Carl Jeffrey Snare (64) (December 14, 1959 – April 5, 2024) was an American singer best known for being the frontman and founding member of the hard rock/glam metal band FireHouse.
Snare co-wrote most of the band’s songs and has had seven songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, five of which were top 40. He also appeared periodically with his other band, Rubicon Cross, and occasionally appeared with Scrap Metal.
Personal life and death
Carl Jeffrey Snare was born on December 14, 1959, in Washington, D.C to Buck and Barbara Snare. He had two sons and one daughter.
In September 2020, he was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. In September 2023, he took a hiatus from FireHouse to undergo abdominal surgery in October. Although he intended to return to the band for their shows in summer 2024, he died on April 5, 2024, of cardiac arrest. He was 64.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Snare
# # # # #
FireHouse (also Firehouse) is an American hard rock band that formed in 1984 in Richmond, Virginia, and then moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where they were signed to Epic Records in 1989. The band reached stardom during the early 1990s with charting singles like “Reach for the Sky”, “Don’t Treat Me Bad” and “All She Wrote”, as well as their signature power ballads “I Live My Life for You”, “Love of a Lifetime” and “When I Look into Your Eyes”. At the 1992 American Music Awards, FireHouse won the award for “Favorite New Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist”.
As the 1990s progressed, the band remained very popular in Asia, mainly in Japan and Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore. They also maintained popularity in South America and Europe. FireHouse continued to release new material throughout the late 1990s and into the early 2000s, most of which successfully charted in Japan. The band has also continued to tour internationally, having participated twice in the annual Rock Never Stops Tour with other bands from the same genre. FireHouse is estimated to have sold over 7 million albums worldwide since their debut.
Originally composed of vocalist/keyboardist C. J. Snare, guitarist Bill Leverty, drummer Michael Foster and bassist Perry Richardson, the band has maintained its original members with the exception of Richardson, who departed in 2000. Richardson was replaced two times before current bassist, Allen McKenzie, was given the position in 2004. Snare remained as the lead singer of FireHouse until his death on April 5, 2024.
> > > > > > > > > >
In December 2004, FireHouse became the first major international rock band to play concert dates in northeast India. The band’s first Indian concert date was in Shillong, followed by two more dates in Dimapur, and Aizawl. When the Maharaja of Tripura Kirit Pradyot Deb Burman invited them, [the show] took place in front of a sold out stadium crowd of over 40,000, setting a record for that city. The band toured in 2005, 2006, and launched another tour in 2007 visiting states in the Midwest United States such as North Dakota and playing at several festivals including Rocklahoma. . . .
> > > > > > > > > >
In 2011 the band released their eighth studio album titled Full Circle, which featured re-recorded versions of some of their older tracks.
Longtime FireHouse singer C. J. Snare died on April 5, 2024. At the time of his death, Snare had taken a hiatus from the band due to health concerns and was replaced by Nate Peck, who had filled in for him during their 2023 live performances.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireHouse_(band)
* * * * *
OTHER NOTABLE MUSICIANS’ DEATHS
If you are thinking of committing suicide, please think of how much it will hurt your family and friends, and maybe cause them a whole lot of trouble and financial problems. Warning Signs of Suicide – National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 and 888-628-9454 for Spanish. Learn the signs of someone who may be contemplating suicide.
If you want to know more about any of the musicians we lost, please check them out at http://www.wikipedia.com
April 2024
10: Mister Cee, 57, American DJ (WVBN); Dan Wallin, 97, American sound engineer (Woodstock, A Star Is Born, Star Trek).
9: Bob Lanese, 82, American trumpeter (James Last Orchestra); Muluken Melesse, 70, Ethiopian singer and drummer; Dieter Rexroth, 83, German musicologist and dramaturge (Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Young Euro Classic); Max Werner, 70, Dutch singer and drummer (Kayak).
8: Jon Card, 63, German-born Canadian drummer (SNFU, D.O.A., Subhumans); Yevgeny Kungurov, 40, Russian opera and pop singer, suicide; Melitha Sidabutar, 23, Indonesian gospel singer, heart failure.
7: Michael Boder, 65, German conductor; Clarence “Frogman” Henry, 87, American singer (“Ain’t Got No Home”, “(I Don’t Know Why) But I Do”, “You Always Hurt the One You Love”). Antonette Mendes, 79, Indian singer, actress (Amchem Noxib, Nirmon, Mohabbat Zindagi Hai), and playwright; Joe Viera, 91, German jazz saxophonist and educator, founder of the Internationale Jazzwoche Burghausen.
6: Dutty Dior, 27, Norwegian rapper; Garry Van Egmond, 82, Australian concert promoter (Brothers in Arms Tour, Black Ice Wrld Tour).
5: Phil Nimmons, 100, Canadian jazz clarinetist; Rocket Norton, 73, Canadian drummer (Prism); C. J. Snare, 64, American musician (FireHouse) and songwriter (“Love of a Lifetime”, “When I Look into Your Eyes”), colon cancer.
4: Keith LeBlanc, 69, American drummer (Little Axe, Tackhead) and music producer (“No Sell Out”).
3: Joe Aitken, 79, Scottish bothy ballad singer, cancer; Albert Heath, 88, American jazz drummer (Heath Brothers), leukemia; Kalevi Kiviniemi, 65, Finnish concert organist; Muñequita Milly, 23, Peruvian folk singer, complications from surgery; Jaafar Onn, 72, Malaysian actor, singer and television presenter; Michael Tanner, 88, British philosopher and opera critic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2024
Photo: C.J. Snare (from his Facebook page; no photographer listed)
C.J. Snare, Lead Vocalist for FireHouse, Dies of Colon Cancer // Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths
