Todd Snider, Singer-Songwriter Who Helped Popularize Americana Genre, Dead at 59
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Todd Snider (from his Wikipedia page)
Todd Snider, a well-respected artist within the Americana music community, died yesterday, Nov. 14, 2025, in Nashville. The death of the singer-songwriter, who released more than a dozen albums, followed a troubling two-week period that saw him being assaulted outside of a hotel in Salt Lake City, arrested following a hospital stay and later contracting walking pneumonia. Snider was 59.
The Salt Lake City incident, according to reports at the time, occurred on Nov. 1, prior to the second date on Snider’s latest tour, in support of his newest album, High, Lonesome and Then Some. Snider was arrested following the hotel incident, about which details remain unclear although Snider claimed to have been robbed. He was charged with criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and threat of violence. Snider was taken after the assault to a local hospital, where he allegedly became agitated upon being discharged, which he said was done against his will. A report by a local Utah television station claimed that Snider became abusive to hospital staff, was asked to leave the property, but then returned and threatened staff members again.
Snider’s planned tour was canceled after the beating and arrest. A few days prior to his death, an announcement was made by his team that Snider had contracted pneumonia and was having trouble breathing. Then, this morning, Nov. 15, Snider’s team released this statement regarding his death:
“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.”
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Todd Daniel Snider was born in Portland, Ore., on Oct. 11, 1966. He relocated to California and then Texas in the 1980s, and then Nashville in the ’90s. Having been mentored by songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, Snider began crafting his own songs and released his debut album, Songs for the Daily Planet, in 1994. Although he never made a commercial impact with his music, he built a large fanbase and amassed positive critical reviews through the years, often compared to the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Guy Clark, John Prine and Jimmy Buffett.
In 2014, Snider published a book described as a part-memoir, I Never Met a Story I Didn’t Like: Mostly True Tall Tales.
Related: Musician and celebrity deaths of 2025
5 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationGoddammed shame….
OMG, JUST SEEING THIS! SAD NEWS AND SHOCKING! Was turned onto Todd by dear friend in Houston, CDH, and loved his sense of humor, and storytelling, and political pov, reminding me of Woody Guthrie, and Arlo, and Dylan…A GREAT FOLKIE TROUBADOUR! must be more to this story…way too young,loved listening to his cds, his videos, his hilarious stories, his tales…really a gut punch for me..rip Todd…
great performer – check out “you got away with it”
How awful…I idolized this guy….loved his songs and performances…saw him about 8x and have most of his recordings
He never had any major hit singles or albums which sold only marginally but he was great in concert and an excellent songwriter…I had front row seats at 2 different shows I attended (of the 8 total)..one of them being “The Bluebird” in Bloomington Indiana where I went to college…..A sad day indeed…Snider was assaulted early in his latest tour and received injuries…was seeking medical treatment after receiving a head injury about 2 weeks ago, many different accounts of what actually happened..Died of walking pneumonia which is quite strange in this day and age….He will be missed …He lived in East Nashville..Tn. I have seen his home etc. I’m still in shock over this…not too many musician deaths have affected me, this one does….RIP…
So very sad. What an artist, what a poet. We’ve all lost a great troubadour.