Singer-Songwriter Todd Snider Has Died

Singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died at age 59. Snider’s representatives confirmed he died on Friday, November 14, 2025, but did not state a cause of death.

Snider recently canceled his tour dates after allegedly being attacked before a concert in Salt Lake City. Snider was arrested on November 2 at Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City after being discharged following treatment for the purported assault.

Snider’s representatives posted a message yesterday afternoon stating he was hospitalized in Hendersonville, Tennessee, after experiencing trouble breathing after returning home from the canceled tour. The message indicated that Snider “had been quietly suffering from an undiagnosed case of walking pneumonia.”

Snider’s representatives posted another message this morning announcing he had “departed this world.” The full statement follows:

Aimless, Inc. Headquarters is heartbroken to share that our Founder, our Folk Hero, our Poet of the World, our Vice President of the Abrupt Change Dept., the Storyteller, our beloved Todd Daniel Snider has departed this world. Where do we find the words for the one who always had the right words, who knew how to distill everything down to its essence with words and song while delivering the most devastating, hilarious, and impactful turn of phrases? Always creating rhyme and meter that immediately felt like an old friend or a favorite blanket. Someone who could almost always find the humor in this crazy ride on Planet Earth.

He relayed so much tenderness and sensitivity through his songs, and showed many of us how to look at the world through a different lens. He got up every morning and started writing, always working towards finding his place among the songwriting giants that sat on his record shelves, those same giants who let him into their lives and took him under their wings, who he studied relentlessly. Guy Clark, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Jeff Walker.

How do we move forward without the one who gave us countless 90 minute distractions from our impending doom? The one who always had 18 minutes to share a story. We’ll do it by carrying his stories and songs that contain messages of love, compassion, and peace with us. Today, put on one of your favorite Todd Snider records and “play it loud enough to wake up all of your neighbors or at least loud enough to always wake yourself up.” We love you Todd, sail on old friend, we’ll see you again out there on the road somewhere down the line. You will always be a force of nature.

“Like A Force of Nature”

If we never get together again
Forgive me for these fools I’ve been
See if you can remember me when
I was listening to my better angels

It’s like a force of nature
Coming over me
I can’t keep myself from moving
It’s like a force of nature

May your hope always outweigh your doubt
Until this old world finally punches you out
May you always play your music
Loud enough to wake up all of your neighbors
Or may you play at least loud enough
To always wake yourself up

Todd Daniel Snider
October 11, 1966 – November 14, 2025

Snider was born in Portland, Oregon, and was raised in Beaverton. His musical journey took hold after seeing Jerry Jeff Walker perform in Texas, which inspired Snider to become a songwriter. Kent Finlay and his Cheatham Street Warehouse venue in San Marcos, Texas were integrally influential to Snider, introducing him to prominent songwriters of the era.

In the 1990s, Snider moved to Memphis and began working with Keith Sykes. His 1994 debut album ,Songs For The Daily Planet, was released on Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Records.

Snider’s music incorporated elements of folk, rock, blues, alt-country, and funk, and he became known for his wry humor and storytelling abilities. His songs, several of which were performed by other artists, included favorites like “Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues” and “Alright Guy,” which became the title track to Gary Allan’s 2001 album.

He later signed to Prine’s Oh Boy Records and released several albums for the label, including the 2004 album East Nashville Skyline. In 2013, Snider co-founded Hard Working Americans with Widespread Panic bassist Dave Schools and (soon-to-be WSP) drummer Duane Trucks, Great American Taxi keyboardist Chad Staehly and late guitarist Neal Casal.

Snider’s memoir, I Never Met a Story I Didn’t Like: Mostly True Tall Tales, was published in 2014. In 2021, Snider was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame.

Snider’s final album, High, Lonesome And Then Some, was released last month.