Michelle Lewis was born in New York City to saxophonist Morty Lewis and Anette Lewis, a session singer for radio and TV jingles.[2] As a child, she was a jingle singer and also a regular on Sesame Street[3]
While attending Columbia University, Lewis began performing with emerging downtown NY bands such as Blues Traveler and Spin Doctors.[4] After graduation, Lewis was hired by jazz label GRP Records as a production coordinator and then signed a publishing deal with BMG Music in 1994. While at BMG, she wrote singles for artists such as Amy Grant and Todd Terry. She also earned a Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year for "Deeper Shade of Love," a song she wrote for Camille, and an ARIA for Song of the Year with Australian pop star Deni Hines.[5]
Lewis signed with Giant Records and released her debut album, Little Leviathan, in 1998. The single "Nowhere and Everywhere" was featured on the soundtrack to the film Practical Magic.[6]
What she is perhaps best known for recently is the music for the Disney Jr show, Doc McStuffins, which is now in its fourth season and for which she won a Peabody Award in 2015. She also received her first Emmy nomination this past year[when?] for her work as a composer on the Nickelodeon show, Bubble Guppies.
While she continues to perform with her band, The Goods, write songs for pop radio and compose for kids’ television, Michelle's experience as a working songwriter has led her and some of her long-time collaborators, Kay Hanley, Shelly Peiken and Pam Sheyne, to found Songwriters of North America (SONA) – a Los Angeles-based organization of professional songwriters and composers who wish to advocate for upholding the value of their work in the digital future.[7]
