Broadway Composer Stephen Sondheim Dies at 91

Legendary Broadway songwriter Stephen Sondheim died Friday at the age of 91, according to his friend F. Richard Pappas.

In his announcement, Pappas noted that Sondheim had celebrated Thanksgiving with friends the day before his death.

Widely credited with revolutionizing American musical theater, Sondheim was considered one of the best composers of Broadway.

The publicist for the ongoing Broadway production of Sondheim's musical "Company," Rick Miramontez, told AFP that the musical theater titan had passed away.

"There are no words. He had them all. And the music. He was incomparable," the UK-based Stephen Sondheim Society, which is dedicated to promoting and studying his work, tweeted along with three heart emojis, one of them broken.

https://twitter.com/SondheimSociety/status/1464364134879973377

In the same vein, former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton paid a heartfelt tribute to the "peerless composer and lyricist" on Twitter, saying he "changed the theatre—and our culture—with his craft, his humor, and his heart. Everybody rise!"

https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/1464418577767927816

The renowned composer had done iconic works that include the lyrics for "West Side Story", "Gypsy" "Sweeney Todd", "Merrily We Roll Along" and "Into The Woods."

Sondheim was recognized for his work and received Tony awards and even a Pulitzer. He won the 1993 Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievement and was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2013.

"As a composer and a lyricist, and a genre unto himself, Sondheim challenges his audiences," Obama said at the time. "Stephen's music is so beautiful, his lyrics so precise, that even as he exposes the imperfections of everyday life, he transcends them. We transcend them."

Throughout his incredible career, Sondheim won eight Grammy awards, eight Tony awards, including the special Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, one Academy Award, and a Pulitzer.

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