Adam Schlesinger was an American songwriter, composer and record producer. He was born on October 31, 1967 in New York City. Schlesinger grew up in a family with musical backgrounds and learned to play piano at age five. He was raised in Manhattan and Montclair, New Jersey where he played in bands throughout his time in high school. He attended Williams College in Massachusetts where he met Chris Collingwood whom he would join years later in forming the band Fountains of Wayne. Before that he played bass in the indie pop trio Ivy while also composing tracks for TV shows and commercials. During this time he also wrote his best known work, the title track to the Tom Hanks film "That Thing You Do". This earned him an Academy award nomination for Best Original Song. Schlesinger used to play bass for both Ivy and Fountains of Wayne while continuing his work on other projects as a producer, songwriter and performer. Through his friendship with Aline Brosh McKenna he was hired as the Executive music producer on "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" for four years. He worked alongside Rachel Bloom, Jack Dolgen and Steven M. Gold to write the songs and even performed them in several live stage shows.
Schlesinger died on April 1, 2020 at the age of 52 as a result of health complications caused by COVID-19.[1]
