Steve Harwell, Smash Mouth Founding Singer, Dead at 56

MicroWave@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 778 points – 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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He was right.

The years start coming, and they simply do not stop coming.

RIP King

Whoever told him the world was gonna roll him was pretty sharp

"It's a cool place and they say it gets colder
You're bundled up now, wait 'til you get older"

Steve Harwell was a prophet.

"The ice we skate is getting pretty thin. The waters getting warm so we might as well swim. My worlds on fire how about yours? Thats the way I like it because I never get bored."

A prophet indeed

And they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they

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.

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.

Wernicke’s encephalopathy has several potential symptoms. The most common issues are:

A confused mental state, ataxia, or loss of the ability to coordinate voluntary muscle movement, double vision or other changes in your normal vision

People with Korsakoff syndrome may also experience visual or auditory hallucinations. In addition, they may make up false stories without consciously meaning to deceive. Other symptoms are also possible. For example, you may undergo unusual changes in your normal behavior. You may also experience fatigue and an inability to concentrate. In addition, you may walk unsteadily or feel disoriented or delirious.

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

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Damn I just heard he was sick last night.

Same. They kept it extremely quiet. The band is now touring with a new vocalist and honestly the new song they put out is alright. Nothing earthshattering but it's an alright song.

Damn, they moved on quick

The band probably knew more about it than the general public did.

He doesn't seem to have been doing well for years. Just in general.

I had the Astro Lounge CD day of release and remember playing the whole album on repeat playing Ape Escape the summer of 99 as a 14yo. 24 years later and I wish I could inject that feeling into my veins somehow for even just 5 minutes. Maybe I should try meth? /s

All-Star brought attention to Mystery Men, which is a criminally underrated movie. So, that's another reason to like that song.

Finally someone who knows what's up with mystery men. Every single actor in that movie is a star.

This is egg salad. It's loaded with cholesterol, the wife won't even let me touch it. It hardly seems to matter now 'cause, chances are, we're already dead. Amazing is gone, there's no use waiting for the cavalry, because as of this moment, the cavalry is us! So what do you say? Do we all gather together, and go kick some Casanova butt? Or do I eat this sandwich?

Some

Body

Once

Told

Me

The

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He brought a lot of joy. Name a millenial or Gen X'er thT doesn't know All Star!

It's the same thing with Jimmy Buffet ... between Buffet and Smash Mouth, they didn't produce the most intellectual and insightful music. I never liked Margheritaville and I was partial to the pop hits that Smash Mouth came out with.

But the thing about big popular acts like these guys is that they are markers in our lives. Like them or hate them the fact that they were part of our lives is what's made the impression. The fact that when they die, it's like having a neighbor you knew die a few doors down from you. It makes you feel bad and it's a subtle reminder that you are in line in this short experience we call life.

"Didn't make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets smart, but your head gets dumb"
-Steve Harwell (1967-2023)

And every single day is just a fling. Then the morning comes.

— Steve Harwell

RIP. He wasn't all there towards the end, what with the drinking and the Nazi stuff and the COVID denial/antivax stuff, but Smash Mouth had such a big impact on the world.

Did they? They were one hit wonders who - except for some covid controversy - are now more known in tandem with Shrek rather than independently.

Depends on location and generation, perhaps. They were the soundtrack to my summers in the late 90s/early 00s in Southern California, always on the radio. I didn't know he'd gone off the deep end - sad.

Smash mouth were not one-hit wonders. "Walking' on the sun", "Then the morning comes", "I'm a believer" (ok that's technically also a Shrek song), and "Can't get enough of you baby" were also Top 40 hits.

Wow. RIP buddy.

I had a friend pass away from sudden liver failure about 5 or 6 years ago. I had dinner with him on Monday, saw a Facebook post on Friday that he went into the hospital on Wednesday and was dead before I saw the post.

I posted a video of him looking like hell and trashed during a concert/event like a year or two ago. He looked roooough.

This video was my first thought when I heard of his passing, can’t help thinking there might a connection…

Considering the cause of death was liver failure, it is very likely the case.

That sucks. Another one taken too soon. So many greats die in their 50's.

I'm probably one of the few who have listened to their re-releases, and wished they'd made more music. I loved their music, I still do, it's stupid poppy funny. Sister psychic gets in my head every time Google fucks up their weather prediction.

There's the hook, here's the riff

I wish I lived in a world where he got to watch his kid grow up. I can't imagine the pain he was living in.