Smash Mouth's Steve Harwell Will Retire After Bizarre Behavior On Stage

Smash Mouth lead singer Steve Harwell was caught on tape in a very strange condition while performing with the band in New York. The lead singer looked completely dazed in parts of the performance. He ultimately decided it was a good idea to yell profanities at the crowd and give them the finger. Only a couple of days removed from that video seeing the light of day on TikTok the singer revealed that he is calling it quits. Citing multiple physical and mental health issues as the main reason why he's stepping away.

Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It's kind of shameful to kick someone when they are down, but Harwell just looked out of it at the show over the weekend. Although we're not questioning whether or not the man deals with real medical issues some of the behavior that he exhibited on stage seemed to be booze-fueled. He literally drops a can of beer at one point. The show itself wasn't going as planned with the band going through numerous technical issues. From there Harwell just took off insulting the crowd and threatening a couple concertgoers. His mental and physical state at the time allowed some of these concertgoers to not take the threats so literally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajByajpYy4w

Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources close to Harwell are calling his behavior at the recent concert which was caught on tape, an "episode". It's not exactly clear what type of ailment Steve suffers from. It was reported in 2013 that he had been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy in 2013, and reportedly that issue led to him later being also diagnosed with Wernicke's Encephalopathy. That disease is a rare brain condition. That could help explain Harwell's behavior over the weekend. A rep for Harwell told PEOPLE,

"Steve has been dealing with long-term medical issues over the last eight years and during his last performance at the Big Sip stage, he suffered numerous symptoms directly linked with his current medical situation,"

Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In just looking at the video there's really no way that you can see it and think Harwell comes out looking good in any way. Friends of the singer want to make sure that people know that the incidents that are shown on the video are taken out of context. They don't reflect who he is as a person. At some point, a rep for Harwell even wanted to shame people for sharing the video. A source close to Harwell mentioned,

"This unfortunate recording has now been taken out of context and his ailments used against him to paint him as someone who he isn't."

Although Harwell's exit is kind of unceremonious given the fact that he's stepping down yes because of his personal issues, but pushed by what happened over the weekend, he's still spreading love around in his farewell speeches. He thanked the fans and his bandmates in a public statement also collected by PEOPLE. He's riding off into the sunset having fulfilled a lifelong dream it seems. He mentioned,

"Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of being a Rockstar performing in front of sold-out arenas and have been so fortunate to live out that dream," he went on to add, "To my bandmates, it's been an honor performing with you all these years and I can't think of anyone else I would have rather gone on this wild journey with." He would go on to finish his statement thanking the fans for everything.