Musician Steve Harwell has died at the age of 56. His manager Robert Hayes confirmed this to the magazine, among others Variety and the Hollywood reporters. Harwell became the frontman of the American alternative rock band SmashMouth famous. The band was formed by Harwell and his fellow musicians in California in 1994. They had their breakthrough and at the same time their biggest hit in 1997 with the single “Walkin’ on the Sun”. Released in 1999, the song “All Star” has been used several times as film music, including in the animated hit “Shrek”. In total, the group sold more than ten million albums.
Steve Harwell was born in Santa Clara, California in 1967. He had already retired from the music business and thus also from his long-standing band two years ago. According to several media reports, one reason is said to have been his severe alcoholism. It had already become known over the weekend that the singer was dying and was receiving palliative care. Then on Monday, Steve Harwell died of liver failure in his adopted hometown of Boise, Idaho.