[imagesource: YouTube / Rock the Hip Hop]

“Hey now, you’re an all-star, get your game on, go play,

Hey now, you’re a rock star, get the show on, get paid.”

That would be Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’, otherwise known as that song from Shrek.

You might also know them for 1997’s ‘Walkin’ on the Sun’.

For the one or two fans reading this, I hope you were able to see them perform live at their peak, which looks to be in the rearview mirror.

Lead singer Steve Harwell has now announced his retirement from the group after footage from a beer and wine festival in Bethel, New York, went viral.

The video was first shared on TikTok, reports Huff Post, and shows Harwell “cursing at the crowd, slurring his speech and at one point making a gesture that resembles a Nazi salute” during Saturday’s performance.

You can watch the original video here, but we’ll use a YouTube video below:

We can all sympathise with a man battling poor health and some demons, but throwing out Nazi salutes is inexcusable.

On Tuesday, Harwell released a statement:

“Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of being a rock star performing in front of sold-out arenas and have been so fortunate to live out that dream,” Harwell said, according to TMZ.

“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.”

…“I’ve tried so hard to power through my physical and mental health issues and to play in front of you one last time, but I just wasn’t able to,” Harwell said, according to TMZ.

Eight years ago, Harwell was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. He also reportedly suffers from acute Wernicke encephalopathy, which can affect speech and memory.

A spokesperson on his behalf said those health issues were to blame for his “erratic” behaviour, adding that he has long been “a staunch and outspoken supporter of all minority groups”.

[source:huffpost]