Steve Harwell

Steven Scott Harwell (January 9, 1967 – September 4, 2023) was an American singer. Harwell served as the lead vocalist and frontman for the rock band Smash Mouth. He and bassist Paul De Lisle were the only two constant members of the band until Harwell's retirement.

Career

Greg Camp formed Smash Mouth with Harwell, Kevin Coleman, and Paul De Lisle. Harwell was previously a rapper in F.O.S. Harwell was a featured cast member in the sixth season of the VH1 reality show The Surreal Life in 2006. He has appeared on other television and radio shows, as well as making a cameo in the 2001 film Rat Race. He is best known for the song "All Star".

Harwell also performed two songs, "Beside Myself" and "Everything Just Crazy", for the 2013 South Korean-Chinese animated film Pororo, The Racing Adventure. During a performance with Smash Mouth in Urbana, Illinois, on August 27, 2016, Harwell collapsed on stage and was taken by ambulance to a hospital. The band completed the concert without him, with De Lisle taking over on vocals.

In October 2021, the band performed at a beer and wine festival at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, New York, where Harwell appeared to be intoxicated, threatening audience members and performing what looked like a Nazi salute. Following the performance, Harwell announced his retirement due to ongoing health issues.

Personal life

Harwell had a son named Presley who died in July 2001 from acute lymphocytic leukemia at the age of 6 months. Subsequently, Harwell created a medical research fund in Presley's name.

Illness and death

In 2013, Harwell was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and Wernicke encephalopathy, which can affect motor functions such as speech and memory and cause heart failure. Harwell implied he retired because these problems hindered his ability to perform well.

On September 3, 2023, Harwell's representative reported that he was in hospice care for final stage chronic liver failure. Harwell died at his home in Boise, Idaho, at the age of 56 on September 4.