Henry Hey is an American keyboardist, songwriter, producer, arranger and musical director. He has worked with artists such as

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

,"David Bowie’s Parting Gift: Inside New ‘Lazarus’ Soundtrack"
"

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

", San Francisco, October 20, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2019. Empire of the Sun,"Hear Empire of the Sun's Exuberant Song 'High and Low'"
"

", San Francisco, August 24, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2019.

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

,"Jazz Pianist Henry Hey and Rocker Rod Stewart "Meet in the Middle" on Album of American Standards"
"Yamaha", Buena Park, May 17, 2004. Retrieved February 10, 2019. and

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

."Live: George Michael Palais Garnier Documentary"
"Music-News", London, April 2, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2019. As a solo artist, he is the co-founder of the

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

band Forq and a member of the band Rudder."FORQ On The Road"
" JazzFM", May 13, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2019."Rudder Tries to Reinvent the Jam Band"
"

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

", Washington DC, June 8, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2019. Hey has been a producer for a number of artists including

Lucy Woodward Lucy Woodward is an English-American singer-songwriter. She has released records on Atlantic, Verve, and GroundUP and has sung with many artists including Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand, Snarky Puppy, Celine Dion, Pink Martini, Gavin DeGraw, ...

, Tony Kadleck,

Shunzo Ohno is a Japanese trumpeter, composer and arranger. In 1974 Ohno accepted Art Blakey's offer and went to the U.S. He made recordings in cooperation with famous musicians, and some of his songs sold very well. He played active parts as a member of M ...

Lisa Lisa Lisa Velez (born January 15, 1966), better known by her stage name Lisa Lisa, is an American singer. She rose to fame in the 1980s as one-third of the band Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. Early life According to ''Spin'' magazine, Velez was born in 1 ...

. Hey's playing can also be heard on several major motion pictures including ''

Ocean's Twelve ''Ocean's Twelve'' is a 2004 heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by George Nolfi. Serving as the second installment in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy, it is a direct sequel to ''Ocean's Eleven'' (2001). The film feature ...

'', ''

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (1939) is a short story by James Thurber. The most famous of Thurber's stories, it first appeared in ''The New Yorker'' on March 18, 1939, and was first collected in his book ''My World and Welcome to It'' ( Ha ...

'', '' The Hundred-Foot Journey''.

Career

Solo career

Hey's debut recording as a bandleader was the Henry Hey Trio album ''Watershed'', which was released in 2003. In addition to Hey on piano, the album included drummer

Jochen Rückert Jochen Rückert, spelled on most releases as Jochen Rueckert (born 13 May 1975 in Cologne, Germany) is a German jazz drummer. He is a naturalized American citizen and has resided in New York City since 1997. The brother of pianist Thomas Rückert, ...

and bassist John Hebert."Henry Hey Trio: Watershed"
"

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

", October 9, 2003. Retrieved February 10, 2019. Hey later formed the

band Rudder with drummer

Keith Carlock Keith Carlock (born November 29, 1971) is an American musician who has played drums with Toto, Wayne Krantz, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Donald Fagen, Walter Becker, Tal Wilkenfeld, John Mayer, Sting, Chris Botti, and Christopher Cross. In ' ...

, bassist

Tim Lefebvre Tim Lefebvre (born February 4, 1968) is an American bass guitarist. Both as a session musician and band member, he has worked with a wide range of musicians, including David Bowie, The Black Crowes, Elvis Costello, Sting, Empire of the Sun, The ...

, and saxophonist

Chris Cheek Christopher Carson Cheek (born September 16, 1968) is an American jazz saxophonist. Biography Cheek was born in St. Louis, Missouri, where his father was the director of a Junior high school band. Cheek began learning to play the alto saxophone ...

