Ethan Hawke’s little know role in 90s singer Lisa Loeb’s fame with iconic track as he helped direct her music video

Lisa Loeb shot to fame in the 1990s with her now-iconic song Stay (I Missed You).

But her big break happened through her friendship with Hollywood Ethan Hawke – who directed the one-take music video. 

Ethan was Lisa’s neighbour in New York City at the time and were part of the same NYC theatre community.

Lisa ‘made music for his plays’ and gave pal Ethan a version of Stay (I Missed You) which he directed a one-take music video, shot by Robin Buerki.

The shoot for the music video reportedly took place in a vacant SoHo apartment  

Ethan also passed on the song to actor-director Ben Stiller, who used it in the end credits for his 1994 film Reality Bites. 

Sharing a picture of the pair on her official Facebook page back in 2021, Lisa wrote: ‘Did you know Ethan Hawke directed the music video for “Stay (I Missed You),” which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 27 years ago this week!’

Lisa and her band Nine Stories were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the song, and were named Best International Newcomer in the Brit Awards. 

She shared her thoughts on why the song has remained so popular with fans over the years.

‘It’s such a nostalgic song. It reminds them of their life 30 years ago or when they first heard it on a TV show,’ she told People.

‘It’s been in different commercials and TV shows, and it’s wonderful to see people’s nostalgic connection with it as well as their current connection with it as kind of a heartbreak-relationship-overthinking song.’

‘When I wrote it, it was an expression of an argument I was going through at the time. I enjoyed performing it, and it was a song that very quickly, people in my audiences in the early ’90s and in New York City, they connected to it, which is why Ethan Hawke wanted to pass the song along to the director of the movie Reality Bites,’ she explained.

Following the success of ‘Stay’, Lisa scored two more top-20 singles with ‘Do You Sleep?’ (1996) and ‘I Do’ (1998). 

Both her 1995 album Tails and her 1997 album Firecracker were certified gold.

She released her debut album, Tails, in September 1995 and it was co-produced by Juan Patiño, her then boyfriend.

Lisa has released a total of 15 studio albums, including her adult contemporary and children’s albums.

In addition to her music, she is also a SiriusXM radio host and an entrepreneur with her own line of eyewear. 

Each type of frame in her eyewear line is named after one of her song titles.

As for her personal life, Lisa dated Frank Zappa’s son, Dweezil Zappa, from 1998 to 2004.

She went on to marry Roey Hershkovitz in 2009.

The two met during a business meeting for a food TV show in 2006, and share two kids together.

They welcomed their second child in 2012, when Lisa was 44 years old.