Lisa Anne Loeb (born 11 March 1968 in Bethesda, Maryland, United States) is a singer-songwriter and reality TV star.
Raised in Dallas, Texas, Loeb attended The Hockaday School, one of the top all-girls private schools in the United States. After graduating from high school in 1986, she went to Brown University where she graduated in 1990 with a degree in comparative literature.
At Brown, she and Liz Mitchell formed a band named Liz and Lisa, featuring future singer/songwriter and fellow Brown classmate Duncan Sheik as a guitarist. The duo released the albums Liz and Lisa and Liz and Lisa - Days Were Different independently. Loeb had also developed a following from her solo acoustic performances on the New York City coffeehouse circuit, where she sold a collection of her songs referred to as The Purple Tape.
Loeb's big break came when she was discovered by actor and friend Ethan Hawke, who lived in an apartment across the street from her in New York City. She met Hawke through mutual friends in the NYC theatre community. Hawke gave a tape of Loeb's song Stay (I Missed You) to director Ben Stiller during the making of the film Reality Bites. Stiller subsequently agreed to use the song in the film and on the film's soundtrack. Stay ultimately went on to become a number one hit on the American charts.
In 1995, Loeb's debut album Tails was released. The album was co-produced by Juan Patiño, her then-boyfriend. Although none of the singles from Tails could quite match the breakthrough appeal of Stay (which was also included on this album), Loeb had moderately successful radio hits with Do You Sleep?, Taffy and Waiting For Wednesday. Tails went on to acheive platinum status.
