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American musical satirist Tom Lehrer dies at 97, US media report
- Tom Lehrer, a Harvard-trained mathematician and musical satirist, died at age 97 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday, July 26, 2025.
- Lehrer began composing songs in the early 1950s while studying for an unsuccessful doctorate in mathematics and later largely abandoned music for teaching.
- He released landmark albums such as Songs by Tom Lehrer , More of Tom Lehrer , and produced political satire weekly for the 1964 TV show That Was the Week That Was.
- In 2020, Lehrer allowed public use of his lyrics without fees, and artists like Weird Al Yankovic and Randy Newman cited him as a key influence on their work.
- Lehrer's brief but impactful musical career challenged social taboos on topics like racism and nuclear threats and left a lasting legacy in both academia and entertainment.
159 Articles
159 Articles
Tom Lehrer, Army Vet, Song Satirist and Mathematician, Dies at 97
Tom Lehrer, the popular song satirist who lampooned marriage, politics, racism and the Cold War, then largely abandoned his music career to return to teaching math at Harvard and other universities, has died. He was 97.
He sang about Alma Mahler-Werfel and the atomic bomb, chemical elements and dove poisoning: The rhyme-strong American singer/songwriter Tom Lehrer, in the main profession of mathematician, died 97 years old.
Tom Lehrer Dies: Musical Comedy Legend & ‘That Was The Week That Was’ Composer Was 97
Tom Lehrer, the musical comedy legend, mathematician and political satirist, has died aged 97. He passed away at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to his longtime friend David Herder. No cause of death was given. Lehrer was much beloved for his humorous and often darkly satiric musical numbers such as ‘Poisoning Pigeons in the Park’ and ‘The Vatican Rag’, which poked fun at mid-21st Century America and the wider world, reaching…
Metro News
WTX NewsAmerican musician and satirist Tom Lehrer dies aged 97
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