The rock band Smash Mouth’s former lead singer Steve Harwell, best known for the 1999 single “All Star,” passed away on Monday at the age of 56.
In a statement to media outlets and a Facebook page, the band’s manager, Robert Hayes, revealed that Harwell had passed away at the singer’s home in Boise, Idaho.
No specific cause of death was revealed.
According to Hayes on Sunday, Harwell had liver failure and was receiving care from his fiance while resting at home. He would only be alive “for a short time,” and Hayes asked that people respect Steve and his family’s privacy during this trying time.
To concentrate on his retirement announcement in October 2021, Harwell
physical and mental well-being following a performance in Upstate New York, in which cameras appear to show him in a confused state.
According to Hayes, he battled addiction throughout the years, which resulted in health issues including cardiomyopathy, which is caused by a weakening of the heart muscle, which impacted his speech and memory.
What Smash Mouth Founded?
Smash Mouth was founded in the early 1990s and rose to prominence internationally in the latter half of the decade thanks to the singles “All Star” (1999), which was featured on the group’s second studio album, “Astro Lounge,” and “Walkin’ on the Sun” (1997), both of which charted on the Billboard Hot 100.
The band also provided music for the soundtrack of the 2001 animated picture “Shrek,” including the songs “All Star” and “I’m a Believer” by the Monkees.
According to Hayes, Steve’s voice is one of the most identifiable from his generation.
Smash Mouth sold more than 10 million records worldwide with Harwell.
The band has not yet made any public statements on Harwell’s health. With Zach Goode as their new leader, Smash Mouth is still on the road.
“Walkin’ on the Moon”Sun’ altered the music. In 2019, Harwell told Rolling Stone that it has altered how people listened to music. “It was really unique, distinct, and wonderful.
It just had the noise we produced. Ask everyone who has attempted to duplicate us; you can’t. You just cannot.
The band saw even more popularity after the publication of their subsequent album, “Astro Lounge,” in 1999, which featured the number-one single “All Star.”
Award Winning Animated Picture Goes to
The song, which was nominated for a Grammy Award, also made appearances in a number of movies. Two years later, it gained additional acclaim when it was used in the opening sequence of “Shrek,” the Academy Award–winning animated picture starring Mike Myers as an ogre.
According to Harwell in a 2019 Rolling Stone interview, “We had no idea how big ‘Shrek’ was going to be.” (The characters from the 1999 movie “Mystery Men,” whose soundtrack “All Star” was included on, are seen in the music video for the song.)
Since then, “All Star” has continued to exist and has become a popular subject for online parodies. After over 25 years,
Harwell’s voice is still associated with the song’s well-known first lyrics, “Somebody once told me / The world is gonna roll me / I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed.”
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On Spotify, “All Star” has had around one billion streams. There have also been hundreds of millions of streaming for “Walkin’ on the Sun” and “I’m a Believer,” a rendition of a Monkees song that was included on the “Shrek” soundtrack.
The band Smash Mouth, whose members have changed throughout the years, hasn’t put out a new studio album in roughly ten years, but it has issued new singles, such as “Underground Sun” this year, with a different lead singer.
Although the band still plays, including a gig set for this coming Saturday in Illinois, Harwell was conscious that “All Star” will always be linked with it.
No one else could have performed the song. In 2019, Harwell spoke to Rolling Stone. “It never would have evolved into what it is today. If I had offered that song to a million bands, none of them would have been able to make it the way it is.