Steve Harwell, Smash Mouth Founding Singer, Dead at 56
rollingstone.com
"Walkin' on the Sun" and "All Star" vocalist announced his retirement in 2021
STEVE HARWELL, WHO cofounded the band Smash Mouth in 1994, has died at the age of 56, band manager Robert Hayes confirmed. The musician, best known for hits like “All Star” and “I’m a Believer,” died at his home in Boise, ID “surrounded by family and friends.”
Harwell had been in hospice care following medical complications. The cause of death was liver failure, Hayes told Rolling Stone.
Hayes said Harwell “passed peacefully and comfortably.” In a statement to Rolling Stone, he offered a lengthy tribute to the artist, who was a staple of ’90s rock music and saw success with multiple albums and singles.
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I don’t see many compliments about Steve like the outpouring of love for people like Paul Reubens when they die, so I just wanted to share some nice words about him.
My sister saw Smash Mouth and 3rd Eye Blind together in 1997 and Steve called out to the crowd “FUCK MARILYN MANSON.” I was taken aback at the time but realized he was basically calling out the focus on darkness, anger, self harm, violence etc in Marilyn’s music and the effect on the world (especially youth), vs positivity, togetherness. The music he’s put out seems to have embodies this.
You don’t read a lot about his personal life or cutesy fan interaction ala Bill Murray or Keanu…but by all accounts he is a kind and humble guy. He seems to have struggled a lot with alcohol and mental health but loved to party and have a good time.
I hope more people speak about with good things to say about him. I have a feeling he was a great guy we didn’t know very well.
He lost me when I saw him in a video trashed while singing and throwing up Nazi salutes and insulting the crowd. You can blame the alcohol all you want, but Nazi salutes are a line you don't cross. So I dunno what happened to all his positivity, but it's been long gone.
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally/Superspreader Event. As a healthcare provider during the pandemic, I lost any desire to hear All Star ever again.
https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/motorcycle-rally-where-smash-mouth-played-was-a-superspreader-event-report-says
That was the event that caused me to lose respect for them. I loved their music before that and was happy to see them gain popularity after Shrek and sad to see that popularity turn against them when radio shows overplayed All Star.
But then they headlined what I saw as the symbol of the lack of resilience a portion of the population had and removed them from my playlists and don't let my mind dwell on their songs anymore.
And now I'm wondering if covid was a factor in his death. Even if his heart condition wasn't caused by it in the first place, covid does a number on the heart and other organs, and I wonder if it took years off his life.
RIP, I'll let go of those feelings now.
He died of liver failure, it was the drinking that did him in. Wasn't COVID it was the alcohol.
Covid can cause terrible liver damage though.
https://press.rsna.org/timssnet/media/pressreleases/14_pr_target.cfm?id=2389
When that video a few years ago went viral of him trying to sing (not at Sturgis) but being just absolutely to fucked up to even know where he was, there was a lot of talk about he went off the deep end drinking when his kid died. He was diagnosed with Wernicke- Korsakoff syndrome ("wet brain") from drinking ten years before Sturgis.
I was/is an alcoholic (now sober) and I never resorted to Nazi salutes at my worst lol. I didn't even think about that shit
I drank professionally for about 15 years and I also never once endorsed genocide. It's really easy to do. All you have to do is be a normal person to whom it would never occur as an idea in the first place.
edit: lol @ the two downvotes who were like "not endorsing genocide is a constant struggle"
He drank enough that it killed him. I think it's safe to say he was in a different place than you were.
Did you watch the video or read the transcript? He’s telling people he’s going to kill then. More and more agitated, just flailing at anything. Flipping off the crowd. Completely out of his mind. Not saying doing a nazi salute is ok but this guy isn’t a nazi. It’s super sad. It sucks if that’s all he will be remembered for.
He was drunk. And yet I've been pretty damn drunk and at no point did I ever give a Nazi salute.
But have you been drunk with wet brain?
I think there's a gulf of difference between alcoholism that leads to end-stage liver failure and death and "I've been drunk before". Considering he is dead in 2023, gonna say he was pretty pickled already in 2021, especially with whatever downtime the pandemic offered
Apparently he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and wet brain from the alcoholism ten years ago; “pickled already in 2021” sounds like an understatement