. The quartet released their self-titled debut album ''Rudder'' in 2007 and their follow-up album ''Matorning'' in 2009, which was met with some acclaim. Their last release was a live concert DVD in 2011 titled "Live Rockwood Music Hall NYC"."Review: Rudder's Live Rockwood Music Hall NYC DVD"
"No Treble", September 6, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2019. One of Hey's current projects is the

band Forq, which he co-founded with

Snarky Puppy Snarky Puppy is an American jazz fusion band led by bassist Michael League. Founded in 2004, Snarky Puppy combines a variety of jazz idioms, rock, world music, and funk and has won five Grammy Awards. Although the band has worked with vocalis ...

bassist

Michael League Michael League (born April 24, 1984) is an Americans, American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the bandleader of instrumental band Snarky Puppy and the international music ensemble Bokanté. He also founded the band Forq wi ...

. The group has released three albums under League's label GroundUP Music, ''Forq'' in 2014, ''Batch'' in 2015, and ''Threq'' in 2017."FORQ At The World Cafe Live"
"

", August 18, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2019.

Collaborations

Rod Stewart

Hey first began working with British singer

as part of the singer's

Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant 20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" is th ...

series. After joining Stewart for a few TV performances, Hey played piano on the second album of the series '' As Time Goes By: The Great American Songbook 2'', which was released in 2003. Hey then joined Stewart's band as the musical director and pianist for the Great American Songbook tour and later appeared on Stewart's 2009 album '' Soulbook''."Rod Stewart"
"

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

", New York, August 31, 2004. Retrieved February 10, 2019.

George Michael

From 2011 to 2012, Hey served as the musical director and pianist for British singer-songwriter

during his international orchestral

Symphonica Tour Symphonica (also promoted as Symphonica: The Orchestral Tour) was an orchestral concert tour by George Michael and his last tour. The singer performed the songs mainly from '' Songs from the Last Century'' and ''Patience'' albums as well as some ...

. Michael's performance from this tour at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

in London, England was later released as the live album '' Symphonica'', which included Hey along with producer

Phil Ramone Philip Rabinowitz (January 5, 1934March 30, 2013), better known as Phil Ramone, was a South African-born American recording engineer, record producer, violinist and composer, and co-founder of A & R recording studio. Its success led to expansion ...

. '' Symphonica'' was the last album by both Ramone and Michael, who died in 2013 and 2016, respectively."'Heaven knows I was just a young boy': George Michael's life and career in pictures"
"

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

", London, December 26, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2019.

David Bowie

Hey was asked to play keyboards on British musician

's 2013 comeback album ''

The Next Day ''The Next Day'' is the twenty-fifth studio album by the English musician David Bowie. Released in March 2013, it was Bowie's first studio release in ten years, as he had retreated from public view after undergoing a procedure to treat a block ...

'' by producer

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

."Ground Control: Bowie, Off Broadway"
"

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

", New York, January 11, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2019. The album was later nominated in the

56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid co ...

for the "Best Rock Album" category."How Many Grammy's Did David Bowie Win? The Number Will Surprise You"
" ''Bustle''", New York, February 9, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2019. In 2014, Bowie asked Hey to serve as musical director, arranger, and keyboardist for the production of Bowie's new musical ''

Lazarus Lazarus may refer to: People *Lazarus (name), a surname and a given name * Lazarus of Bethany, a Biblical figure described as being raised from the dead by Jesus * Lazarus, a Biblical figure from the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus * Lazar ...

'', which included actor

Michael C. Hall Michael Carlyle Hall (born February 1, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Dexter Morgan, the titular character in the Showtime (TV network), Showtime series ''Dexter (TV series), Dexter'' and David Fisher (Six Feet ...

in the lead role. During this time, Bowie was also secretly receiving cancer treatment and working on his new album Blackstar, whose band included Hey's Rudder bandmate and bassist

. Hey assembled the seven-member house band for ''

'', which included Hey's Forq bandmate and guitarist Chris McQueen, guitarist JJ Appleton, and drummer Brian Delaney of the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground, the MC5, and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved ...

