The man behind the iconic music of “SpongeBob SquarePants” has died.
Andy Paley passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 20, after a brief battle with cancer, a representative for his band, Tom Kenny & the Hi-Seas, confirmed to Variety and Deadline.
He was 72.
“We were blessed to have had Andy,” the band’s rep said in a statement via People. “He truly is the reason all this SpongeBob joy exists in music around the world. He gave us all a purpose and lots of infinite joy that the band will continue to foster in memory of his gift to us and his musical legacy.”
Paley was also a frequent collaborator with Brian Wilson during his solo career. He made his mark in Hollywood, working with legendary musicians like Jerry Lee Lewis, the Ramones, Madonna, Elton John, Patti Smith and Deborah Harry after forming the band the Paley Brothers with his sibling Jonathan in the ’70s.
While he was widely known for his musical contributions to “SpongeBob SquarePants,” Paley got his start in cartoons with “The Ren & Stimpy Show” in the ’90s. He also worked on the animated show “Camp Lazlo!” in the early 2000s.
The musician joined the “SpongeBob” crew in 2004 after the late show creator Stephen Hillenburg recruited a team of talented professionals to make the soundtrack for the cartoon.
Paley joined “SpongeBob” voice actor Tom Kenny and the late drummer Tom Ardolino of NRBQ to create the music. Together, they developed beloved children’s hits for the show like “The Best Day Ever.”
He spoke about how they incorporated catchy pop tunes into the cartoon.
“Kenny and I started planning to make these SpongeBob records with every member of the cast — Squidward, Pearl, whoever it was,” Paley said in 2020, per the the Daily Gazette. “We thought of it like the cartoons for the Monkees or Jackson 5 or the Beatles. We just thought, ‘Why not just do good pop songs and have SpongeBob and Patrick and Plankton and everybody sing?’”
After contributing to “SpongeBob,” Paley toured with his dear friend Kenny and their band, Tom Kenny & the Hi-Seas.
Kenny reflected on their bond after Paley’s passing.
“My friendship with Andy and our collaboration — writing songs and my fronting the band that he formed — is one of the greatest true joys I’ve ever experienced,” he told Variety. “He possessed not only encyclopedic knowledge of all pop music — especially rock ‘n’ roll and girl group — but was also astoundingly astute when it came to art and literature.”
Paley leaves behind his wife, Heather Crist Paley, their two children, Jackson and Charlie, and his four siblings: Sarah, Brewster and Debby and brother Jonathan Paley.
The Post has reached out to the band’s rep for comment.
