Jewish singer-songwriter Adam Schlesinger died on April 1 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., at the age of 52 as a result of complications of the coronavirus, his family announced.
Schlesinger, born in Manhattan on Oct. 31, 1967 and raised in Montclair, N.J., founded the indie pop band Ivy and co-founded Fountains of Wayne. He received two Grammy nominations with the latter band, whose most popular track was 2003’s “Stacy’s Mom.”
The Grammy winner and three-time Emmy winner wrote songs for film, theater and television, including the TV series “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” and the films “Music and Lyrics” and “Josie and the Pussycats.” He also wrote the title track to the Tom Hanks 1996 film “That Thing You Do!”
Schlesinger was working with comedian Sarah Silverman on an off-Broadway adaptation of her memoir “The Bedwetter” before the coronavirus pandemic.
“Adam was an astonishing songwriter and composer, and one of the funniest people you could know,” Silverman said in an Instagram post eulogizing Schlesinger. “He was my brother. I live for the time this is over, when we can squeeze our loved ones. And when our gang will be back working together, bringing his music to life. My heart is broken.”
Schlesinger was also collaborating with Rachel Bloom, star and co-creator of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” to write songs for a musical adaptation of the TV show “The Nanny.”
Bloom paid tribute to Schlesinger on Twitter, as did musician Jack Antonoff, comedian Kathy Griffin and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who wrote that Schlesinger’s death was a “sad, sad loss for Jersey’s music scene.”
Schlesinger is survived by his parents, two daughters, a sister and his partner.