. The musical had a sold-out opening run in New York City as an off-Broadway production at the

New York Theatre Workshop __NOTOC__ New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) is an Off-Broadway theater noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second Avenue and Bowery in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it h ...

from December 2015 to January 2016."Film of David Bowie's 'Lazarus' Musical to Get Live Score"
"

", San Francisco, March 18, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2019. Bowie died during this production on January 10, 2016, the night before the ''

'' cast recording of the musical's soundtrack. Hey produced and performed keyboards on the cast recording, which was later released in October of that year. ''

'' was again performed in London, England, from November 2016 to January 2017. A film of the London production was screened in

Brooklyn, NY 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 ...

at the Kings Theatre on May 2, 2017, with a live band accompaniment led by Hey as well. In December 2018, it was announced that ''

'' will premiere in

Amsterdam, Netherlands Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area. Located in the D ...

at DeLaMar in October 2019."David Bowie's Lazarus is Bound for Amsterdam"
"

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the ...

", New York, December 7, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2019.

Empire of the Sun

Hey has co-written songs with Australian

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

duo Empire of the Sun on their 2013 album ''

Ice on the Dune ''Ice on the Dune'' is the second studio album by Australian electronic music duo Empire of the Sun, released on 14 June 2013 by Capitol Records. The album was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, with many commenting on the ...

'' and their 2016 album ''

Two Vines ''Two Vines'' is the third studio album by Australian electronic music duo Empire of the Sun. It was released on 28 October 2016 by Virgin EMI Records. The album features guest appearances from Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham, Wendy Melvoin, ...

''. Empire of the Sun member

Nick Littlemore Nicholas George Littlemore (born 6 May 1978) is an Australian musician, record producer, singer, songwriter and tour manager. As a musician, he is the frontman of the electronic project Pnau, an ex-member of the art-rock band Teenager and one p ...

also released the album ''Every River Tells a Tale'' with Hey and bassist

in 2018 as part of The 2 Leaves Project."2 Leaves Project"
"Destig", January 28, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2019.

Lucy Woodward

Hey began working with singer-songwriter

as the pianist on her 2010 album '' Hooked!'', which also included producer

. Hey went on to co-write with Woodward and co-produce her 2016 album Til They Bang on the Door'' with Forq bandmate

. The album was also released on League's music label GroundUP Music."Video Premiere: Lucy Woodward "Live Live Live""
"

Relix ''Relix'', originally and occasionally later ''Dead Relix'', is a magazine that focuses on live and improvisational music. The magazine was launched in 1974 as a handmade newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead concer ...

", New York, November 22, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2019.

Other Notable Projects

In 2012, Hey worked as an arranger with collaborator

for pop singer

MIKA Mika is a given name, a nickname, and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footba ...

on his album ''

The Origin of Love ''The Origin of Love'' is the third studio album released by British singer-songwriter Mika. The album was released in France on 17 September 2012, and in the United Kingdom on 8 October 2012, via Casablanca Records and Barclay Records res ...

''. Hey and Littlemore did arranging together again for pop singer

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

on her debut album '' Yours Truly'', which also featured a collaboration with

for his song "

Popular Song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

"."David Bowie's Final, Imaginative, Awesome Year"
"''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

''", Hollywood, December 20, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2019. Hey also played piano on

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

drummer

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording and tou ...

& multi-instrumentalist

Tim Garland Tim Garland (born 19 October 1966) is a British jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. His compositions draw from modern jazz and classical concert music. Career Garland was born in Ilford, Essex and grew up in Canterbury, Kent. He starte ...

's album ''Earthworks Underground Orchestra'' that was released in 2006."Bill Bruford / Tim Garland: Earthworks Underground Orchestra"
"

", January 26, 2006. Retrieved February 14, 2019. Around this time, Hey also played on

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Originally having a traditional band lineup, Becker and Fagen cho ...

guitarist

Walter Becker Walter Carl Becker (February 20, 1950 – September 3, 2017) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.Russonello, Giovanni,Listen to ...

