Adam Schlesinger

Adam Lyons Schlesinger, born October 31, 1967, in New York City, was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He was raised in a secular Jewish household in Manhattan and Montclair, New Jersey, where he attended Montclair High School. His mother, Barbara, was a publicist, and his father was Stephen Schlesinger. He was a cousin of actor Jon Bernthal and a grandson of musician Murray Bernthal. Schlesinger earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He died on April 1, 2020, at age 52, from complications related to COVID-19.

Schlesinger co-founded the bands Fountains of Wayne and Ivy, and was also a founding member of Tinted Windows, a group that included guitarist James Iha, formerly of The Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle, singer Taylor Hanson of Hanson, and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick, with whom he recorded and toured in 2009 and 2010. He additionally served as main composer and producer for the Brooklyn-based synth-pop duo Fever High. As a record producer and mixer, his collaborators included The Monkees, Dashboard Confessional, Motion City Soundtrack, Robert Plant, They Might Be Giants, Fastball, and America, among many others. He produced or co-produced five Fountains of Wayne albums and six Ivy albums.

His film work included writing and co-producing the title song for the 1996 Tom Hanks film That Thing You Do!, for which he received nominations at the 1997 Academy Awards and the 1997 Golden Globe Awards. He composed "Master of the Seas" for Ice Age: Continental Drift, performed by Jennifer Lopez and Peter Dinklage among others, and wrote and produced three songs for Music and Lyrics. His music appeared in films including Shallow Hal, which he scored with Ivy, as well as There's Something About Mary, Me, Myself & Irene, Josie and the Pussycats, Fever Pitch, and Two Weeks Notice, among others.

On Broadway, Schlesinger collaborated with Daily Show executive producer David Javerbaum on the musical adaptation of John Waters's film Cry-Baby. The production debuted at the La Jolla Playhouse in November 2007 before beginning Broadway previews at the Marquis Theatre on March 15, 2008, with an official opening night of April 24, 2008. The show earned Schlesinger and Javerbaum two Tony Award nominations in 2008, for Best Musical and Best Original Score Written for the Theatre, the latter of which is reflected in Schlesinger's verified database credits. Schlesinger and Javerbaum also co-wrote the closing song "I Have Faith in You" for Javerbaum's play An Act of God, which opened on Broadway on May 28, 2015, performed by Jim Parsons, Chris Fitzgerald, and Tim Kazurinsky.

Prior to his death, Schlesinger had been developing additional stage projects. He collaborated with Sarah Silverman on The Bedwetter, a musical based on her book of the same name, which was scheduled to begin previews on May 9, 2020, at the Atlantic Theater Company's Linda Gross Theater, with an opening night set for June 10, 2020. Those dates were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the production ultimately premiered in previews in April 2022. He had also been working on a stage adaptation of the television series The Nanny. His Broadway work earned him a Drama Desk Award Outstanding Lyrics nomination in 2023.

Schlesinger's television output was extensive. He served as executive music producer and songwriter for the CW scripted comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, for which he received multiple Emmy nominations and won the 2019 Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for "Antidepressants Are So Not a Big Deal," co-written with Rachel Bloom and Jack Dolgen. He and Javerbaum won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for "It's Not Just for Gays Anymore," performed by Neil Patrick Harris as the opening number of the 65th Tony Awards telecast, and for "If I Had Time," performed by Harris as the closing number of the 66th Tony Awards telecast. The pair also received a 2009 Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for "Much Worse Things," performed by Elvis Costello and Stephen Colbert on A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!, an album that Schlesinger co-produced with Steven M. Gold and which won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. Additional television composing credits included theme music, songs, and score for I Love You, America, The Maya Rudolph Show, Big Time Rush, Bubble Guppies, Good Luck Charlie, The Fresh Beat Band, Sesame Street, Crank Yankers, and Robert Smigel's cartoons for Saturday Night Live, among many others. He also received Daytime Emmy nominations for songs written for Sesame Street, including "Elmo the Musical Theme" and, with Molly Boylan, "I Wonder."

Fountains of Wayne received two Grammy nominations in 2003, for Best New Artist and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Stacy's Mom." Over the course of his career, Schlesinger accumulated three Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and the ASCAP Pop Music Award, along with nominations for the Academy Awards, Tony Awards, and Golden Globe Awards. He married Katherine Michel, a graphic designer and Yale University graduate, on January 30, 1999; the two had met in 1996 at WXOU Radio Bar. They divorced in 2013 and had two daughters together.