Tom Lehrer

@Musicians, Facts and Life ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Tom Lehrer is a singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist and mathematician from America, known for his dark humour Jewish Comedians American Harvard University Musicians Mathematicians Singers Aries Celebrities Tom Lehrer, born as Thomas Andrew Lehrer, is an American singer-songwriter and mathematician. He is known for his dark humour and satire. As a singer he often parodied popular songs and wrote controversial lyrics dealing with the social and political issues of his times. As a child, he used to receive classical piano lessons but gradually his interest shifted towards pop music. He began writing songs and tunes from a young age. Lehrer was a brilliant student; he earned his AB in mathematics from Harvard University at the age of 19 and his master’s degree the next year. He was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa Society—an academic honor society in the United States, which aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences—and taught at MIT, Harvard and Wellesley. He was a confident man who spoke his mind and never worried about political correctness. His songs often created controversy due to their dark, macabre and satirical nature, but he never bothered. He started writing funny songs while in college to amuse himself and his friends though he had no plans to become a musician. But his friends who greatly enjoyed his parodies and comic songs encouraged him to record them. Thus, he recorded his first album, ‘Songs by Tom Lehrer’ under his own label Lehrer Records in 1953. Lehrer was a comic paradox who successfully managed two seemingly unrelated careers—one as a mathematician, the other as a musician.

Personal Details

Birthday: April 9, 1928 Nationality: American Famous: Musicians, Jewish Comedians, Harvard University, Musicians, Mathematicians, Singers Known as: Thomas Andrew Lehrer Universities: Harvard University Harvard University Horace Mann School Notable Alumnis: Harvard University Birth Place: New York, Manhattan Information Detail Birthday April 9, 1928 Nationality American Famous Musicians, Jewish Comedians, Harvard University, Musicians, Mathematicians, Singers Known as Thomas Andrew Lehrer Universities Harvard University Harvard University Horace Mann School Notable Alumnis Harvard University Birth Place New York, Manhattan Gender Male Sun Sign Aries Born in New York, Manhattan Famous as American musician

New York, Manhattan

Tom Lehrer born at Unsplash Birth Place

Lehrer never married and has no children. Currently he is enjoying his peaceful retired life after a hectic career of juggling music and mathematics. Unsplash Personal Life

Tom Lehrer was born into an American Jewish family in Manhattan. Little is known about his parents except for the fact that they divorced when he was 14. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He studied classical piano from a young age though later on his interest shifted to pop music and he began taking lessons from a piano teacher who specialized in pop-music. Soon he began composing funny songs and tunes. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He was a brilliant student who skipped several grades and graduated from Horace Mann School, New York at the age of 15. He enrolled in Harvard University from where he obtained AB as well as Master’s degrees in mathematics. He began writing funny songs as an undergraduate student to entertain his friends. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He joined Harvard’s doctoral program and worked as a researcher at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. He then became an educator and taught classes in many universities and colleges like MIT, Harvard, University of California, etc. Unsplash Career

His music career began in 1953 when he self-released his first album, ‘Songs by Tom Lehrer’ under his own label Lehrer records. The graphic and comic nature of his songs ensured that he soon got a cult following. Unsplash Career

He served a short stint in the U.S Army from 1955 to 1957 and returned to Harvard to teach and to complete his PhD. However he could not obtain his doctorate in mathematics. Unsplash Career

Lehrer recorded a live album, ‘An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer’ in 1959 in Sanders Theater at Harvard. It included songs with shocking lyrics like ‘Poisoning Pigeons in the Park’ and’ The Masochism Tango.’ Unsplash Career

He released another album, ‘More of Tom Lehrer’ in 1959. It had the same track listing as his previous album. He issued both the live and studio versions at the same time. Unsplash Career

His debut album, ‘Songs by Tom Lehrer’ (1953), self-produced and self-released, managed to attract enough attention that Lehrer acquired a cult following. It featured the hit ‘Fight Fiercely, Harvard’, a satirical song that he originally wrote as a student at Harvard. Unsplash Major Works

The live album ‘An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer’ was recorded by him in Sanders Theater in 1959. It included songs full of dark humour and macabre, like ‘Poisoning Pigeons in the Park’, ‘The Elements’ and ‘Clemetine’ which shocked, as well as thrilled the listeners. Unsplash Major Works

‘That Was the Year That Was’ (1965) was his only album to be accredited Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was a collection of songs that Lehrer originally wrote for the T.V program ‘That Was the Week That Was.’ The lyrics of the songs were very daring and bold. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	April 9, 1928
Nationality	American
Famous	Musicians, Jewish Comedians, Harvard University, Musicians, Mathematicians, Singers
Known as	Thomas Andrew Lehrer
Universities	Harvard University Harvard University Horace Mann School
Notable Alumnis	Harvard University
Birth Place	New York, Manhattan
Gender	Male
Sun Sign	Aries
Born in	New York, Manhattan
Famous as	American musician

Tom Lehrer

American

Apr 9, 1928

Biography

Personal Details

New York, Manhattan