"Barely Breathing" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Duncan Sheik Duncan Sheik (born November 18, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Sheik is known for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing", which earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. He has com ...

from his eponymous debut studio album (1996). It was released as the lead single from the album on May 3, 1996, by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. Sheik is the sole writer of the song, while production was helmed by Rupert Hine. The song became a chart hit in North America in early 1997, receiving several accolades in the years following its release.

Critical reception

Larry Flick of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine called the song's hook "breezy and memorable" and its lyrics "intelligent".

Chart performance

"Barely Breathing" peaked at number 16 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on May 10, 1997, and remained on the chart for 55 weeks. At the time, it was the fourth-longest-running single on the Hot 100. It also reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Triple-A chart and number two on the ''Billboard''

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

chart. In Canada, the song peaked at number 12 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Hit Tracks chart and number 20 on the ''RPM'' Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. "Barely Breathing" also found success in Iceland, peaking at number 40 on the Íslenski Listinn Topp 40.

Accolades

"Barely Breathing" was ranked number 88 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s". and number eight on their 40 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 90s list. Additionally, "Barely Breathing" earned Sheik a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and a BMI Award for Most Played Song of the Year in 1997.

Music video

The music video was directed by Tom Oliphant in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, in the

Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York, U.S. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a se ...

Track listings and formats

*US CD single and cassette # "Barely Breathing" – 4:15 # "Home" – 4:48 *European CD single # "Barely Breathing" (radio edit) – 3:57 # "The End of Outside" (live) – 5:02 # "Rubbed Out" (live) – 5:19

Credits and personnel

Credits and personnel are adapted from the ''Duncan Sheik'' album liner notes. *

– lead vocals, harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, E-Bow, piano, sampler * Pino Palladino – bass * Jean-Michel Biger – drums * Rupert Hine – percussion, background vocals * Fran Banish – slide guitar

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Cover versions

"Barely Breathing" was one of the songs covered by the cast of ''

Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

'' during the October 12, 2012, episode " The Break Up".

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1996 debut singles 1996 songs American pop rock songs Atlantic Records singles Duncan Sheik songs Song recordings produced by Rupert Hine Songs written by Duncan Sheik