Cause Of Death Revealed For Alt-Country Star Todd Snider, Dead At 59

Todd Snider, an influential alt-country singer-songwriter, died of pneumonia. Snider’s publicist confirmed the late artist’s cause of death to the New York Times. He was 59.

Snider was born on October 11, 1966 in Portland, Oregon. His team confirmed his death in a post on social media over the weekend. The statement reads: “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.”

Sheryl Crow, Margo Price, Maggie Rose, Amanda Shires, Ashley McBryde, Mary Chapin Carpenter and others mourned Snider’s loss in tributes and comments on the social media post.

Earlier this month, Snider had to cancel tour dates after he “sustained severe injuries as the victim of a violent assault outside of his hotel” before a show in Salt Lake City, Utah. Snider died shortly after his family and friends shared “difficult news,” stating that he was hospitalized in Hendersonville, Tennessee, outside of Nashville, as he’d “been quietly suffering from an undiagnosed case of walking pneumonia.

“Our beloved brother’s condition has become more complicated, and he's since been transferred for additional treatment. His care team and those closest to him are by his side and doing everything they can,” Snider’s family and friends said at the time. “Right now we’re asking everyone who loves Todd to hold him in your thoughts in whatever way feels right to you. Say a prayer, light a candle, roll one up, send strength, or just keep him close in your heart. You've carried him through so much over the years, and he needs that from all of us now more than ever.”