San Jose music icon Steve Harwell of the band Smash Mouth dies at 56.

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Steve Harwell, the singer who took one of the most popular San Jose rock bands of all time – Smash Mouth – to great heights in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, died Monday at the age of 56.
“Steve Harwell was a true American Original,” the band posted Monday about the passing of its former lead singer on X (formerly known as Twitter). “A larger than life character who shot up into the sky like a Roman candle. Steve will be remembered for his unwavering focus and impassioned determination to reach the heights of pop stardom.
“Rest in peace knowing you aimed for the stars, and magically hit your target. Rest easy.”
Harwell died from liver failure at his home in Boise, Idaho, the band’s manager, Robert Hayes, confirmed to the New York Times.
Harwell will be remembered as the rowdy, upbeat voice of the Smash Mouth hits “Walkin’ on the Sun,” “I’m a Believer” and, especially, “All Star.”
Originally released on Smash Mouth’s sophomore album, 1999’s “Astro Lounge,” the entirely catchy “All Star” was quickly utilized in a number of different films, including “Inspector Gadget” and “Mystery Men” — the latter of which played into the band’s music video for the song.
The song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart and wound up being nominated for a Grammy.
Yet, it would grow even more popular two years later when it was memorably featured in the opening credits of the 2001 DreamWorks animated smash “Shrek.”
Smash Mouth basically ended up opening and closing the film, as the San Jose band’s cover of “I’m a Believer” – the Neil Diamond-penned Monkees hit from 1966 – was chosen for the closing scene of the film.
The massive success of the “Shrek” – which ranked only second to “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” on the list of top-grossing films in the U.S. in 2001 – greatly expanded Smash Mouth’s fan base, especially among younger listeners.
Yet, it wasn’t just a temporary occurrence, but, really, something that has continued on to this day as new generations of viewers journey into the magical world of Shrek, Donkey and Fiona.
For people who grew up during the time of “Shrek,” these Smash Mouth songs will likely be remembered as fondly as earlier generations recall such Disney tunes as “Someday My Prince Will Come” and even “When You Wish Upon a Star.”
Harwell cofounded the band — which originally went by Smashmouth — in 1994 in San Jose with drummer Kevin Coleman, guitarist Greg Camp and bassist Paul De Lisle. Prior to that, Harwell was a rapper in a group called F.O.S. (Freedom of Speech).
The band’s first big break came when the legendary San Jose radio station KOME played a demo of the song “Nervous in the Alley,” which helped it garner publicity and paved the way to its signing by mighty Interscope Records.
The full-length debut album “Fush Yu Mang” came out in 1997 and introduced fans to the band’s commercial friendly mix of retro surf rock, big pop hooks and frat-house fun. The album went on to sell over 2 million copies, propelled — one might say almost entirely — by the the career-making single “Walkin’ on the Sun.”
Smash Mouth’s next album, “Astro Lounge,” was even bigger, reaching triple-platinum heights on the back of “All Star.”
The good times would last for one more full-length, as the band managed to eek out gold-status with 2001’s self-titled affair. Yet, the music world was changing by that point, with Smash Mouth’s increasingly homogenic brand of ’90s-rooted alt-rock losing favor with the public.
The group’s next major label release — 2003’s weak-selling “Get the Picture?” — turned out to be its last. Although, Smash Mouth would go on to put out three more independent albums with Harwell on the microphone, the last of which was 2012’s “Magic.”
As Smash Mouth’s fortunes crashed, Harwell became an increasingly unstable presence onstage. In 2016, he reportedly collapsed during a concert in Illinois and was rushed to the hospital, while the rest of the group finished the show without him.