This past weekend, a manager for longtime Smash Mouth singer Steve Harwell revealed to TMZ that the 56-year-old whose voice was behind mega-hits like “All Star,” “Walkin’ On The Sun” and “I’m A Believer,” was in “the final stage of liver failure … for which he’d, up until recently, been receiving treatment at a hospital.”
Sadly, it has been confirmed that Harwell “passed peacefully and comfortably” at his home in Boise, Idaho “surrounded by family and friends.”
“Steve has been retired from Smash Mouth for two years now, and the band continues to tour with new vocalist Zach Goode,” band manager Robert Hayes told Rolling Stone.
“That said, Steve’s legacy will live on through the music. With Steve, Smash Mouth has sold over 10 Million albums worldwide-wide and topped the charts with two #1 hit singles, five Top 40 singles, three Hot 100 singles, four Billboard 200 albums and a Grammy nomination not to mention the hundreds of film and television placements and of course those musical features in ‘Shrek.’”
He continued: “Steve’s iconic voice is one of the most recognizable voices from his generation. He loved the fans and loved to perform. Steve Harwell was a true American original. A larger than life character who shot up into the sky like a Roman candle. Steve should be remembered for his unwavering focus and impassioned determination to reach the heights of pop stardom. And the fact that he achieved this near-impossible goal with very limited musical experience makes his accomplishments all the more remarkable. His only tools were his irrepressible charm and charisma, his fearlessly reckless ambition, and his king-size cajones. Steve lived a 100 percent full-throttle life. Burning brightly across the universe before burning out.”
Harwell previously told Rolling Stone that the band set out to disprove its detractors with their sophomore album, “Astro Lounge,” which spawned “All Star,” the biggest hit of the band’s career.
“A lot of people said that we weren’t talented enough to do that type of sh*t,” he said. “Well, we did it, and I want them to eat their words. We got slagged so much by people who wanted us to fail,” he said. “Even friends want you to fail. They’d get a good laugh if I fell flat on my face. We did this record to let people know, “Hey, don’t fuck with us. We built this team and nobody’s going to take it away from us.”
Harwell retired from music in 2021 to deal with numerous health issues after a public incident where the singer was videoed on stage slurring his words and threatening the audience.
“Steve has been dealing with long-term medical issues over the last eight years and during his last performance at the Big Sip stage, he suffered numerous symptoms directly linked with his current medical situation,” a band rep said at the time. “As of today, Steve will be retiring from Smash Mouth to focus on his physical and mental health.”
Harwell talked about “All Star” on the 20th anniversary of the track’s release to Rolling Stone.
“It was definitely a moment where other artists and people finally realized we’re not a bunch of punk kids. We write great songs and it’s iconic,” he said.
“The song just won’t go away because it’s just one of those songs,” Harwell added. “It’s like f*cking Led Zeppelin ‘Stairway to Heaven.’ It’s like f*ckin’ Lynyrd Skynyrd. You have certain songs that bands make that just don’t go away. We were blessed with that, and it was ‘All Star.’”
