"Stacy's Mom" singer Adam Schlesinger died due to complications related to the coronavirus. He was 52 years old.
“Stacy’s Mom” singer Adam Schlesinger, who was in the bands Fountains of Wayne and Ivy, died from complications related to the coronavirus, his attorney, Josh Grier, confirmed to the New York Times Wednesday. He was 52 years old.
Earlier on Wednesday, Schlesinger’s partner told TMZ the singer was diagnosed with COVID-19, also known as the novel coronavirus, and was hospitalized in upstate New York. She said he was on a ventilator and “has been sedated to facilitate his recovery. He is in critical condition, but his condition is improving slightly and we are cautiously optimistic.”
Why Schlesinger Was Inspired to Write ‘Stacy’s Mom’
The band was named after a lawn ornament store that sold fountains in Wayne, New Jersey, near Montclair, where Schlesinger grew up.
In addition to singing, Schlesinger also played bass for Fountains of Wayne, while Chris Collingwood played lead guitar and also sang, the Times noted. Schlesinger and Collingwood met as freshman at Williams College, Vanity Fair reported.
They came out with their biggest hit in 2003, called “Stacy’s Mom.” At its peak, the song hit No. 21 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. It’s a catchy pop track about a teenage boy who’s lusting for his friend’s attractive mother. Supermodel Rachel Hunter was featured in the risqué music video.
In a 2003 interview with MTV, Schlesinger revealed what inspired him to write the song. “One of my best friends, when we were maybe 11 or 12, came to me and announced that he thought my grandmother was hot,” he remembered. “And I said, ‘Hey, you’re stepping over the line,’ but at that point in life, I wouldn’t put it past anyone.”
As a band, Fountains of Wayne was nominated for two Grammy awards.
He also wrote That Thing You Do! for a 1996 film directed by Tom Hanks of the same name. The song earned him an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe nomination.
The film was actually named after the song Schlesinger wrote. He heard about the film, which is about a 1960s rock band imitating the Beatles, through his publisher. He decided to take on the project, approaching it as a writing assignment. “I just took it as an assignment and decided it was worth spending a couple of days on for a shot at something like this,” he told People in 2016.
Having a deadline helped Schlesinger write songs. “It’s something I’ve done a lot of since then; writing to order and writing on deadline for different projects for movies or television or theater,” he told People. “It’s a way of constantly proving to yourself that you can get something done in the short amount of time that you have to.”
It was his work on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend when he cinched the awards, winning three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.
Schlesinger also did work on Broadway. He was nominated for a Tony in 2008, along with David Javerbaum, for his work on Cry-Baby, based on the 1990 film of the same name which stars Johnny Depp and Ricki Lake.
Schlesinger Was Motivated by The Beatles
Schlesinger loved to listen to The Beatles growing up. “I didn’t really listen to anything else except the Beatles when I was really young. And then as I got older I started discovering there were other bands in the world,” he said to People in 2016. “But the Beatles were definitely my first real love, and all I listened to in my formative years.”
Schlesinger’s parents, however, preferred jazz and classical music. “I got Beatles records from my aunt. We had a piano in our house growing up, so I played piano and as I got older I discovered more things and my taste broadened a lot,” he said.
READ NEXT: Country Music Star Joe Diffie Dies of Coronavirus at 61