Tom Lehrer, a popular musical satirist who rose to fame in the 1950s and '60s before returning to a career teaching math, has died at age 97.

Lehrer died on Saturday at his home in Cambridge, Mass., his friend David Herder confirmed to NPR.

He was remembered across the entertainment industry on Sunday, including by "Weird Al" Yankovic , who called Lehrer a "living musical hero" in a social media post on Sunday .

When Lehrer wasn't teaching college-level math, he was sitting at a piano making people laugh — and worry — about the world. His targets included politics, nuclear destruction, and even social harmony.

"I could never sit down and say, 'Today, I will write a funny song,'" he told NPR in 1997.

Born in 1928, he was raised in New York City's Upper East Side, according to a 19

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