When Lisa Loeb was asked to be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network in 2015, she jumped at the chance. “I was so excited,” Loeb tells American Songwriter. “How can you not be excited about anything associated with Oprah Winfrey. She’s such a great interviewer, and I love how she connects people with each other, and with important ideas, so of course, I said ‘yes.’”
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Just on the verge of releasing three exclusive albums with Amazon, and in the middle of several other projects, Loeb learned that the theme of the show was Where Are They Now? “I didn’t really feel very much like a ‘where are they now’ type of person, because I put out an album every year or two, had television shows on pretty major networks, and had done children’s books—you name it,” said Loeb. “But it was Oprah, so I did it, and after I noticed the other people on the show, I thought it’s funny because these people haven’t disappeared.”
“Where are they now,” a term often coined around the whereabout stories of fallen child stars and supposed one-hit wonders is one that unnerved Lisa Loeb. Flipping the concept of flashing back to an artist’s past and unearthing where they are now, Loeb wanted to take a different approach, chronicling everything celebrities, actors and musicians have been doing on her upcoming Sirius XM show Stay with Lisa Loeb—the title is a take on her 1994 Reality Bites hit ‘Stay (I Missed You)”—on the ‘90s on 9 channel, with the featured segment Where They Are Now, premiering May 23.
Airing weekdays exclusively on SiriusXM, Loeb will share stories about the music and events of the ’90s, along with first-hand accounts from actors and musicians who lived through the decade, including one of her first guests, Hanson, who has consistently released music, including Red Green Blue in 2022, since forming more than 25 years ago with their 1997 mega-hit “MMMBop.”
“There’s so many people in the entertainment business—songwriters and creative people—who are hard at work, still with a very large fan base, doing things today that need to be highlighted,” says Loeb.”I wanted to interview people whose fans may have a connection with them from something in the past and highlight how these people are often continuing to work and do really interesting things, whether it’s reinventing themselves within their field, making new albums, or honing their craft and exploring different elements of the business.”
Loeb adds, “A lot of times, these folks get lost in the shuffle because we often don’t see as much as a lot of the other people who are making big things.”
The singer even found herself in a humorous exchange with a ticket agent recently while she was checking in for a flight to Colorado, her guitar in tow, and was partially recognized. “The woman at the desk looks at my ID and says ‘there used to be a singer named Lisa Loeb,’” laughs Loeb. “I usually like to pull people’s chains when they do that, but I explained to her that I was going to play some concerts, and I still am a singer. I didn’t just use to be one, but I still am.”
On Sirius, Loeb will also offer a behind-the-scenes look backstage and in the studio, sharing glimpses into her own recording and acting projects. Recently releasing her 15th album, A Simple Trick To Happiness in 2020, Loeb also debuted her new musical, Together Apart, which she co-wrote and co-produced with more than 100 of her fellow Brown University alums to help raise money for The Actors Fund.
Now 30 years since her debut, Purple Tape, Loeb is involved in more than ever. A children’s book author, Loeb has also released three children’s albums and recently developed the Camp Kappawanna, a children’s musical which debuted at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City, along with launching The Camp Lisa Foundation, which helps send underserved kids away to summer camp.
The singer and songwriter recently collaborated with Ziggy Marley on the single “Music Is In Everything” in 2020 and covered Bright Eyes’ 2005 song “First Day of my Life” in addition to releasing “Love Never Dies,” a theme song Loeb wrote to accompany author James Patterson’s latest novel, Sophia, Princess Among Beasts. She has made several film and television appearances as an actor and is continuing to run Lisa Loeb Eyewear, a collection of women’s and children’s frames inspired by her iconic cat-eyed glasses.
In the process of mixing a new album, something more “family-friendly Americana,” says Loeb, she’s ready to go back in time and bring everything to the present on Sirius.
“It’s touching base with artists and shining the light on what they’re doing now,” says Loeb. We’ll give the audience a sense of what you might know them for, and I can relate to that because people relate to my song ‘Stay (I Missed You)’ the most, or they might know my children’s music, my TV shows, or my first album—there’s a range. So I want to make sure people know who we’re talking to, where they might be recognized from, and then really get into what they’re doing now.”
She adds, “I’m excited to share what people are doing now, whether it’s music or Broadway or something else, and celebrate the nostalgia of what people remember.”
