San Juan Island, he attended school at Friday Harbor High School, where he was bullied. At 18, he moved into a dorm at The Northwest School in Seattle and finished high school there.
Shears attended Occidental College
Occidental College
Occidental College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887, Occidental College, or "Oxy" as it is called by students and alumni, is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. At 19, he traveled to Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
to visit a classmate, who introduced him to Scott Hoffman
Babydaddy
Scott Hoffman , known by his stage name Babydaddy, is the Ivor Novello Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, backing vocalist and lyricist for the American glam rock band, Scissor Sisters...
(Babydaddy). Shears and Hoffman hit it off immediately and, a year later, both moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Coming out
Shears came out to his parents at the urging of Dan SavageDan Savage
Daniel Keenan "Dan" Savage is an American author, media pundit, journalist and newspaper editor. Savage writes the internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column Savage Love. Its tone is frank in its discussion of sexuality, often humorous, and hostile to social conservatives, as in...
, who later called his advice "the worst I've ever given".
In 2010, he participated in Savage's It Gets Better Project.
Career
Shears' early performances include a play of Narnia in 1993, directed by Fred Yockers.In New York, Shears attended The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
's Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts
Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts
Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts is the seminar-style, undergraduate, liberal arts college of The New School university. It is located on-campus in New York City's Greenwich Village on West 11th Street off 6th Avenue.-History:...
, where he studied fiction writing and was classmates with Travis Jeppesen
Travis Jeppesen
Travis Jeppesen , Florida is an American novelist, poet, and art critic.He grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and moved to New York City at the age of 17. He received his B.A. from The New School, where he studied literature and philosophy...
, and wrote pieces for the gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
magazine HX. For a while, Shears, who is openly
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
gay, was a fixture on the New York gay and electroclash
Electroclash
Electroclash is a style of music that fuses New Wave and electronic dance music. It emerged in New York and Detroit in the later 1990s, pioneered by acts including I-F and those associated with Gerald Donald, and is associated with acts including Peaches, Adult, and Fischerspooner...
scene.
In 2000, Shears also worked as a music reviewer for Paper magazine
Paper (magazine)
Paper magazine is a New York City–based independent magazine covering and discovering cultural movements with a focus on fashion, design, pop-culture, nightlife, music, art and film. The magazine covers trends, new creative talent, urban American lifestyle as well as international lifestyles and...
.
Scissor Sisters
Shears and Hoffman formed the Scissor Sisters in 2001 as a kind of performance art lark, playing outrageous shows in clubs like Luxx, the heart of the electroclash scene in Williamsburg, BrooklynWilliamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...
, where Shears lived. After a couple years struggling in New York (working with record label A Touch of Class, who produced "Comfortably Numb" and "Filthy/Gorgeous"), the Sisters finally found success in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
—ending 2004 with the biggest-selling album of the year in the UK.
In concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
, Shears is known for provocative dancing, flamboyant outfits, and near-nudity. (During his early years while he was struggling to make it in New York, he would often earn extra money as a Go-go dancer
Go-Go dancing
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at a discotheque. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s when women at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City began to get up on tables and dance the twist...
and male erotic dancer at gay-oriented strip clubs.) His musical influences include ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
, Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
, Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
, The New York Dolls, Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, and Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
. He, along with his band, has become especially popular in the queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
community. The Scissor Sisters video for Filthy/Gorgeous
Filthy/Gorgeous
"Filthy/Gorgeous" is a song by American disco group Scissor Sisters and is the seventh track on their self-titled debut album . It was released as the last single from that album in the UK and despite this, it was surprisingly successful commercially, peaking at #5 in the UK Singles Chart in...
was directed by John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell is an American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus and Rabbit Hole.- Early life:...
after Shears met him at a gathering of the Radical Faeries
Radical Faeries
The Radical Faeries are a loosely-affiliated, worldwide network and counter-cultural movement seeking to reject hetero-imitation and redefine queer identity through spirituality. The Radical Faerie movement started in the United States among gay men during the 1970s sexual and counterculture...
.
Shears attended Sir Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
's "stag" party before John's civil partnership
Civil partnerships in the United Kingdom
Civil partnerships in the United Kingdom, granted under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, give same-sex couples rights and responsibilities identical to civil marriage...
ceremony with David Furnish
David Furnish
David James Furnish is a Canadian/British filmmaker, former advertising executive, and now a film director and producer most known for his documentary Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras...
in 2005. John and Shears discussed each other in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
in 2006.
Other credits
Shears performs with ErasureErasure
Erasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...
's Andy Bell
Andy Bell (singer)
Andrew Ivan "Andy" Bell is the lead singer of the English synthpop duo Erasure. He also has a solo career, with the albums Non-Stop and Electric Blue.-Early life:Andy Bell originates from the Dogsthorpe area in Peterborough...
on "Thought It Was You", on Bell's 2005 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Electric Blue
Electric blue
Electric blue is a very bright color reminiscent of a spark, named after the color of an argon sign. It is very similar to cyan.Additionally, the term may refer to:-Biology:...
.
He has also collaborated with Tiga
Tiga (musician)
Tiga is the stage name of Montreal-born DJ/producer Tiga James Sontag . His album Sexor won the 2007 Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year.-Career:He graduated from Selwyn House School, a prestigious school in Westmount...
with Hot in Herre
Hot in Herre
"Hot in Herre" is a popular song and single performed by the hip-hop artist Nelly, and was released in 2002 as the first single on his album Nellyville. The song's producers were The Neptunes...
, You Gonna Want Me and What You Need from the new Tiga album Ciao!
Ciao! (Tiga album)
Ciao! is the second studio album from Montreal DJ/Producer Tiga. It was released April 27, 2009 on Tiga's own label Turbo and international label PIAS.- Reception :Initial critical response to Ciao! was generally positive...
, as well as on Finnish House musician Luomo's "If I Can't".
He and Babydaddy also co-wrote with Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
on the hit single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"I Believe in You
I Believe in You (Kylie Minogue song)
"I Believe in You" is a dance-pop song performed by Australian singer Kylie Minogue and written by Minogue and Scissor Sisters members Jake Shears and Babydaddy...
" for Minogue's greatest hits compulation, Ultimate Kylie
Ultimate Kylie
Ultimate Kylie is the third compilation album by Australian singer and songwriter Kylie Minogue, which was released in November 2004 by Parlophone Records. This collection superseded Kylie's 1992 Greatest Hits compilation and the 2000 compilation Hits+. It was released with the Copy Control...
. Shears and Minogue also co-wrote "Too Much" with Calvin Harris
Calvin Harris
Calvin Harris is a Scottish singer-songwriter, record producer and DJ. His gold-selling debut album, I Created Disco, was released in 2007 and contained the top ten singles "Acceptable in the 80s" and "The Girls"...
for her number one selling album Aphrodite.
In 2011 Shears collaborated with John Garden to write the music for a musical version of the book Tales of the City
Tales of the City
Tales of the City refers to a series of eight novels written by American author Armistead Maupin. The stories from Tales were originally serialized prior to their novelization, with the first four titles appearing as regular installments in the San Francisco Chronicle, while the fifth appeared in...
. The show is directed by Jason Moore
Jason Moore (director)
Jason Moore is an American director of theatre and television. He was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas and later studied at Northwestern University.-Career:...
.