Smash Mouth singer Steve Harwell dies at 56 of acute liver failure

Recently, some experts have started using the term acute on chronic liver failure. In this situation, a patient “may have underlying long-standing chronic liver disease or cirrhosis,” Kushner explains, and then an infection or other issue “on top of that leads to liver failure.” However, by definition, acute liver failure only occurs in “someone who has no underlying liver disease and has never had any liver problem,” Kushner says. Instead, it arises most commonly due to an overdose of acetaminophen, Lucero explains.

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former lead singer of the band smash mouth steve harwell dies at 56 : npr

Smash Mouth had a string of hits in the 1990s and 2000s with All Star, Walkin’ on the Sun and I’m a Believer.

  • Born in California in 1967, Harwell started his musical career in the rap group, F.O.S. (Freedom of Speech), who based their sound on the sample-heavy beats of Chuck D and Public Enemy.
  • Smash Mouth was founded in 1994 in San Jose, California, and was made up of Harwell, guitarist Greg Camp, drummer Kevin Coleman and bassist Paul De Lisle.
  • Harwell retired from Smash Mouth in 2021, and the band continues to tour with new vocalist Zach Goode.
  • After “Astro Lounge,” Smash Mouth released five more studio albums through 2012, with diminishing levels of success.

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Known for his limited musical experience and vibrant persona, Harwell retired in 2021 due to health issues, including cardiomyopathy and acute Wernicke Encephalopathy. Steve Harwell, former lead singer for rock band Smash Mouth, died at age 56 on Sept. 4, 2023, due to acute liver failure. The singer died of acute liver failure on Monday, Sept. 4 at his home in Boise, Idaho, the band’s manager Robert Hayes confirms to PEOPLE. “He was surrounded by family and friends and passed peacefully and comfortably,” Hayes said in a statement. Harwell had “many health issues,” and died from acute liver failure, the band’s manager Robert Hayes confirmed.

Smash Mouth singer Steve Harwell dies at 56 of acute liver failure

It went triple platinum and included the hits Can’t Get Enough of You Baby and the incredibly catchy All Star – a song which Rolling Stone magazine said “inexplicably mesmerized the world for 20 years”. Some critics wrote the band off as a one-hit wonder, but Smash Mouth proved them wrong with their second album Astro Lounge in 1999. Harwell retired from the band after a concert in upstate New York about two years ago, where he was heard slurring his words and making vaguely threatening comments toward the audience, according to Variety.

What is acute liver failure?

He also endured a tragedy during this time when he and his then-wife’s newborn son died of acute lymphocytic leukemia at just six months of age; Harwell created a medical research fund in Presley’s name. Born Steven Scott Harwell on January 9, 1967 in Santa Clara, Calif., Harwell started his career as a Chuck D-inspired rapper for the hip-hop ensemble F.O.S. (Freedom of Speech), which released a single titled “Big Black Boots” in 1993. However, he shifted gears to alt-rock and formed Smashmouth — originally styled as one word — with childhood friend/ drummer Kevin Coleman and two veterans of the San Jose punk band Lackadaddy, songwriter-guitarist Greg Camp and bassist Paul De Lisle. “His only tools were his irrepressible charm and charisma, his fearlessly reckless ambition, and his king-size cajones,” Hayes said. “Steve lived a 100% full-throttle life. Burning brightly across the universe before burning out.” Harwell retired from the band in 2021 over physical and mental health issues.

“A larger than life character who shot up into the sky like a Roman candle,” Smash Mouth said. “Steve should be remembered for his unwavering focus and impassioned determination to reach the heights of pop stardom.” “All Star” — written by Camp — went to No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart, the band’s best-ever chart position, and found a lasting audience through movie soundtracks. In 1999, it was used in “Inspector Gadget” and “Mystery Men,” and two years later the song got its broadest exposure former lead singer of the band smash mouth steve harwell dies at 56 : npr when it played during the opening credits of “Shrek,” the animated hit that featured Mike Myers as a grouchy but good-hearted ogre. “He was surrounded by family and friends and passed peacefully and comfortably,” the band’s manager, Robert Hayes, said in a statement to NBC News.

When San Jose radio station KOME-FM began airing a demo of the group’s song “Nervous in the Alley,” the group signed with powerhouse Interscope Records, split their name into two words, and released their debut album, “Fush Yu Mang,” in 1997. The artist — whose band is best known for the 1999 hit “All Star”  — had been in hospice care, according to representative Robert Hayes. “His only tools were his irrepressible charm and charisma, his fearlessly reckless ambition, and his king-size cajones. The following year a show in Memphis was cancelled after he had trouble breathing during the soundcheck.

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  • Jessica is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where she covers TV, movies, and pop culture.
  • By October 2021, after a concert in Bethel, N.Y., where the singer appeared to be intoxicated and threatened audience members, he announced his retirement from Smash Mouth due to ongoing health issues.
  • Once the liver fails, kidney failure and neurologic dysfunction might follow.

And in 2018 he became ill mid-show in Australia and had to leave the stage – the band carried on without him. However, his own poor health and reported alcohol abuse affected several performances throughout the years. Although they picked up local radio support for their debut single Big Black Boots, Harwell called time on the band when he heard Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg’s game-changing work on The Chronic, and intuited that the sound of rap was about to change. Born in California in 1967, Harwell started his musical career in the rap group, F.O.S. (Freedom of Speech), who based their sound on the sample-heavy beats of Chuck D and Public Enemy.

If someone gets diagnosed with acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure, “there is an antidote to give,” Lucero says. “And if it’s given early enough, it can help avoid the need for a liver transplant.” Patients may also receive a special form of continual dialysis, which can help decrease the amount of ammonia in their body, she adds. In some cases, treatments can prevent further complications or help reverse acute liver failure by giving the liver time to heal, the Mayo Clinic says. For instance, although chronic alcohol consumption doesn’t directly cause acute liver failure, it “decreases the threshold to develop drug-induced liver injury,” Lucero says.

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Since Harwell left the band in 2021, the group has continued to perform with new lead vocalist Zach Goode. Harwell dealt with multiple health conditions in the years prior to his death, including addiction, according to Hayes. In many cases, though, a liver transplant is the only effective option. Liver failure is a condition in which the liver can no longer keep functioning at normal levels.

Harwell was born in Santa Clara, California and the band formed in San Jose in 1994. Harwell later developed Wernicke’s encephalopathy, a sudden brain and memory disorder that’s caused by a lack of vitamin B1, which causes brain damage, the Cleveland Clinic explains. People with a history of alcohol use disorder are more likely to develop the condition. “The way we distinguish between the two is largely based on history,” she explains.

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