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 entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been aw ...

-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 performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on div ...

band

Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters were an American pop rock band formed in 2001. Its members include Jake Shears and Ana Matronic as vocalists, Babydaddy as multi-instrumentalist, Del Marquis as lead guitar/bassist, and Randy Real (who replaced Paddy Boom) ...

. He is the brother of comedian and musician Ben Hoffman.

Early life and education

Born in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, to a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish family, Hoffman lived most of his childhood in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...

, attending Henry Clay High School. He attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

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

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

in 1999.

Career

He had previously met

Jake Shears Jake Shears (born October 3, 1978) is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known as the male lead singer of pop-rock band Scissor Sisters. Early life Shears was born in Mesa, Arizona, the son of an entrepreneur father and a Baptist moth ...

—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 City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to study writing at Columbia, the duo officially joined forces and took stage names to become the first two members of Scissor Sisters in 2001. 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 grown and recruited further members, in the process expanding its original musical style to cover the rock, disco and dance music genres. Babydaddy plays a number of instruments including keyboards,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

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 usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

; 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. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

, 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 The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo ...

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

Amanda Lear Amanda Lear (; born 1939) 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 to model for Paco Rabanne, Ossie Clark, and ...

's single " I'm Coming Up". In 2016, Hoffman produced and co-wrote alongside

Dev Hynes Devonté Hynes (born David Joseph Michael Hynes, 23 December 1985), also known as Blood Orange and formerly Lightspeed Champion, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and director based in New York City. From 2004 to 2006, Hynes was ...

and Nicola Roberts "Ghetto Boy" for

Tinashe Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe ( ; born February 6, 1993), known mononymously as Tinashe, is an American singer, dancer, and actress. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Tinashe moved to Pasadena as a child to pursue a career in entertainment. Her notab ...

's second studio album '' Nightride''.

Discography

Personal life

Babydaddy is gay. He is the younger brother of comedian Ben Hoffman.

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 20th-century American musicians 21st-century American musicians American rock musicians Columbia College (New York) alumni American gay musicians Ivor Novello Award winners Jewish American musicians LGBT Jews LGBT people from Texas LGBT songwriters Living people Musicians from Houston Musicians from New York City Musicians from Lexington, Kentucky Scissor Sisters members Songwriters from New York (state) Songwriters from Kentucky Singers from Kentucky Rock musicians from Kentucky Jewish rock musicians 21st-century American singers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people