Smash Mouth singer Steve Harwell has died at age 56. The musician passed away peacefully at his home in Boise, Idaho, on the morning of 4 September 2023.

His death was announced by his manager Robert Hayes, who said in a statement to Rolling Stone that Harwell “passed peacefully and comfortably” with family and friends by his side. “Steve’s iconic voice is one of the most recognisable voices from his generation,” Hayes added. “He loved the fans and loved to perform … Steve lived a 100 percent full-throttle life. Burning brightly across the universe before burning out.”

Hayes did not specify the cause of death, but he told TMZ earlier this week that the singer had been suffering from liver failure. Harwell had faced numerous other health issues in recent years, since a 2013 diagnosis of the heart disease cardiomyopathy and the neurological disorder, acute Wernicke encephalopathy, which affected his speech and memory. He also suffered from alcoholism.

Born in California in 1967, Harwell formed Smash Mouth in 1994 when his manager and longtime friend Kevin Coleman introduced him to two other musicians in San Jose. In 1996 the four men experienced a minor breakout when their song Nervous in the Alley was played by a local radio station while the band was still unsigned.

Record labels soon showed interest and the group signed with Interscope before releasing their debut album Fush Yu Mang in 1997. With a distinctive sound that blended ska, lounge music, psych-pop and more, topped with Harwell’s hip-hop influenced vocals, the single Walkin’ on the Sun became their first major hit, reaching No 1 on the Billboard modern rock charts and the UK Top 20.

Their second album, 1999’s Astro Lounge, contained Smash Mouth’s biggest single All Star, which became a huge hit internationally and remains the group’s only appearance in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.

“When Astro Lounge came, we had enough time under our belt touring, getting better,” Harwell told Rolling Stone in 2019. “I was becoming a better singer and our sound started developing.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/sep/04/smash-mouth-steve-harwell-lead-singer-death