Adam Lyons Schlesinger (October 31, 1967 – April 1, 2020) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He was a founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, and Tinted Windows, and was a key songwriting contributor and producer for Brooklyn-based synth-pop duo Fever High. He also wrote songs for television and film, for which he won three Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and the ASCAP Pop Music Award, and was nominated for Academy, Tony, and Golden Globe Awards. He died unexpectedly due to complications of COVID-19 at the age of 52.
Schlesinger was born in New York City on October 31, 1967, the son of publicist Barbara (née Bernthal) and Stephen Schlesinger. He was a cousin of actor Jon Bernthal and the grandson of musician Murray Bernthal (1911–2010). He was raised in a secular Jewish family in the Manhattan borough of New York City and Montclair, New Jersey, attending Montclair High School in the latter. He received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
On January 30, 1999, Schlesinger married Katherine Michel, a graphic designer and Yale graduate. They met in 1996 at WXOU Radio Bar, a bar that Schlesinger used to frequent with Fountains of Wayne co-founder Chris Collingwood when they were starting the band. They divorced in 2013. Schlesinger and Michel had two daughters, Sadie and Claire.
Schlesinger was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 1997 for writing the title track of the Tom Hanks-directed film That Thing You Do!, also contributing two other songs for the film.
Fountains of Wayne was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2003 for Best New Artist and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Stacy's Mom".
Schlesinger and The Daily Show executive producer David Javerbaum co-wrote the songs for the musical theater adaptation of the John Waters film Cry-Baby. Cry-Baby debuted at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, California in November 2007. Previews for the Broadway run began at the Marquis Theatre on March 15, 2008. Its official opening night was April 24, 2008.
Schlesinger and David Javerbaum received two Tony nominations in 2008 Best Musical and Best Original Score for the musical Cry-Baby. They also received a 2009 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for their song "Much Worse Things", performed by Elvis Costello and Stephen Colbert on the television special and album A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! The album, co-written by Schlesinger and Javerbaum, and co-produced by Schlesinger and Steven M. Gold, won the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.
Schlesinger was also in a side project band called Tinted Windows formed by guitarist James Iha, previously of The Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle, singer Taylor Hanson of Hanson, and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick, and recorded and toured with them in 2009 and 2010. He also contributed to Iha's second solo album, Look to the Sky (2012).
Schlesinger and Javerbaum 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. The song is performed by Jim Parsons, Chris Fitzgerald, and Tim Kazurinsky.
On April 1, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Schlesinger died of complications from COVID-19 at a hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York at the age of 52. He had tested positive, and was hospitalized and placed on a ventilator for over a week before his death.
Schlesinger and Sarah Silverman collaborated on a musical titled The Bedwetter, based on her book of the same name. The musical was set for previews to begin on May 9, 2020, at the Atlantic's Linda Gross Theater; opening night was scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, 2020. The dates were later postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The musical ultimately premiered in previews in April 2022. At the time of his death, Schlesinger was also announced to be working on the music for a stage adaption of the television series The Nanny.
On June 16, 2020, the tribute album Saving for a Custom Van was released in Schlesinger's memory on Father/Daughter Records. The title is a reference to the Fountains of Wayne song "Utopia Parkway". The 31-track album features covers of songs Schlesinger wrote or performed by artists such as Kay Hanley, Ben Lee, and Prince Daddy & The Hyena. His collaborator Rachel Bloom and his Fountains of Wayne bandmate Jody Porter also participated. All proceeds from the album were donated to the MusiCares COVID-19 relief fund.
Cast members of That Thing You Do! as well as Colin Hanks and crew reunited on a Zoom/YouTube event during that summer, where they reminisced about Schlesinger and the movie, as well as an auction of a Mondo test pressing for a soundtracks first issue on vinyl, which will be released in October 2023.