Overview

• Lehrer passed away on July 26, 2025, at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 97.
• He entered Harvard at 15, graduated magna cum laude by 1946 and later taught mathematics at Harvard, MIT and the University of California, Santa Cruz.
• His self-released 1953 debut sold 10,000 copies on college campuses, and his 1964–65 songs for NBC’s That Was the Week That Was led to the No. 18 album That Was the Year That Was.
• Lehrer used razor-edged humor to tackle politics, religion and social taboos, inspiring satirists such as Randy Newman, “Weird Al” Yankovic and Harry Shearer.
• In 2020 he placed his entire song catalog into the public domain, ensuring his work remains freely available.