RIP Bill Withers, Adam Schlesinger, and John Prine

Bill Withers, Adam Schlesinger, and John Prine, three renowned musicians, passed away recently. Though none of them appeared with the Muppets, their songs were featured in a variety of productions over the years.

Bill Withers recorded several major hits, including "Ain't No Sunshine", "Grandma's Hands", "Use Me", "Lean on Me", "Lovely Day", and "Just the Two of Us."

Sesame Street used "Just the Two of Us" as the title was a double-record re-packaging of "C is for Cookie" and "Grover Sings the Blues."

German recording artist Mary Roos performed "Lean on Me" on The Muppet Show. Though it only appeared as a specially filmed insert during the German version of Twiggy's episode.

Rick Moranis tried to perform an earnest "Salute to Late Fifties Crooners, Obscure British Bands, and Bill Withers" on Muppets Tonight including Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean on Me" but was accompanied by Seymore and Pepe's cooking show instead:

John Prine was an American country folk singer-songwriter.known for humorous lyrics about love, life, and current events, as well as songs with social commentary. Earlier this year he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Miss Piggy and Kermit sang his "In Spite of Ourselves" on the short lived ABC series The Muppets.

Singer-songwriter, record producer, bassist, guitarist, keyboardist and drummer Adam Schlesinger won three Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, the ASCAP Pop Music Award, and was nominated for Academy, Tony, and Golden Globe Awards. He was a founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, and Tinted Windows and co-wrote and produced the original songs for the TV series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and wrote the title song from the movie That Thing You Do! In addition to all that, Schlesinger also wrote songs for Sesame Street.

Schlesinger wrote the music for “There’s an App for That,” Ernie's "I Wonder," "The Count sings of 8," and the theme song for "Elmo: The Musical."

He also wrote “Dream House,” which the Muppets performed on the Disney Channel series Good Luck, Charlie:

Withers died from heart complications at 81. Prine who was 73 and Schlesinger 52, died of COVID-19 complications.