Stephin Merritt was born to American beatnik parents Linda 'Alix' Merritt and folk musician Scott Fagan. He is the principal member of the band The Magnetic Fields, as well as side-project bands The 6ths, The Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes, having written and composed nearly five hundred songs as of 2018.
Merritt briefly used the name The Baudelaire Memorial Orchestra for a song written for Lemony Snicket's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events', entitled 'Scream and Run Away'. He further recorded music for the audio book versions of the series, attributed to The Gothic Archies. The Tragic Treasury was released by Nonesuch Records in October 2006, along with the thirteenth and final book of the series.
Under his own name, Merritt recorded and released soundtracks for the films 'Eban and Charley' and 'Pieces of April'. The soundtrack to the Nickelodeon show 'The Adventures of Pete & Pete' featured several of his songs.
Merritt collaborated with director Chen Shi-Zheng on three pieces of musical theatre: The Orphan of Zhao (2003),Peach Blossom Fan (2004),and My Life as a Fairy Tale (2005). Selected tracks from these works were released on Nonesuch Records under the title Showtunes.
Additionally, Merritt is one-third of the infrequent, live-only ensemble the Three Terrors, whose other principal members include 69 Love Songs's Dudley Klute and L.D. Beghtol. Past themes of these performances have included French pop music, movie themes, intoxication, and New York City. Kenny Mellman (of Kiki & Herb),James Jacobs, Daniel Handler, Jon DeRosa, and others have performed with The Three Terrors at these sporadic gala events.
Merritt wrote and sang 'I'm in a Lonely Way' in a television commercial for Volvo that aired in the summer and fall of 2007. He also performed 'The Wheels on the Car'.
Merritt penned the music and lyrics for a 2009 Off-Broadway stage musical adaptation of 'Coraline', a novel by Neil Gaiman. In the M.C.C. Theater production, his music was performed by a piano 'orchestra' - complete with a traditional piano, a toy piano, and a prepared piano.
He produced a score for the 1916 film '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' that was performed at the Castro Theatre, San Francisco on May 4, 2010 as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival.
