Iconic ‘60s Singer and Satirist Dies at 97

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5 days ago

Iconic '60s Singer and Satirist Dies at 97 originally appeared on Parade.
The year is 1967. The black-and-white TV screen reveals an impeccably dressed, bespectacled academic in his late 30s. His fingers fly over the ivory keys of a baby grand piano.
The first words out of his mouth are 'when you attend a funeral.' What follows is a familiar narrative about loss making you think of your own relatives weeping for you at your funeral, sung with appropriate pomp and circumstance. Then… something shifts.
'Don't you worry,' the singer knowingly smiles at his audience. 'For if the bomb that drops on you/ gets your friends and neighbors too,/ there'll be nobody left behind to grieve.' The song, 'We Will All Go Together When We Go,' picks up as he merrily continues to sing of the likelihood of impending nuclear destruction. The audience is unabashed with their delight, for the man on the screen is not your average run-of-the-mill entertainer.
He is, instead, the legendary satirist Tom Lehrer, 97, who passed away in his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, according to Variety.
Born in Manhattan in 1928 to a Jewish family, math prodigy Lehrer started his higher education at Harvard when he was 15. Known for his razor-sharp wit and darkly funny, politically savvy songs, the Harvard-educated mathematics professor had a surprising entry into entertainment, and an even more unexpectedly short tenure there.
In a 1997 interview with Elijah Wald, Lehrer described what led him to write satirical songs in the first place. He had no yearn for fame or even any real love of performance, despite his natural stage presence. Instead, 'I would listen to the radio and think, 'I can write a song as good as that,' and the problem is, they already have people who can write songs 'as good as that' so what do they need one more for? What is necessary is somebody that can write something different.''
Lehrer was certainly different from anyone who came before him, and his unique blend of musical wit would inspire generations of entertainers to come. In the wake of his death, his fans – including the famous ones – flocked to social media to pay their respects.
'My last living musical hero is still my hero but unfortunately no longer living,' Alfred 'Weird Al' Yankovic, 65, posted to Instagram. 'RIP to the great, great Mr. Tom Lehrer.' Fans filled the comments section with 'RIP's and condolences aplenty. 'I'll miss him forever,' wrote one distraught fan.
In the early '50s, Lehrer self-released a few albums while still a professor by trade, with teaching posts including Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of California, according to The BBC.
'I don't like people to get the idea that I have to do this for a living,' Lehrer deadpanned to one live audience in discussing his academic roots. 'I could be making, oh, $3,000 a year just teaching.'
After the release of his first album, 'the word spread like herpes,' Lehrer quipped to Wald, describing how his self-released record went old school viral, selling a shocking 10,000 copies according to Variety. Before long Lehrer was performing in nightclubs, concert halls, and recording live concerts for television, his next record rising to number 18 on the American charts.
In his songs, Lehrer explored socially taboo subjects with his signature light tunes and unabashedly frank lyrics. Along with exploring nuclear conflicts in the aforementioned 'We Will All Go Together When We Go,' Lehrer took on sexuality in 'The Masochism Tango' and 'Smut,' racism in 'National Brotherhood Week,' and addiction in 'The Old Dope Peddler.' He also made time for some lighter subjects, like mocking classic spring ballads in his own ode to the season, 'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.'
He was in the height of his career in the '60s and '70s when, abruptly, Lehrer left the entertainment industry, eschewing fame in favor of a quiet life as a math teacher one quarter of the year, and a 'cheerful layabout' for the rest of the time. "I learned 25 years ago that you didn't have to shovel snow,'' he told Wald in the 1997 interview. "You didn't even have to see snow, and that was a great revelation to me.''
After his retreat from the public eye, Lehrer's popular satire returned to the press in 1980 when they were put together in the musical revue 'Tomfoolery.' Now, despite his passing, Lehrer's songs and his signature wit will live on forever, if the overflowing comments section of Weird Al's Instagram post is any indication.
One fan perfectly mimicked Lehrer's signature sense of humor with a reference to his song 'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park' in the comment, 'The pigeons are safe, BUT AT WHAT COST.' Another fan commented with a reference to Lehrer's aforementioned song about bereavement, 'We Will All Go Together When We Go.' 'I thought we'd all go together,' the fan wrote along with a crying emoji.
Iconic '60s Singer and Satirist Dies at 97 first appeared on Parade on Jul 28, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 28, 2025, where it first appeared.
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