's second and final solo album '' Circus Money''."Walter Becker of Steely Dan Dies at 67"
"

Downbeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

", Chicago, September 3, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2019. Hey appeared on

guitarist

Wayne Krantz Wayne Krantz is an American guitarist and composer. He has performed and recorded with Steely Dan, Michael Brecker, Donald Fagen, Billy Cobham, Chris Potter, David Binney, and Carla Bley. Since the early 1990s, Krantz has focused primarily on hi ...

's album " Howie 61""Wayne Krantz: Howie 61"
"

", May 10, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2019. and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

vocalist

Theo Bleckmann Theodor Raoul Bleckmann (born 28 May 1966) is a German singer and composer. Biography Bleckmann was born in Dortmund, West Germany. He planned to be an ice skater before becoming a vocalist. In 1989 he moved to New York City and recorded his ...

's album ''Hello Earth! The Music of Kate Bush'' as well."Theo Bleckmann: Hello Earth! The Music Of Kate Bush"
"

", April 4, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2019. Recently, Hey wrote string arrangements on

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

group

Tedeschi Trucks Band The Tedeschi Trucks Band () is an American blues and blues rock group based in Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 2010, the band is led by married couple Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. Their debut album, '' Revelator'' (2011), won the 2012 Gr ...

's album '' Let Me Get By''."Let Me Get By"
"

Concord Music Group Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings and music publishing. On Apri ...

". Retrieved February 14, 2019. Hey also played in

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

singer and actress Vanessa Williams' touring band."Al Caldwell , Hootenany Soul & Hillbilly Art"
"TheArtsSTL", St. Louis, October 6, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2019.

Films

Hey has also been involved in the soundtracks for numerous films. He was the keyboardist in the soundtrack for ''

The Last Mimzy ''The Last Mimzy'' is a 2007 American science fiction adventure drama film directed by New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye. It was loosely based upon the 1943 science fiction short story "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett (a pseudonym of ...

'', which also included former

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

bassist

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

."The Last Mimzy [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]"
"

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

". Retrieved February 21, 2019. He also wrote songs for ''

Dumb and Dumber To ''Dumb and Dumber To'' is a 2014 American buddy comedy film produced, co-written and directed by the Farrelly brothers. It is the third film in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise, and serves as a sequel to the 1994 film '' Dumb and Dumber''. T ...

'' and ''

Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle ''Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle'' (released in some international markets as ''Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies'') is a 2004 American Buddy film, buddy stoner film, stoner comedy film directed by Danny Leiner, written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayd ...

'' and can be heard in other films including ''

'', ''

Ocean's 8 ''Ocean's 8'' is a 2018 heist comedy film directed by Gary Ross and written by Ross and Olivia Milch. A spin-off of Steven Soderbergh's ''Ocean's'' trilogy, it is the fourth installment in the ''Ocean's'' franchise. The film features an ensem ...

'', ''

Zoolander 2 ''Zoolander 2'' (promoted as ''Zoolander No. 2'') is a 2016 American action comedy film co-produced and directed by Ben Stiller who wrote the script alongside Justin Theroux, John Hamburg, and Nicholas Stoller. The sequel to the 2001 film '' Zo ...

'', and '' The Hundred-Foot Journey''."Artists: Henry Hey"
"SmallsLive", New York. Retrieved February 21, 2019."Henry Hey"
"

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

". Retrieved February 21, 2019.

Awards and honors

2014: ''

'' by

featuring Hey on keyboards was nominated in the

for "Best Rock Album".

Selected Recordings

Solo career

* The 2 Leaves Project (

& Henry Hey): ''Every River Tells a Tale'' (2017) * Forq: ''Threq'' (2017) * Forq: ''Batch'' (2015) * Forq: ''Forq'' (2014) * Rudder: ''Matorning'' (2009) * Rudder: ''Rudder'' (2007)