Lisa Loeb, the American singer-songwriter best known for her hit song “Stay (I Missed You),” believes that lasting success can come from following your own path. Whether it was asking for a guitar when everyone else played piano, or branching out into musical theatre and children’s albums, Loeb has always been true to herself.
“We had a piano in the house, and it was just expected that you’d take piano lessons,” she says of her childhood. “I studied classical piano, but I was such a huge fan of rock music. My friends and I really loved the band The Police. I think between that and admiring the older boys who played guitars at school assemblies, I just really wanted to play guitar, so I told my parents I wanted to switch to guitar.”
She got that guitar and started taking lessons. “I had a Yamaha acoustic guitar that I brought to summer camp,” she says. “That’s really where I learned a lot more about playing guitar, making up lyrics, and performing. People hang out around a person with a guitar. It was social.”
Loeb mentions The B-52s, Queen, The Cure, Elton John, David Bowie as influences, but finds it hard to pinpoint a particular musical style within the vast world of pop that shaped her most. “I listened to so much music.”
Loeb’s rise in the world of pop music came in 1994. Her song “Stay (I Missed You)” was released in 1994 as the lead single from the movie soundtrack to Reality Bites. It went on to hit #1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart, earning her the distinction of being the first artist to top the US chart before being signed to any record label.
The song made her a household name, and motivated her to ensure she would not be a “one-hit wonder.” Over the past three decades, she has released children’s albums, collaborated with a variety of artists, and explored musical theatre and acting.
“Because I had a certain level of success, it gave me freedom, creatively. I just go where my heart takes me. If someone asks me if I want to be a part of a certain project, or try something different, it all makes sense to me.”
Her concert in Alberta this month will be a solo show. She says, “I love playing with just a guitar, because I can really go to a lot of places. I can play my hit songs, requests from the audience, and mix it up with old songs and new.”
Now she looks back on “Stay (I Missed You)” and says she’s grateful for its enduring appeal. “I’m still amazed! I’m so nostalgic myself, so when I’m singing it, I’m imagining sitting in the room where I was writing the song. People have sent me recordings of themselves singing the song. It’s just taken me so many places that I appreciate. People sing along when I play it, and it means something different to me each time.”
The song has also led to one cultural moment that was quite surprising to Loeb. In 2024, Yusei Kikuchi, who was pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays at the time, said that he liked playing the opening line of “Stay” every time he struck out a batter. Loeb heard about it, and said on social media that she thought it was “cool.”
A few moments later, she replied to her own post: “Omg. I just got it. ‘Yusei’ is pronounced like the first two word of my song. Doh.”
“I was very flattered, and I love that quirky crossover, where baseball meets me,” she laughs.
Lisa Loeb will be live in concert at Festival Place in Sherwood Park on May 6. Find info and tickets at festivalplace.ca
