Former Smash Mouth singer Steve Harwell in hospice care

Former Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell is currently in hospice care at home and being cared for by his fiancé after battling ongoing health issues including cardiomyopathy and liver failure, as TMZ first reported. He is 56 years old. 

Robert Hayes, an agent for Harwell, confirmed the news with SFGATE on Sunday afternoon. “Although Steve is here with us still, sadly it will only be for a short time,” he said in an email. “My only additional comment is that we would hope that people would respect Steve and his family’s privacy during this difficult time.”  

The singer of the San Jose-based pop rock band, which formed in 1994 and rose to fame with hits like “All Star,” “Walkin’ on the Sun,” and a cover of the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer,” ended his music career in October 2021 after a strange performance at the Big Sip festival in Bethel, New York. In a video recorded by a festival patron that subsequently went viral, Harwell was seen slurring his speech and forgetting lyrics during the set, dropping a beer can into the crowd, raising two middle fingers into the air, and at one point displaying what appeared to be a Nazi salute. 

At the time, Harwell’s team told SFGATE he was retiring from the multi-platinum band “to focus on his mental and physical health,” and that during the show he had “suffered numerous symptoms directly linked with his current medical condition.” His team explained Harwell had struggled with several types of addiction over the years and had also been diagnosed with acute Wernicke’s Encephalopathy, a condition that “greatly impacted his motor functions including speech and impaired memory.”  

Harwell was replaced by singer Zach Goode in March 2022, who joined guitarist Mike Krompass, drummer Randy Cooke and bassist and Paul De Lisle in Smash Mouth’s current lineup.  

“Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of being a Rockstar performing in front of sold-out arenas and have been so fortunate to live out that dream,” Harwell said in a statement in 2021. “To my bandmates, it’s been an honor performing with you all these years and I can’t think of anyone else I would have rather gone on this wild journey with. To our loyal and amazing fans, thank you, all of this was possible because of you. I’ve tried so hard to power through my physical and mental health issues, and to play in front of you one last time, but I just wasn’t able to.”

Hayes called Harwell “one of the most recognizable voices from his generation” and said that with Smash Mouth, he had sold over 10 million albums worldwide, received a Grammy nomination (for “All Star” in 2000), had hundreds of film and television placements “and of course those musical feature in Shrek,” in addition to topping the charts on numerous occasions.  

“Even though Steve has not been with Smash Mouth for 2 years now… his legacy will live on through the music,” Hayes said.