Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger hospitalized with COVID-19, his family is 'cautiously optimistic'
Adam Schlesinger, best known as co-founder of the band Fountains of Wayne, is hospitalized in upstate New York with COVID-19.
While it was initially reported that the 52-year-old bassist, singer and songwriter was in a medically-induced coma, his attorney Jaime Herman tells Yahoo that is inaccurate. However, he is very ill and has been hospitalized for more than a week.
Herman provided a statement from Schlesinger’s family, saying, “Thank you for the outpouring of love for Adam and his family. Adam has been hospitalized with COVID-19. He’s on a ventilator and has been sedated to facilitate his recovery. He is receiving excellent care, his condition is improving and we are cautiously optimistic. His family appreciates all of the love and support.”
Another attorney for Schlesinger, Josh Grier, told Variety that the musician is still “very sick.”
While Schlesinger became famous for Fountains of Wayne hits like MTV staple “Stacy’s Mom,” which he co-wrote with Chris Collingwood and recorded five albums with the group, he was also a member of the bands Ivy and Tinted Windows and a contributor/producer for Fever High.
Schlesinger’s songwriting has earned him three Emmy Awards and a Grammy — as well as Academy Award, Golden Globe and Tony nominations.
Schlesinger and Rachel Bloom collaborated on the music in her popular The CW show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — for which he served as series composer. He won an Emmy, with Bloom and fellow lyricist Jack Dolgen, in September. Prior to that, he won two other Emmys for original music he made for the Tony Awards in 2013 and 2012.
His Grammy win was in 2009 for Best Comedy Album for A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All!, which he helped compose for Stephen Colbert — though he also received two nominations in 2003 for his work with Fountains of Wayne.
Schlesinger also wrote the music for Tom Hanks’s directorial debut, 1996’s That Thing You Do!, for which he earned his Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for the title track. (Hanks and wife Rita Wilson have recovered from COVID-19.)
Schlesinger was also nominated for two Tonys in 2008 for Cry-Baby the musical.
For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC and WHO’s resource guides.
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