Smash Mouth's Lead Singer Died on Monday
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Smash Mouth’s Lead Singer Died on Monday
Steve Harwell, lead singer of Smash Mouth, died on Monday. He died from the final stage of liver failure. TMZ reported Sunday that Harwell was in the final stage of liver failure and had entered hospice care. The band’s manager said Harwell died at his home in Boise, Idaho. He was 56 years old.
Steve Harwell officially retired from Smash Mouth in 2021, citing his health. "I've tried so hard to power through my physical and mental health issues, and to play in front of you one last time, but just wasn't able to," Harwell admitted at the time.
His retirement followed a concert in upstate New York. While performing, Harwell slurred his words, threatened people in the audience, and gave a Nazi salute to the crowd. The band's spokesperson said that Harwell '‘has suffered profusely over the years with several different addictions,” leading to his health condition. His condition included cardiomyopathy, which affects the heart's ability to pump blood, and Wernick's encephalopathy, which "greatly impacted his motor skills which included his speech and impaired his memory."
Steve Harwell was the lead singer for Smash Mouth since the band's inception in 1994. Smash Mouth specialized in hooky pop tunes delivered with a slight wink, as heard on their first hit, 1997's "Walkin on the Sun," and crystallized on "All-Star," 1999 single which became their signature song.
The Top 10 hit upon its release, "All-Star," exceedingly became present in the pop-culture bloodstream, this omnipresence appearing in films, TV, sporting events, commercials, and radio over two decades.
In 2001, "All-Star" appeared on the soundtrack to the smash animated film "Shrek," alongside the band's perky version of the Monkees’ "I'm a Believer." Both songs were fixtures in the CD rotations of a generation of parents and children alike.
Steve Harwell and Smash Mouth embraced "All-Star" ubiquity and the opportunities that came with it. But Harwell stepped outside the group to appear on the sixth season of MTV's "The Surreal Life" in 2006. For most of the time, the band was on the road for decades, and Steve Harwell continued to sing for Smash Mouth and their nostalgic fans. "Why would I get bored of playing them?" he said of the songs "All-Star" and "Walkin on the Sun." "These are probably some of the best-written songs ever."
Steve Harwell was born in Santa Clara, Calif., on January 9, 1967, and was the son of a middle-class family in which his father was a UPS driver.
In July 2001, Harwell’s son, Presley, died at the age of 6-months-old from acute lymphocytic leukemia. The singer later created a medical research fund in his son’s name.
Survived by fiancé Ester Campbell
September 05, 2023, 11:10 p.m. EST
(The moral rights of the author asserted.)
