She & Him (Formed 2006)
She & Him are an American Indie duo of actress Zooey Deschanel and M.Ward. They are better known for their singles "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here" and the Christmas single, "The Christmas Waltz".
Deschanel plays vocals, piano, and ukulele, and M.Ward plays guitar, and handles production.
Formation: Whilst filming a starring role in 'The Go-Getter", Zooey Deschanel met M.Ward on set.
Director, Martin Hynes, wanted the pair to sing a duet together in which he would use for the ending credits of the film.
Together, they decided to sing "When I Get To The Border" by Richard and Linda Thompson.
They both bonded well due to their shared interest in records produced by George Martin and Phil Spector.
Deschanel sang on the film 'Elf', and Ward discovered that although she had no chosen a career in music, she wrote songs herself.
Admitting her shyness, Deschanel chose not to reveal her year's worth of home demos.
She later decided to send them to Ward, who went on to tell her he wanted to record some songs with her.
It was here that 'She & Him' was formed.
Music Career: LA had a huge influence on Deschanel's music, as she would take long drives along the coastline listening to Brian Wilson and 1970's classics.
Californian music also influenced Ward, although at the time he was contacting Deschanel, he was based in Portland, Oregon.
In December 2006 and February-March 2007, the pair recorded together in Portland.
All the original songs were written by Deschanel, except "Sweet Darlin'", which she co-wrote with Jason Schwartzman.
The album also included two cover songs, "You Really Got a Hold On Me" by Smokey Robinson, and "I Should Have Known Better" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
The duo's first album, "Volume One", was released on March 18th 2008, via Merge Records.
A year earlier, the band actually made their first public appearance as a group at the Sundance screening of 'The Go-Getter'.
Their album was declared as number 1 album of the year by Paste magazine.
In March 2008, She & Him performed at the South By Southwest festival.
They began touring in July and finished in August 2008.
Backup vocals were provided by Becky Stark, from the band 'Lavender Diamond'.
The bands second album, "Volume Two", was released on March 17th, 2010.
Again, Zooey Deschanel wrote 11 of the songs included on the album.
It also included covers of, "Ridin' In My Car" by NRBQ, and "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" by Patience and Prudence.
The duo toured again through the Summer of 2010.
They performed at numerous Festivals through USA including, South By Southwest, Coachella, Bonnaroo, Savannah, Sasquatch, Nateva, Verge, and LouFest.
As well as this, they toured Europe, visiting London, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, and many more places.
Via Pitchfork.com, "A Very She & Him Christmas" was announced, in September 2011.
Under Merge Records, the 12 track Christmas album was released on October 24th 2011.
Amazon.com said that the album was in the top 3 best selling albums over Christmas.
On the announcement of their third album, "Volume 3", to be released on May 7th 2013, the duo toured again.
They travelled US and Canada, with supporting acts of Tilly and The Wall, Emmylou Harris, Camera Obscura, Rodney Cowell and The Chapin Sisters.
She & Him left Merge Records in June 2014, and instead joined Columbia Records.
Their 5th studio album, "Classics", was scheduled for release later in the year.
Deschanel and Ward were recording with Brian Wilson, in July, for his upcoming album.
Deschanel was a guest singer for his album 'No Pier Pressure'.
Biography by Contactmusic.com