Smash Mouth Frontman Steve Harwell Dead at 56

Smash Mouth co-founder Steve Harwell passed away in hospice care.

On Monday (Sept. 4), the band’s manager, Robert Hayes, confirmed to Rolling Stone that he passed away “peacefully and comfortably” at his Boise, Idaho home “surrounded by family and friends” including his fiancée.

Harwell, who retired from the band two years ago, was in hospice care after suffering from medical complications, with his cause of death being liver failure.

“Steve’s legacy will live on through the music,” Hayes said in a statement. “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.”

The manager labeled Harwell a “larger than life character who shot up into the sky like a Roman candle.” He hopes that he will be remembered for his focus and impassioned determination for pop music stardom.

“And the fact that he achieved this near-impossible goal with very limited musical experience makes his accomplishments all the more remarkable,” he added. “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.”

The manager reported to TMZ that he suffered from alcohol abuse throughout his life and that his loved ones visited him to say goodbye over the span of his last four days. Prior to the hospice care, he received treatment at a hospital before his health took a turn for the worse. Harwell was previously diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, heart failure and Wernicke's encephalopathy.