“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.
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.
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.