According to pitchfork.com, Smash Mouth‘s lead singer Steve Harwell has died at his home in Boise, Idaho according to reports from The New York Times. The artist was 56 years old

In 2013 the singer was diagnosed with a heart condition called cardiomyopathy and a neurological condition called acute Wernicke encephalopathy. A few years later Harwell collapsed onstage during a performance and back in 2021 the artist announced he has retired from performing following a difficult concert in New York.

“Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of being a Rockstar performing in front of sold-out arenas and have been so fortunate to live out that dream,” Harwell said at the time. “To my bandmates, it’s been an honor performing with you all these years and I can’t think of anyone else I would have rather gone on this wild journey with.”

Before forming Smash Mouth in 1994, Harwell released a single with the rap group F.O.S. (Freedom of Speech) through Scotti Bros. Records: “You know, we were just really into Chuck D and that shit at the time and I just thought, ‘I want to be a rapper.’” Harwell told Stereogum of “Big Black Boots.”

“Around the time we were about to put out our single, this kid Snoop Dogg came out and changed everything  I was at a radio convention in Las Vegas watching MC Hammer of all people, and I just looked at my manager, I’m tired of all this hip-hop shit, I want to start an alternative rock band. You’re crazy, it was hard enough getting this. But he followed me down the path and here we are.” said Harwell.

Harwell formed Smash Mouth with drummer Kevin Coleman, guitarist Greg Camp and bassist Paul De Lisle. Smash Mouth released their debut studio album Fush Yu Mang in 1997 by Interscope. The album featured a cover of War’s “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” and the group’s first big single “Walkin’ on the Sun.”

Following the success of Fush Yu Mang, Smash Mouth’s 1999 Astro Lounge featured the massive hit “All Star,” which spent 30 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number four. The single also earned Smash Mouth their only Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Schulz