Tom Lehrer

TOM LEHRER is an American musician and singer-songwriter.

In the 1950s-60s he recorded many satiric and humorous songs that became popular. Whilst his songs often used popular music forms of the time, he also wrote original melodies. Tom commonly deals with dark humour and taboo subjects. He produced songs about political and current issues, particularly for the television show That Was the Week That Was.

In the 1970s Tom retired from song-writing – finally declaring that satire was dead when he heard that Kissinger had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize – to become a professor of mathematics and musical theatre history at the University of California. He also taught at Harvard University and MIT. Since his retirement, Tom has rarely made a public appearance.

Books by this author