Todd Snider, alt-country singer-songwriter, has died aged 59.

His record label shared the news that Snider had died on Friday in a statement posted to his social media accounts the following day.

"Where do we find the words for the one who always had the right words, who knew how to distil everything down to its essence with words and song while delivering the most devastating, hilarious, and impactful turn of phrases?" the statement read.

"Always creating rhyme and meter that immediately felt like an old friend or a favourite blanket. Someone who could almost always find the humour in this crazy ride on Planet Earth."

Snider's family and friends had said in a statement that he had been diagnosed with pneumonia at a hospital in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and that his situation had since grown more complicated and he was transferred elsewhere.

The diagnosis came on the heels of the cancellation of a tour after Snider had been the victim of a violent assault in the Salt Lake City area, according to a statement from his management team.

But Salt Lake City police later arrested Snider himself when he at first refused to leave a hospital and later returned and threatened staff there, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

The scrapped tour was in support of his most recent album, High, Lonesome and Then Some, which was released in October.

The Associated Press called him a "singer-songwriter with the persona of a fried folkie" and a "stoner troubadour and cosmic comic."