Jake Shears

Jason F. Sellards (aka Jake Shears) was born on October 3, 1978 in Mesa, Arizona. He grew up in San Juan Island, Washington, attending Friday Harbor High School. Shears moved to Seattle, Washington, at the age of 18 and completed high school at The Northwest School. He then attended Occidental College in Los Angeles for a year before moving to New York City.

He initially studied fiction writing at the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts and wrote articles and music reviews for magazines such as Paper and HX on the side. He also worked as an exotic dancer during his early years in New York.

Shears is best known as the lead male singer of the popular music group Scissor Sisters. The band consists of Shears, Ana Matronic, Babydaddy, Del Marquis, and Randy Real, with the latter replacing original member Paddy Boom as drummer. Shears and Scott Hoffman (aka Babydaddy) originally founded Scissor Sisters in 2001, but their first big breakthrough came in 2004 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Their debut self-titled studio album hit the top of the charts in both regions and became the biggest-selling album of the year. Their next two studio albums (Ta-Dah in 2006 and Night Work in 2010) both reached the top 20 in the U.S. Billboard charts and their next album, Magic Hour, was released in 2012. Some of Scissor Sisters' biggest hits include "Filthy/Gorgeous," "Fire with Fire," "Only the Horses," "Let's Have a Kiki," and "I Don't Feel Like Dancin.'" Shears went on to release "Creep City" — his first song as a solo artist — on October 31, 2017.

Aside from his work with Scissor Sisters, Shears co-wrote the score for the musical adaptation of Tales of the City, which premiered at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco in 2011 under the direction of Jason Moore. He has also collaborated with artists including Cher, Kylie Minogue, Queens of the Stone Age, Erasure's Andy Bell, and Calvin Harris.

Shears made his Broadway debut as Charlie Price in Kinky Boots from January 8 to April 1, 2018.