Adam Schlesinger, an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and guitarist, died on Wednesday in Poughkeepsie from coronavirus complications. He was 52.
“The cause was complications of the coronavirus,” his family said.
He was a founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, and Tinted Windows. He was a key songwriter and producer for Brooklyn-based synth-pop duo Fever High.
Schlesinger won a Grammy, three Emmys, and the ASCAP Pop Music Award. He was nominated for Oscar, Tony, and Golden Globe Awards.
Fountains of Wayne, the band best known for its 2003 Grammy-nominated single “Stacy’s Mom,” consisted of Adam Schlesinger, Chris Collingwood, Jody Porter, and Brian Young.
Schlesinger played bass and Collingwood played guitar and sang lead vocals with the band, which became a cult favorite.
He wrote the Beatles-esque theme song to “That Thing You Do!,” a film directed by Tom Hanks, which brought Schlesinger nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.
Schlesinger also wrote jingles for the Maryland State Lottery and Gillette.
Born in Manhattan on October 31, 1967, and grew up in Montclair, N.J, Schlesinger attended Montclair High School and studied philosophy at Williams College in Massachusetts, where he met Mr. Collingwood.
Schlesinger and Collingwood were famous for their witty and sharp-eyed lyrics.
In 1999, Schlesinger told The New York Times, “When we were teenagers, we liked listening to Kinks records because we’d never been to England, and we got a sense of what it was like to live there.”
Schlesinger is survived by his parents, Bobbi and Stephen Schlesinger; two daughters, Sadie and Claire; a sister, Laurie Rose; and his partner, Alexis Morley. His married Katherine Beinecke Michel in 1999, which ended in divorce.
