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Steve Harwell
American musician (1967–2023) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Steven Scott Harwell (January 9, 1967 – September 4, 2023) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist for the rock band Smash Mouth from their formation in 1994 until his retirement in 2021.[1][2][3]
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Career
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Harwell was initially a rapper in the group F.O.S.[4] (Freedom of Speech).[5] He abandoned the Public Enemy–influenced project upon hearing Dr. Dre's 1992 album The Chronic and realizing that the genre was changing.[6]
Greg Camp formed Smash Mouth in 1994 with Harwell, Kevin Coleman, and Paul De Lisle. They first achieved success with their 1997 song "Walkin' on the Sun".[7] The band's 1999 song "All Star" reached the top 10 in the United States, and it regained popularity after being featured in the 2001 film Shrek.[8]
Harwell was a featured cast member in the sixth season of the VH1 reality show The Surreal Life in 2006.[9] He appeared on other television and radio shows[10] as well as making a cameo in the 2001 film Rat Race.[11] He performed two songs, "Beside Myself" and "Everything Just Crazy",[citation needed] for the 2013 South Korean–Chinese animated film Pororo, The Racing Adventure.[12] In 2018, he provided vocals for two songs in the We Bare Bears episode "Pizza Band".[13]
During a Smash Mouth concert in Urbana, Illinois, on August 27, 2016, Harwell collapsed on stage and was taken by ambulance to a hospital. The band completed the show without him, De Lisle singing in his place.[14][15] In August 2020, the band headlined at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, with Harwell declaring "Now we're all here together tonight. And we're being human once again. Fuck that COVID shit"; the event was later classed as a superspreading event by the National Institutes of Health.[16]
In October 2021, the band performed at a beer and wine festival at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, New York, where he appeared to be intoxicated, threatening audience members and performing what looked like a Nazi salute.[17][18] He then announced his retirement due to ongoing health issues,[19] and was replaced by Zach Goode.[20]
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Personal life
Harwell married Michelle Laroque in 2000; they divorced in 2019.[21] Together, they had a son named Presley,[22] who died aged six months in July 2001 from acute lymphocytic leukemia and inspired the name of his father's disease prevention fund, the Presley Scott Research Foundation for Leukemia.[23][24]
In 2019, his fiancée, Esther Campbell,[25] was issued a restraining order against Harwell.[26]
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Illness and death
Throughout most of his life, Harwell struggled with alcoholism, which was exacerbated by the death of his son. At times he performed while heavily intoxicated.[6] In 2013, he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and Wernicke encephalopathy, which can impair speech and memory. He was hospitalized in 2017 for cardiomyopathy, leading to the cancellation of a show.[27]
During an October 2021 show, Harwell said to one fan, "I'll fucking kill your whole family, I swear to God," slurring his words and swaying back and forth, at The Big Sip[28] beer and wine festival at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, New York and released as a TikTok video.[29] He retired after that event,[30] as these health problems hindered his ability to perform.[31]
Harwell died at his home in Boise, Idaho, on September 4, 2023,[32][33] one day after his manager, Robert Hayes, announced Harwell was in hospice for final-stage liver failure.[34][35][36]
References
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External links
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