Early years and first bands (1980s–1993) At Brown in the mid-1980s, Loeb and
Elizabeth Mitchell formed a band named
Liz and Lisa, Loeb sold the violet-colored cassette to fans at shows and used it as a sonic calling card to industry gatekeepers. Loeb developed a following from her solo acoustic performances on the New York City coffeehouse circuit and the rock club circuit. She travelled to cities such as Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Dallas, but focused on New York City. She played acoustically and with her band in
folk and
rock clubs, including at
CBGB. Loeb performed at music festivals such as the
New Music Seminar and
South by Southwest. Loeb gave Hawke the Juan Patiño-produced version of "
Stay (I Missed You);" When her song hit number one, Loeb earned the distinction of being the first artist to top the Hot 100 before signing to a record label. Loeb and Nine Stories were nominated for the
Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and were named Best International Newcomer in the
Brit Awards.
Tails and Firecracker (1995–1999) In September 1995, Loeb's debut album,
Tails, credited to Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories, was released on
Geffen Records. The album was co-produced by Juan Patiño, her then longtime boyfriend. "Stay" was included on the album, and Loeb managed a top 20 hit with "
Do You Sleep?" and two moderately successful radio hits with "
Taffy" and "
Waiting for Wednesday". The album was certified Gold by the
RIAA on December 1, 1995. After the release of
Tails Tim Bright and Jonathan Feinberg left Nine Stories and were replaced with
Mark Spencer and Ronny Crawford respectively. In 1997, Loeb released a second major-label album on Geffen,
Firecracker, and began experimenting more with orchestrations done with
Dan Coleman. At this point, Loeb started going under her own name for the albums instead of using the band name, although she still continued to tour worldwide with Nine Stories, as well as acoustically as she had done from the start.
Firecracker included hit singles such as "
I Do", which received radio success, peaking at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and music television. The album was certified Gold on June 10, 2008. Loeb contributed vocals to
New Found Glory's cover of "Stay", from their 2007 LP
From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II, as well as performing the song live with the band. Beginning with
Reality Bites, Loeb's music has been featured in several soundtracks. The single "How" was included on the soundtracks for films
Twister and
Jack Frost, and was heard in the
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Homecoming". "We Could Still Belong Together" earned a spot on the
Legally Blonde soundtrack in 2001, while "I Wish" can be heard on the soundtrack for
Anywhere But Here (1999).
Cake and Pie (2002) Cake and Pie, Loeb's third album and debut for A&M/
Interscope, was released in 2002. She co-produced the album and collaborated with
Glen Ballard, then boyfriend
Dweezil Zappa,
Randy Scruggs (
Vince Gill,
Sawyer Brown,
Waylon Jennings), and
Peter Collins (
Rush,
Bon Jovi,
Indigo Girls). It peaked at 199 on the
Billboard Charts. In mid-2002, Loeb signed a deal with Artemis Records, a new boutique label run by record company veterans Danny Goldberg and
Daniel Glass, after Interscope allowed her to buy the rights to her masters. Artemis had offered to re-release the record with more promotion. With new artwork, some songs added and some removed,
Cake and Pie was re-launched as
Hello Lisa, a play on Sanrio's signature
Hello Kitty, who appears on the album cover wearing Lisa Loeb's trademark glasses. Videos from this album, as well as the single "Jenny Jenkins", have been featured on the
Noggin TV network for children. Although the album was not as commercially successful as its predecessors, critics noted the mature and strong writing by Loeb.
Stephen Erlewine called it "the best, most cohesive record she's made, a clean, crisp collection of well-crafted, gentle tunes that slowly, surely work into the subconscious." In 2006, Loeb contributed to the album
A World of Happiness, designed to disseminate messages of kindness, compassion, tolerance, and self-reliance to children of all ages. She performed as Lady Leonali the Ladybug singing "In the Details". In 2008, she released her
Purple Tape album remixed and remastered on a double CD. It included an interview by Andy Denemark, highlighting the creative process behind each song. As Loeb spent many summers of her childhood at summer camp,
Camp Lisa is inspired by her camp memories as well as 1970s-style rock and pop.
Camp Lisa garnered National Parenting Publications Awards Honors, 2008 Parents' Choice and
NPR's year-end Top 10 list of the best kids' music for 2008. In July 2010, she debuted her children's musical
Camp Kappawanna, which is based on the songs from
Camp Lisa. In 2009, The Camp Lisa Foundation provided funding for many camp scholarships, enabling economically disadvantaged children to attend ACA-accredited overnight camps.
''Lisa Loeb's Silly Sing-Along and Songs for Movin' and Shakin' books, No Fairy Tale'' and touring (2011–2014) In September 2011, Loeb released the
children's book ''Lisa Loeb's Silly Sing-Along: The Disappointing Pancake and Other Zany Songs,'' illustrated by Ryan O'Rourke. The book was published by
Sterling Publishing, and also includes activities, choreography, and recipes. The book is published with an included CD, with four original songs and six classics. She released the original single "A Holiday Song" through Furious Rose Productions on December 10, 2013. Loeb toured with and without her band, touring with Daru Oda and
Adam Levy. Other band members include
Mark Spencer, Matt Beck, Ronny Crawford, Joe Quigley, Joe Travers, Mark Meadows, Michael Eisenstein,
Dave Gibbs, and
Leland Sklar. In September 2014, she performed at the
Billboard Live venues in
Tokyo and
Osaka. During the performances she ended with a rendition of her new song "3, 2, 1, Let Go". The
Hanukkah song tells a "story of hope in the darkness", and was co-written by Loeb and Cliff Goldmacher, with Renee Stahl on guest vocals. The song was put in rotation on
SiriusXM among other stations. In April 2013, Loeb released the follow-up book ''Lisa Loeb's Songs for Movin' and Shakin': The Air Band Song and Other Toe-Tapping Tunes'', which she co-wrote with Ryan O'Rourke. It includes both covers and some original songs, as well as a CD.
