Adam Schlesinger, the leader and songwriter for Fountains Of Wayne,died on Wednesday (April 1st) in an upstate New York hospital at age 52 due to Coronovirus, according to Variety. Schlesinger, who was divorced, is survived by two daughters, and had been hospitalized for over a week.
Schlesinger, who among many other things, co-produced the Monkees' 2016 surprise Top 15 Good Times album, was a Grammy and Emmy winner for his work on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, as well as an Oscar, Golden Globe, and Tony nominee. In addition to hits, like, “Stacy's Mom,” which he wrote with Chris Collingwood for Fountain's Of Wayne, Schlesinger will forever be known for writing the theme song to Tom Hanks' directorial debut, That Thing You Do.
In 2008 Schlesinger scored two Tony noms for his work on the musical adaption of John Waters' Cry Baby, with even more noms earned for The Tony Awards telecast, Sesame Street, and a Stephen Colbert Christmas special. Most recently, Schlesinger had collaborated with Sarah Silverman for an off-Broadway musical, The Bedwetter, which prior to the ongoing pandemic, had been set to open at the Atlantic Theater Company later this spring.
When we last caught up with Adam Schlesinger, hew shed light on his songwriting process: “I think a lot of times they're inspired by some real-life thing, or you start by thinking about some real-life kind of setting. A lot of times the stories just write themselves in the sense that you just start putting lines together and you're not exactly even sure where it's gonna end up. I mean, I don't really map it out too much beforehand.”
