Yesterday, April 1, news broke that Adam Schlesinger has died due to complications from coronavirus infection. At 52, he's one of the youngest major artists lost to the pandemic that's exacting a terrible toll across the globe.

Schlesinger was best known as a founding member of Fountains of Wayne, who released five albums from 1996 to 2011 and had a Top 40 hit in 2003 with the cheeky earworm "Stacy's Mom." Chris Collingwood was the co-leader of the band, who were named after a lawn ornament store in Wayne, New Jersey. They shared stages with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins and the Lemonheads and won a Grammy nomination for "Stacy's Mom." They visited The Current in 2007 for a session at which they performed "Hackensack," "Someone to Love," and "Red Dragon Tattoo."

Fountains of Wayne were just one of the musical projects that Schlesinger, who grew up in New York and New Jersey, formed. He was a member of the bands Ivy and Fever High and the power pop group Tinted Windows — with members of Hanson, Cheap Trick, and Smashing Pumpkins. Plus, he produced albums for artists including the Monkees, Dashboard Confessional, Robert Plant, They Might Be Giants, and Motion City Soundtrack. That Minneapolis pop punk group posted a tribute that read, in part, "working with him was one of the most inspiring times that we have had, collectively, as a band."

As they say in the Ginsu ads...but wait, there's more. Schlesinger was a successful composer for film, TV, and stage, specializing in tuneful and good-humored numbers that left audiences smiling and nodding. His best-known screen song was the title track to That Thing You Do!, a 1996 Tom Hanks musical comedy about a fictional '60s pop band. A movie about a one-hit wonder band is only going to work if it has a song that can convince you it was a hit, and thanks to Schlesinger, That Thing You Do! had exactly that. It won Schlesinger an Academy Award nomination.

Schlesinger's Tony nominations were for Cry-Baby, a musical based on the John Waters movie. His other stage work includes The Bedwetter, a Sarah Silverman collaboration scheduled to open this summer. He won multiple Emmys and was nominated for work ranging from Sesame Street to awards show opening and closing numbers. Recently, he wrote songs for the musical comedy series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

An enormous talent, gone far too soon. While Schlesinger's name was the most familiar to fans of pop music, yesterday and today also brought news that COVID-19 has claimed two jazz greats. Bucky Pizzarelli was a guitar master and father of singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli. The jazz world also lost Ellis Marsalis: an acclaimed performer, an educator, and father of famed musicians including trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and saxophonist Branford Marsalis. Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans wrote, "Ellis Marsalis was a legend. He was the prototype of what we mean when we talk about New Orleans jazz." (New York Times)

Here's Ellis Marsalis performing with his quartet at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival 2012.