Overview
- His lawyer, Laurie Soriano, confirmed he died of cancer on Monday in Brentwood, with outlets reporting his age as either 74 or 75.
- Steinberg primarily wrote lyrics while Tom Kelly composed the music, a division of labor central to their long-running success.
- The pair’s best‑known hits include Madonna’s Like a Virgin, Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors, the Bangles’ Eternal Flame, Heart’s Alone, and Whitney Houston’s So Emotional.
- He earned a Grammy for work on Celine Dion’s 1996 album Falling Into You and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011.
- He is survived by his wife, Trina, and sons, Ezra and Max, and in March 2025 he and Ezra signed global publishing deals with Sony Music Publishing.