How did Smash Mouth rise to fame? Band’s history explored in wake of Steve Harwell's death

Smash Mouth was originally formed with Steve Harwell as the lead vocalist in 1994. The band's first moment of fame came with their single All Star, which was released as part of their second studio album, Astro Lounge. The single initially became popular through radio broadcasts, but it was the advent of a new Disney film that skyrocketed its success.

The single was chosen as the opening credit song for the 2001 DreamWorks-produced animation film Shrek, which overnight tripled the single's sales, eventually earning multi-platinum sales certifications.

The former lead singer and the voice behind the hit single, Steve Harwell, has passed away at the age of 56. The singer's death was confirmed by the manager of the band, Robert Hayes, who stated in a press statement:

"Steve Harwell was a true American original... Steve should be remembered for his unwavering focus and impassioned determination to reach the heights of pop stardom. And the fact that he achieved this near-impossible goal with very limited musical experience makes his accomplishments all the more remarkable."

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Tracing Smash Mouth's career with Steve Harwell

Smash Mouth's original lineup consisted of Steve Harwell, Kevin Coleman, Greg Comp, and Paul De Lisle. The band's name was derived from the name of an American football offense strategy, and the band first started gaining traction through the demo song, Nervous in the Alley, which started being played regularly by KOME, a San Jose radio station.

Smash Mouth soon gained the attention of the label Interscope Records, and they signed a recording deal in 1997. Subsequently, the band released their debut studio album, Fush Yu Mang, on July 8, 1997. The album was mostly popular due to the single Walkin' on the Sun.

Following the band's initial success, they recorded a second studio album, Astro Lounge. However, the label refused to release the album, claiming it lacked a hit first single to back it up. This led to the conceptualization of All Star, as noted by the band in an interview with WBUR:

"They’re just like, ‘Where’s the hit? This isn’t it. You got a second single. You got a third single. Maybe a fourth single. But not a first single. We’re not gonna put this out until you give us something better than this."

Smash Mouth found the concept behind the single via their fan mail, with many young fans expressing to them how they were being bullied for their choice of music just for the sake of it:

"We were reading a lot of fan mail, back when people actually wrote things on paper. We were reading all these things, and we were like: ‘Man, all these kids had or are having the same problems that we had when we were kids. Let’s do a song."

The single eventually went on to be used for not just the Shrek movies but also for a number of other films, notable among them Rat Race by Jerry Zucker. The single was also regularly played at Major League Baseball games as well as during climate change protests.

Astro Lounge went on to become a major success and remains Smash Mouth's most successful album project, peaking at number 6 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album has a multi-platinum certification in the US as well as a platinum certification in Canada.

The band went on to release several more studio albums, which were not as successful as the ones before. Their 2012 album, Magic, was the last featuring Steve Harwell before his retirement in 2021.