Singer and the front man of US rock band Smash Mouth, Steve Harwell, has passed away at the age of 56.
Here’s everything you need to know about the death of the iconic singer who has been battling a deadly disease.
Smash Mouth Leader Singer Steve Harwell Dies at 56 “Peacefully and Comfortably”
On 4 Sep 2023, it was reported that Steve Harwell has passed away at home in Boise, Idaho.
According to the band manager, Robert Hayes, Harwell died surrounded by family and friends.
Harwell reportedly suffered from acute liver failure. He was in the final stages of liver failure and was receiving end of life care at home.
He had passed away while surrounded by family and friends.
Battling Alcoholism & Poor Health
In 2001, Harwell suffered a personal tragedy when his new-born son, Presley, died from acute lymphocytic leukemia.
This reportedly prompted Harwell to set up a medical research fund in his son’s name.
Harwell also suffered from poor health and reported alcohol abuse.
In 2013, Harwell was diagnosed with heart ailment cardiomyopathy. Subsequently, he was diagnosed with a neurological condition which affects his speech and memory.
His health affected several performances; in a 2016 performance at Illinois, Harwell collapsed on stage.
In 2017, a show was cancelled after Harwell had trouble breathing during the soundcheck.
In 2018, Smash Mouth had to continue performing without Harwell mid-show in Australia after he left the stage.
In 2021, Harwell retired from the band for “physical and mental health issues”.
This occurred after he appeared intoxicated at a New York performance and was caught on video slurring his words and yelling at the audience.
Then, he had said that he wanted to power through his issues but couldn’t.
COVID-19 Superspreader Event
In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak, Smash Mouth performed at a motorbike rally in South Dakota.
There, Steve Harwell dismissed the seriousness of COVID-19 to a packed crowd.
The annual rally had nearly 500,000 motorcycle enthusiasts with no mask-wearing requirements, visiting over a period of nine days.
The event was later labelled as a superspreader event by the National Institute of Health.
Smash Mouth reportedly received hate mail for performing at the event.
Steve Harwell’s Musical Career
Harwell was initially in the rap group F.O.S. (Freedom of Speech).
However, when he heard Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg’s impressive work on The Chronic, he felt that the sound of rap was about to change.
Harwell delved into alternative rock, and went on to found Smash Mouth.
The band had a generally successful beginning with their song Walkin’ On The Sun. It topped Billboard’s modern rock charts and the band’s debut album was boosted into the Top 40.
Despite being written off as a one-hit wonder, Smash Mouth went on to, well, smash expectations by doing even better with its second album Astro Lounge in 1999.
One of the songs in the second album, All Star, gained its second heyday after being featured in the original Shrek movie.
The song gained YouTube meme status and the band was initially unused to the various different formats of their songs.
However, they were soon “getting it”.
So far, fans have been sharing their condolences on various different platforms, including on the band’s music videos itself.
Smash Mouth has also uploaded their final farewell to their beloved lead singer.
Calling him a “true American Original”, the band lauded his achievements.
Steve, the Instagram post read, has led a “100% throttled life”.
“Burning brightly across the universe before burning out.
“Rest in peace knowing you aimed for the stars, and magically hit your target.”
You can read their post in full here.