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American composer, lyricist, and playwright who revolutionized musical theatre with his rock opera Rent. Jonathan Larson attended Adelphi University, moved to New York in 1982, and worked as a waiter while writing musicals. His breakthrough work, Rent—a modern adaptation of Puccini's La Bohème—earned posthumous Pulitzer and Tony Awards. Larson died suddenly at 35 on Rent's off-Broadway premiere day.

• Larson died of an undiagnosed aortic dissection (linked to Marfan syndrome) hours after Rent's final dress rehearsal. He never saw the show's success.
• For years, Larson lived in extreme poverty in a Greenwich Village loft without heat, mirroring Rent's characters while writing the musical.
• Rent's themes of HIV/AIDS, addiction, and LGBTQ+ struggles reflected Larson's friendships with affected artists in 1990s East Village.
• Larson's earlier work, tick, tick... BOOM! (1990), semi-autobiographically explored his artistic frustrations; it was adapted into a 2021 film.