Tom Lehrer, musical satirist and academic, dies at 97
The news was confirmed by his friend David Herder, as reported by The New York Times. Lehrer passed away peacefully at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
A Harvard graduate by 19 and later a mathematics professor at MIT, Lehrer blended intellectual brilliance with biting comedy.
His songs, often laced with morbid wit, tackled topics from nuclear war to pigeons poisoned in parks.
'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,' one of his most infamous compositions, cheerfully described the act with the line, 'It just takes a smidgen!'
Lehrer's satirical genius shone brightest in the 1950s and 60s, with tracks like 'Who's Next?' mocking nuclear escalation and 'Pollution' critiquing environmental neglect.
His work resonated with audiences who appreciated his ability to turn grim realities into absurdly catchy tunes.
Despite his early retirement from music in 1965, Lehrer left an indelible mark. His periodic table song, 'The Elements,' set to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's 'A Modern Major General,' became a cult favorite, even earning praise from actor Daniel Radcliffe.
Lehrer dismissed rumors that he quit due to political disillusionment, stating in a 2000 interview, 'I wrote 37 songs in 20 years—that's not exactly a full-time job.'
His legacy endures as a master of musical satire, blending intellect, humor, and a touch of cynicism. - Reuters
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Malay Mail
a day ago
- Malay Mail
Tom Lehrer, musical satirist and maths prodigy behind ‘Poisoning Pigeons', dies at 97
WASHINGTON, July 28 — Tom Lehrer, the acclaimed humorist and pianist whose satirical songs made him one of America's favorite prophets of doom before he retreated to academia, has died, US media reported Sunday. He was 97. The singer-songwriter died Saturday at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his friend David Herder said according to The New York Times. Lehrer's sardonic numbers, backed up by a dazzling prowess at the piano that reflected his love for up-tempo Broadway show tunes, enchanted audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. But Lehrer was always much more than the sum of his parts. A child prodigy, he graduated from Harvard at 19 and later taught at the elite Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Well ahead of his time on issues like pollution and nuclear proliferation, Lehrer made his mark with biting humor and zany rhymes. He was also wickedly funny on random subjects like murder, conjugal discord, chemistry, and his distaste for pigeons. Poisoning pigeons Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, one of Lehrer's signature tunes, conjures up a couple enjoying a spring pastime of slaughtering pigeons with strychnine—It just takes a smidgen! Songs seemed to drip off his palette matched with insouciant melodies like Folksong Army, which mocked 1960s protesters. But his activism was persistent, with songs including Who's Next about nuclear weapons, and Pollution warning that 'You can use the latest toothpaste, then rinse your mouth with industrial waste.' The seemingly bottomless well of sly, even cynical creativity captured audiences from 1953 until it appeared to go dry in 1965, although Lehrer briefly returned to performing in 1972 for a children's public television show, The Electric Company. Rumor had it that Lehrer stopped composing when his prophecies began coming true, or that he quit in protest over Henry Kissinger being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973. But Lehrer, in an interview with the satirical news website The Onion in 2000, dispensed with the second rumor, saying he had 'quit long before that happened.' There was nothing abrupt about it, he said. 'I figure I wrote 37 songs in 20 years, and that's not exactly a full-time job. Every now and then I wrote something, and every now and then I didn't. The second just outnumbered the first.' He claimed to have gone 'from adolescence to senility, trying to bypass maturity.' Periodic table While most of Lehrer's compositions were original, one adaptation stood out for its genius, his dizzying recitation of all 118 chemical elements to the tune of A Modern Major General from the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance. The piece earned adoration from none other than Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe. 'Tom Lehrer in my opinion is the cleverest and funniest man of the 20th century, and he's kind of my hero,' Radcliffe said, before singing a rendition of The Elements on a British comedy show in 2010. Born on April 9, 1928, to a secular Jewish family, Lehrer grew up in Manhattan's Upper East Side. He attended the prestigious Horace Mann and Loomis Chaffee preparatory schools before entering Harvard at age 15, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in mathematics three years later. He went on to teach mathematics at MIT as well as Harvard, Wellesley College and the University of California, Santa Cruz. — AFP
The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
Tom Lehrer, musical satirist and academic, dies at 97
WASHINGTON: Tom Lehrer, the sharp-witted pianist and satirical songwriter whose dark humor captivated mid-century America, has died at 97. The news was confirmed by his friend David Herder, as reported by The New York Times. Lehrer passed away peacefully at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday. A Harvard graduate by 19 and later a mathematics professor at MIT, Lehrer blended intellectual brilliance with biting comedy. His songs, often laced with morbid wit, tackled topics from nuclear war to pigeons poisoned in parks. 'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,' one of his most infamous compositions, cheerfully described the act with the line, 'It just takes a smidgen!' Lehrer's satirical genius shone brightest in the 1950s and 60s, with tracks like 'Who's Next?' mocking nuclear escalation and 'Pollution' critiquing environmental neglect. His work resonated with audiences who appreciated his ability to turn grim realities into absurdly catchy tunes. Despite his early retirement from music in 1965, Lehrer left an indelible mark. His periodic table song, 'The Elements,' set to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's 'A Modern Major General,' became a cult favorite, even earning praise from actor Daniel Radcliffe. Lehrer dismissed rumors that he quit due to political disillusionment, stating in a 2000 interview, 'I wrote 37 songs in 20 years—that's not exactly a full-time job.' His legacy endures as a master of musical satire, blending intellect, humor, and a touch of cynicism. - Reuters
The Sun
18-07-2025
- The Sun
‘Stupid Cupid' singer Connie Francis dies at 87
WASHINGTON: American singer Connie Francis, whose hits such as 'Everybody's Somebody's Fool' and 'Stupid Cupid' topped the charts in the late 1950s and 1960s, has died aged 87, her publicist announced Thursday. The top-selling artist, born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, had been hospitalized earlier in the month after experiencing severe pain and had recently undergone a hip treatment, according to a post on her official Facebook page. 'It is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that I inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night,' her publicist Rob Roberts posted early Thursday on Facebook, without specifying a cause. Though Francis's heyday faded after the 1960s, she continued to record and perform for decades. When announcing her hospitalization on July 2, she expressed regret about having to miss a planned Independence Day show. 'Petite and pretty, Ms. Francis had an easy, fluid vocal style, a powerful set of lungs and a natural way with a wide variety of material,' wrote The New York Times after her death. In recent months, Francis saw renewed popularity with her 1962 song 'Pretty Little Baby' going viral on TikTok and other video-sharing platforms. Born in Newark, New Jersey to an Italian-American family, she shot to fame in 1958 with the release of 'Who's Sorry Now?' She went on in the next decade to sell millions of records worldwide, with albums in multiple languages. - AFP
