In 2020, as the Pandemic was just getting started, those of us in the music industry were hit with a very big loss, Adam Schlesinger. He was not only a beloved musician, collaborator and friend to so many, but also the first person any of us knew who had died of Covid.
Adam’s talent and musical insight had touched so many through various projects; being a member of Fountains of Wayne, writing the soundtrack to “That Thing You Do”, collaborating with Rachel Bloom on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”, producing America’s comeback record, and so many other projects.
I spent some time writing songs with Adam around my ‘Hey You, Yes You’ album, and went on tour supporting Fountains, and was really touched and affected by both his sweet demeanor and his passion for music.
The last time I saw him was at one of Sarah Silverman’s parties. They were working on a musical adaptation of her book “The Bedwetter”. We sat on the floor, had a beer, and enthusiastically talked about songwriting, cos that’s what we did whenever we bumped into each other.
So when Adam died, and my friend Sadie Dupuis was putting together a tribute album of his songs performed by other artists to benefit MusicCares, I reached out to Sarah about if she would want to sing “Way Back Into Love” together. She did, and it is a really sweet recording.
You can listen to the rest of the tunes here and even buy the album to continue to support MusicCares.
Love ya Adam. So grateful for everything you gave the music world!
Your friend,
Ben
