Smash Mouth Singer, Steve Harwell Has Died At The Age of 56
Here’s hoping that he’s walking on the sun!
The former lead singer for rock band Smash Mouth, died Monday.
TMZ, which was the first outlet to report the news, reported Harwell has “reached the final stage of liver failure” due to alcohol. On September 3rd it was reported that Harwell was in hospice care.
Smash Mouth was a huge force on the radio in the 90s with hits like “Walkin’ on the Sun,” “All-Star, and the cover of “Can’t Get Enough of You.”
All-Star,” was a three-million-selling hit that reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains a pop culture touchstone today.
In 2001, Smash Mouth twisted the Neil Diamond/Monkees classic “I’m a Believer” into their own style and landed the band another Top 25 hit. The cover – along with “All-Star” – helped popularize the soundtrack to “Shrek” and appears in the animated comedy in a performance by Eddie Murphy’s Donkey character.
Smash Mouth released their last studio album in 2012, “Magic.”
In October 2021, Harwell announced his retirement from the band following an “odd” performance at a beer and wine festival.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Harwell’s reps then revealed that the frontman had been battling health issues for the past eight years stemming from his diagnosis with cardiomyopathy. The heart disease led to “serious medical setbacks” for Harwell, including heart failure and acute Wernicke encephalopathy.
It began to affect his speech and memory.
