Legendary satirist musician Tom Lehrer found dead at home

Influential musician and satirist who rose to fame in the ‘50s and ‘60s, Tom Lehrer has passed away at the age of 97.

Those close to the singer-songwriter reported that he was found dead at his residence in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Professionally, Lehrer was a professor of mathematics at Harvard, before he earned the spotlight through a pair of self released albums in the early 1950s.

While his initial songs explored the then taboo themes like sexuality (The Masochism Tango), drug addiction (The Old Dope Peddler), homosexuality in the Boy Scouts (Be Prepared), and militarism (It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier), the late musician’s work eventually suffered derailment due to his academic obligations.

Following considerable success in the world of music and subsequent political work for the American Democratic Party, such as campaigning for the party’s presidential nominee George McGovern in 1972, the classically trained pianist eventually retired as a musician and returned to his academia roots for the remainder of his life.

Tom Lehrer was never married and is not survived by any children.