Photo Credit: Tom Lehrer in 1983 (Public Domain)
Tom Lehrer, the musical satirist whose topical songs saw him influence acts like Weird Al and Randy Newman, passed away on Saturday. He was 97.
Mathematician and satirist Tom Lehrer, whose musical influence made him a household name in the 1950s and 1960s, passed away on Saturday at age 97. He died at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his friend David Herder confirmed to The New York Times.
The Manhattan native had a passion for piano from a young age, though his love of music never distracted from his academic career. A math prodigy, Lehrer studied mathematics at Harvard at age 15, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1946. He earned his master’s at Harvard the following year. He also worked on a doctorate there and at Columbia University, but never completed his Ph.D. thesis.
While in school, Lehrer wrote songs in his free time, and eventually recorded his first solo album, Songs of Tom Lehrer, in 1953. The release became a surprise hit and led him to perform at nightclubs and venues across the country.
After two years in the Army, Lehrer released his sophomore album, More of Tom Lehrer, in 1959. He also released a live album, An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer, and went back on tour. He became known for his humorous and often political tracks, with hits like “The Masochism Tango,” “The Wild West Is Where I Want to Be,” and “The Old Dope Peddler.”
In the 1960s, he became the resident musician on the satirical comedy TV show That Was The Week That Was. In 1965, he released his third album, That Was The Year That Was, which reached #18 on the American album charts. Despite his continued success, Lehrer gave up performing after a concert in Copenhagen in 1967.
Though he wrote some songs for the PBS children’s series, The Electric Company, in 1971, Lehrer never toured or released more albums. He instead focused on teaching, taking jobs at Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California.
In 2012, rapper 2 Chainz sampled Lehrer’s song, “The Old Dope Peddler,” on his 2012 debut album, Based on a T.R.U. Story. Lehrer said the following year that he was “very proud” to have his song sampled “literally 60 years after I recorded it.”
In October 2020, Lehrer released all music and lyrics he had ever written into the public domain. In November 2022, he formally relinquished the copyright, performing, and recording rights to his songs, and established a website to host recordings and printable copies of his sheet music for download. He added that the website “will be shut down at some point in the not too distant future, so if you want to download anything, don’t wait too long.” As of July 2025, the website is still operational.