Camp Kappawanna musical and Nursery Rhyme Parade! album and video (2015) She co-wrote the lyrics and co-composed the music to
Camp Kappawanna, a family musical that premiered in New York on March 21, 2015, by the
Atlantic Theater Company. Other collaborators on the score included
Michelle Lewis and Dan Petty. The musical follows "the misadventures of Jennifer Jenkins, an awkward and adorable 12-year-old kid", and was inspired by Loeb's own memories of summer camp. The show received a positive write-up in
The New York Times, with the review describing it as "fresh and funny" and praising the acoustic music and characterizations of the campers. Her song "3, 2, 1, Let Go" was released in April 2015 as a single. Co-written and co-composed with Chris Unck, the song was also used in the April 2015 film
Helicopter Mom. Loeb starred in the film as a high school English teacher. Loeb described the New Year's track as "something you'd probably hear more in a dance club." Loeb's third children's album,
Nursery Rhyme Parade!, was made available Beyond Loeb and her family as performers, guest artists included singer-songwriter Renee Stahl, while Rich Jacques produced.
InStyle opined the album would "delight" both children and adults, describing it as having "stripped-down melodies and a strict adherence to traditional lyrics." Loeb's
Nursery Rhyme Parade! won a 2016 NAPPA Award (National Parenting Product Awards). On December 16, 2016, Loeb released a long-form video of the over 30 songs from
Nursery Rhyme Parade! Feel What U Feel album, and soundtracks (2016) In November 2016, Loeb released her fourth children's album entitled
Feel What U Feel. She wrote and composed the selections on this album based on "what I'd like to pass along to my kids and kids in general." The title track, "Feel What U Feel", featured
Craig Robinson of
The Office, and it became the No. 1 song on SiriusXM's
Kids Place Live, on which program it continued to be played as of the last days of August 2017. The parenting site,
CoolMomPicks.com, chose "Feel What U Feel" as a 2016 Pick of the Year. On January 28, 2018, Loeb won the 2018 Grammy Award for 'Best Children's Album' for the album. Loeb recorded the single "Christmas Cookie Song" for Amazon's holiday special
If You Give a Mouse a Christmas Cookie, which premiered on November 25, 2016. She later wrote original songs for the
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie Amazon series, including the theme song.
Lullaby Girl album, singles (2017–2019) In October 2017, Loeb released the album
Lullaby Girl featuring a world-class quartet led by keyboardist
Larry Goldings. The album features Lisa and Larry's arrangements of classic songs like
Dionne Warwick's "
What the World Needs Now Is Love", the
Five Stairsteps' "
O-o-h Child", and
Fleetwood Mac's "
Don't Stop.", as well as two new original songs, including the title track.
Lullaby Girl won a 2017 National Parenting Product Award. In 2018, Loeb released a special version of the
David Bowie song "
All the Young Dudes" after performing her version of on a
Howard Stern Show tribute to Bowie. On May 29, 2019,
Rolling Stone premiered Loeb's studio-recorded cover of the
Bright Eyes song "First Day Of My Life." She previously performed the song at a friend's wedding a decade prior. In July of the same year,
Billboard premiered Loeb's new song "Love Never Dies", an original track she wrote to serve as the theme song to acclaimed author
James Patterson's novel,
Sophia, Princess Among Beasts, and inspired by the book.
A Simple Trick to Happiness album, Together Apart musical (2020–2021) A Simple Trick to Happiness was released on February 28, 2020. The album is Loeb's most personal and reflects her interest in simple and direct songwriting paired with inspiration from her children and personal life. Loeb was inspired to write positive, uplifting music due to the complexity of modern life and after having written several albums of
children's music. In October 2019, Loeb preceded the album's release with the premiere of her single "Sing Out" on the largest LGBTQ news site
Queerty, in honor of National Coming Out Day. In December 2019, she premiered the music video for "Skeleton", the first official single from the album. The album received positive reviews. She has subsequently released music videos for many of the tracks on the album, including "This Is My Life", "Another Day", "Sing Out', "For the Birch", "Shine", "The Upside", "Doesn't It Feel Good", "Most of All", "I Wanna Go First" and "Wonder". In March 2020, Loeb launched #StayAtHomeTogether, a series of live virtual concerts during the
COVID-19 lockdown. She performed a special virtual show for hospital frontline workers through the organization Musicians on Call. In August 2021, Loeb saw the premiere of
Together Apart, a musical consisting of a collection of 10 seven-minute-long mini-musicals all about connecting on
Zoom at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Loeb conceived and executive produced the musical, in which she also stars. Benefiting the Actors Fund,
Together Apart was written, composed, directed-by and starring Loeb's fellow Brown University alumni, including
Julie Bowen (
Modern Family), Emmy Award Winner
Josh Hamilton (
13 Reasons Why),
Ann Harada (
Avenue Q) and
JoBeth Williams (
Kramer vs. Kramer). It was produced by Tony Award winner Beth Wishnie.
Together Apart evolved out of a Brown Musical Theatre class reunion on Zoom held during the pandemic. The reunion was attended by graduates from the early 80s through the late 90s. Loeb, a ’90 Graduate, was energized by the digital reconnection and was inspired to find a solution to everyone’s concern about how theater could exist during the pandemic. She began collaborating with her fellow graduates to create
Together Apart.
Together Apart was intentionally created using the Zoom platform as a reflection of life during the pandemic.
''That's What It's All About'' album (2024) On August 23, 2024, Loeb released the children's album ''That's What It's All About''. The album was a collaboration with the band The Hollow Trees and includes both covers and original songs. ==Film and television appearances==