Acclaimed songwriter Adam Schlesinger has died of coronavirus-related complications at 52 in Poughkeepsie, NY, his family announced on Wednesday.
Shlesinger is best known for his Emmy-award-winning career as a songwriter for film, theater, and television. Schlesinger has worked on projects such as  Shallow Hal, There’s Something About Mary, and Me, Myself & Irene, as well as co-founded the pop-rock, Grammy-nominated band Fountains of Wayne.
Related: Ellis Marsalis, Jazz Pianist And Musical Patriarch, Dead At 85
The critically-acclaimed band Fountains of Wayne achieved widespread recognition in 2003 with the song “Stacy’s Mom”, which hit No. 21 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. Fountains of Wayne is well-known for its novelistic approach to songwriting, with songs depicting life in the boroughs of Manhattan. It was in 1996, however, when Schlesinger cemented himself as a prominent songwriter when he wrote the theme song to the Tom Hanks film That Thing You Do!. In a statement posted to Twitter, Hanks commented on Schlesinger’s untimely death:
There would be no Playtone without Adam Schlesinger, without his That Thing You Do! He was a One-der. Lost him to Covid-19. Terribly sad today. Hanx
— Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) April 2, 2020
Other notable achievements from Schlesinger include his work on Stephen Colbert‘s album, A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All!, which won a Grammy for “Best Comedy Album” in 2010. Furthermore, Schlesinger also worked with David Javerbaum on a variety of projects, including the 2008 musical Cry Baby and the Broadway play An Act of God.
Celebrate the life of Adam Schlesinger by listening to some of his most prominent works below:
That Thing You Do!
[Video: The Wonders – Topic]
Fountains of Wayne – “Stacy’s Mom”
[Video: FountainsOfWayneVEVO]