Smash Mouth’s Steve Harwell Passes Away at 56 Due to Liver Failure

Smash Mouth, a rock band best known for its 1999 single “All Star,” lost its former lead vocalist, Steve Harwell, on Monday. He was 56.
The band’s manager, Robert Hayes, confirmed his passing at his home in Boise, Idaho, and stated that liver failure was the cause.
Mr. Harwell, guitarist Greg Camp, drummer Kevin Coleman, and bassist Paul De Lisle formed Smash Mouth in San Jose, California, in 1994. The band’s debut album, “Fush Yu Mang” (1997), featured the song “Walkin’ on the Sun,” which was its first commercial hit.
“Walking on the Sun,” written by all four members of the band, is a vibrant song with a dark undercurrent that is reminiscent of both the Doors and modern ska-punk. It topped the alternative chart on Billboard and had regular play on MTV.
The song “All Star” written by the group’s guitarist, Mr. Camp, reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles list, marking the group’s highest-charting position to date. The song also gained a devoted following via soundtracks for motion pictures. It was used in the 1999 films “Inspector Gadget” and “Mystery Men” and two years later, when it played over the opening credits of the animated smash “Shrek” which starred Mike Myers as a grumpy but kind-hearted ogre, the song received its greatest recognition.
The “Shrek” soundtrack went double platinum, and the movie received an Academy Award for best animated picture. The ending sequence used Smash Mouth’s sped-up rendition of the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” There was “All Star” everywhere.