Firehouse Singer Dies Same Day Band Played El Paso

A big concert featuring popular Eighties rock bands went down at Speaking Rock on Friday.

In addition to Dokken, Bullet Boys and Great White, the band Firehouse performed.  Their lead singer, who had hoped to return to touring with the group he founded, passed away that very day.

Technically, Firehouse wasn’t really an “Eighties band”. Their first album, the eponymously titled “Firehouse”, only came out in 1990.  It had big hits like “Don’t Treat Me Bad” and “Love of a Lifetime” which received massive airplay on rock radio.

The band’s lead singer and founder, C.J. Snare passed away on Friday. C.J. had been recuperating from abdominal surgery in October. Snare was on hiatus from the band but hoped to return to touring sometime this summer.

Sources tell us that Firehouse DID perform on Friday and did a meet-and-greet with fans who came out to see them at Speaking Rock Entertainment Center. It is not yet clear if the other members of Firehouse knew of Snare’s passing before they performed.

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Two of the current members of Firehouse, guitarist Bill Leverty and drummer Michael Foster were also founding member with CJ Snare.  On Sunday, Leverty said he was “absolutely devastated” and “still in shock” about CJ’s passing.

CJ had been diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in 2020. His cause of death, however, was listed as cardiac arrest.

I know some of our listeners were at the Speaking Rock show on Friday. Maybe you can let us know…did the band seem aware of CJ’s death? Or, did they not find out about it until later?

The first statements from the band and its members didn’t hit social media until Sunday.

R.I.P, CJ.