Scott Hoffman (born September 1, 1976), known by his stage name Babydaddy, is an American musician and the

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

-winning multi-instrumentalist, backing vocalist and composer for the U.S.

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters are an American pop rock band formed in 2000. The band's current line-up consists of Jake Shears (vocals), Babydaddy (various instruments), Del Marquis (guitar, bass) and Randy Real (drums). Former members include vocalist A ...

. He is the brother of comedian and musician

Ben Hoffman Benjamin Isaac Hoffman is an American comedian, actor, writer, and musician. Hoffman is better known by his country musician alter ego Wheeler Walker, Jr., as whom he has released five studio albums. His first album as Wheeler Walker, Jr., ' ...

Early life and education

Born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, to a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish family, Hoffman lived most of his childhood in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, attending

Henry Clay High School Henry Clay High School is an American public high school in Lexington, Kentucky. Opened on Main Street in 1928, it was named in honor of the Kentuckian and United States statesman, Henry Clay. The Main Street location now houses the main office ...

. He attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he studied writing and music production and subsequently worked in the field of dance music. He graduated from Columbia in 1999.

Career

He had previously met

Jake Shears Jason Sellards (born October 3, 1978), known professionally by the stage name Jake Shears, is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He is best known as the co-lead vocalist of New York City pop-rock band Scissor Sisters, who achi ...

—then still known as Jason Sellards—through a childhood friend, and Hoffman asked Shears to provide vocals for his tracks. When Hoffman moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

to study writing at Columbia, the duo officially joined forces in 2001 and took stage names to become the first two members of "Scissor Sisters", a lesbian euphemism, whose pop-rock music is deeply inspired by drag and LGBTQ+ culture. At the time, the band was just a combination of Babydaddy's music and Shears's vocal and visual performances. The band logo was designed by Babydaddy. Since then, the band has recruited further members and Babydaddy has continued to serve as the keyboardist and bassist. The group has expanded its original musical style to cover the rock, disco and dance music genres. They toured the UK, Europe, and the U.S. in 2004, including a Glastonbury Music Festival performance. The band was nominated for a Grammy in Best Dance Record for their single "Comfortably Numb" in late 2004. Babydaddy plays a number of instruments including keyboards,

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

; he and Shears are the main lyricists for the band. The two also wrote the hit single " I Believe in You" for

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

, as well as the title track from her documentary '' White Diamond''. Babydaddy has also co-produced with other artists including Tiga and Xavier and has produced remixes (alongside Jake Shears under the Scissor Sisters moniker) for

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

, The Ones and Blondie. In 2010, Babydaddy remixed disco icon

Amanda Lear Amanda Lear (; born 18 June or 18 November 1939 or 1941 or 1946 or 1950) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress and former model. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s and went on ...

's single " I'm Coming Up". In 2016, under his own name, Hoffman produced and co-wrote alongside Dev Hynes and

Nicola Roberts Nicola Maria Roberts (born 5 October 1985) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2002, Roberts was selected as a member of Girls Aloud, a Pop music, pop girl group created through ITV (TV network), ITV's reality competition show ''Popstars: Th ...

"Ghetto Boy" for

Tinashe Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe ( ; born February 6, 1993), known mononymously as Tinashe, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Tinashe moved to Pasadena, California, as a child, where she pursued w ...

's second studio album '' Nightride''.

Discography

Personal life

Babydaddy is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

. He is the younger brother of comedian

Sources

Babydaddy Interview on Silent Uproar

Dallas Observer
* '' We Are Scissor Sisters... And So Are You''

External links

Official Scissor Sisters website
*
Underground Illusion - The Ultimate Scissor Sisters Database
{{Authority control 1976 births 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers American gay musicians American gay writers American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ songwriters American rock musicians Columbia College (New York) alumni Gay Jews Gay singers Gay songwriters Ivor Novello Award winners Jewish American rock musicians LGBTQ people from Texas Living people Musicians from Houston Musicians from Lexington, Kentucky Musicians from New York City Rock musicians from Kentucky Scissor Sisters members Singers from Kentucky Songwriters from Kentucky Songwriters from New York (state)