Remembering Todd Snider
• One of the bright lights of Alt Country/Americana music, singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died. He was only 59.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Snider had been hospitalized and diagnosed with walking pneumonia, and his passing was announced on his Facebook page and website in a statement that reads, in part: “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.”
Born Oct. 11, 1966, Snider moved to Nashville in the ’90s to pursue a music career and was discovered by Keith Sykes, which led to the 1994 release of Snider’s Margaritaville/MCA debut album, Songs for the Daily Planet, which spawned the single, “Alright Guy.”
Snider had been touring in support of his most recent album, High, Lonesome and Then Some, which was released on Oct. 17; however, the tour was abruptly canceled when Snider, “sustained several injuries as the victim of a violent assault outside of his hotel,” according to a Nov. 3 statement posted to Instagram. It was later revealed that Snider had been arrested for an incident that occurred at Holy Cross Hospital where he was being treated for his injuries and was booked for disorderly conduct.
Snider was nominated for Artist of the Year at the Americana Honors & Awards in 2006, launched his own label, Aimless Records, in 2008, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2021.
