Snider, 59, had “an undiagnosed case of walking pneumonia,” his record label said online.
(Angelina Castillo | Aimless Records) Americana musician Todd Snider, who canceled his fall tour this month after an alleged assault in Utah, died Friday.
Todd Snider, the blues and Americana singer-songwriter who made news earlier this month after an alleged assault in Utah derailed his tour, died Friday in Nashville.
Snider’s death was reported on his Instagram account Saturday, in a post written by people at Aimless Inc., the record company he founded. He was 59.
In a post Friday, Snider’s friends and family wrote that he had been hospitalized, and “had been quietly suffering from an undiagnosed case of walking pneumonia.”
“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 turns of phrase?” Snider’s colleagues at Aimless Inc. wrote Saturday. They called Snider “someone who could almost always find the humor in this crazy ride on Planet Earth.”
Snider had been recording for the past three decades, and is best known for songs like “Alright Guy,” “Beer Run” and “I Can’t Complain.” His most recent album, “High, Lonesome and Then Some,” was released Oct. 17.
Snider’s publicists posted on social media that he had been violently assaulted before a Nov. 1 show at The Commonwealth Room in South Salt Lake. That show was canceled hours before it was scheduled to begin. South Salt Lake police reported that they were called to a reported assault at the venue, but “limited information was obtained.”
On Sunday afternoon, Nov. 2, Salt Lake City police responded to a call in downtown Salt Lake City, where Snider had flagged someone down and had them call police. He told officers he needed a place to stay and wanted to go to the hospital — a request the officers refused, a police spokesperson said.
Snider then appeared a few hours later at CommonSpirit-Holy Cross Hospital, and refused to leave when told to, according to court records. He was accused of yelling at hospital staff and threatening to beat them up.
(Salt Lake City Police Department) Body camera footage shows the arrest of Americana singer Todd Snider in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.
Police found Snider outside the hospital, disheveled and disoriented, and arrested him. Police video of the arrest showed Snider telling officers his neck and back were in pain. “I need to be in a hospital, not in jail, please,” he’s heard telling police on the video.
“I’m not homeless,” Snider told police. “I live in Nashville. I have a band. I’m famous. My band ditched me. I need my lawyer here. I’m not a bad person, I promise.”
Snider spent a night in the Salt Lake County jail, according to court records, and was released the next day. On that same day, Snider’s record label announced that his fall tour had been canceled, and that Snider would receive “needed medical attention.”