Fountains Of Wayne Co-Founder Adam Schlesinger Dies from Covid-19

By Ammar Haziq  •  02 Apr 2020 in News

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Adam Schlesinger, an award-winning singer-songwriter famously known for co-founding Fountains of Wayne and penning ‘That Thing You Do’, has died at 52-years old due to complications from Covid-19, as confirmed by Variety.

He was reported on Tuesday morning as “very sick and heavily sedated” by his long-time attorney, Josh Grier. He had been in an upstate New York hospital for more than a week, Grier said.

Schlesinger was highly regarded beyond his work with Fountains of Wayne, which he co-founded with Chris Collingwood. He’s been nominated for several awards over the years including Emmys, Grammys, Oscars and Tonys.

In 2009, he won a Grammy award for Best Comedy Album, which he earned after his work on A Stephen Colbert Christmas. In 2019, he won an Emmy for his work as a songwriter on the show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Schlesinger was also nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe in 1997 for writing the title track (performed by fictional band The Wonders) for the film That Thing You Do! that starred and was directed by Tom Hanks.

Nominations and wins aside, many Gen X-ers and early-millennials would remember Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne, especially for their hits which were played by MTV and now-defunct Channel V – such as ‘Stacy’s Mom’, ‘Mexican Wine’ and their early breakout single, ‘Sink To The Bottom With You’.

Rest in Peace, Adam.