Tom Lehrer dead: Another musical era ends

Another musical era has come to an end with song satirist Tom Lehrer’s death at the age of 97.

The Harvard-trained mathematician passed away on Saturday, July 27, at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as per his longtime friend David Herder.

The cause of his death has not yet been released following his passing over the weekend.

Born in Manhattan in 1928, Lehrer became popular in the 1950s and 1960s by writing darkly humorous songs, often with political connotations.

Although he was a classically trained pianist, he spent most of his life pursuing academia.

Despite his musical success Lehrer abandoned his music career to return to teaching math at Harvard and other universities.

Notably, the Grammy-nominated musician has earned a math degree from the institution at age 18.

He began composing songs in the early 1950s to just entertain his friends, but later started performing at coffeehouses, all while remaining at Harvard to teach and earn a master’s degree in mathematics.

He cut his first record in 1953, Songs by Tom Lehrer. After a two-year stint in the Army, Lehrer began to perform concerts around the world.

In 1959, he released another LP called More of Tom Lehrer and a live recording called An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer. Around the same time he quit touring.

His songs included Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, The Old Dope Peddler, Be Prepared and The Vatican Rag.