Steve Harwell, Smash Mouth Singer and Surreal Life Cast Member, Dead at 56
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Smash Mouth singer Steve Harwell, who was once a cast member of the VH1 reality series The Surreal Life, died Monday. He was just 56.
According to his manager who confirmed the news to TMZ, Harwell’s cause of death was liver failure caused by years of alcohol abuse. He died at his home in Boise, Idaho surrounded by friends and family.
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Harwell was one of the founding members of Smash Mouth, a rock band from San Jose, Calif. most famous for penning “All Star” in 1999, a song that exploded in popularity thanks to its use in the first Shrek movie. The band’s other famous tracks include “Walkin’ on the Sun” and “Then the Morning Comes,” in addition to cover songs such as “Can’t Get Enough of You Baby” (first recorded by the Four Seasons), The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer,” and War’s “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”
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In 2006, Harwell made his reality TV debut in The Surreal Life‘s sixth season, cohabitating inside a Los Angeles mansion alongside Alexis Arquette, Poison’s C.C. DeVille, The Jeffersons‘ Sherman Hemsley, Maven Huffman, Tawny Kitaen and Andrea Lowell. Beloved Brady Bunch mom Florence Henderson assisted the cast as the house therapist. Throughout the two weeks of filming, Harwell helped his fellow castmates through a music video shoot, and hosted and participated in a Battle of the Bands competition.
Harwell had been diagnosed with various illnesses like cardiomyopathy and Wernicke’s encephalopathy throughout the years that affected his motor skills and heart. He officially retired from his role as a frontman in 2021.
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