Wayne Swinny death: Saliva guitarist dies aged 59 after suffering brain haemorrhage on tour

Founding band member was admitted to hospital on Wednesday

Swinny died on Wednesday after being admitted to the ICU (Saliva/YouTube)

Saliva guitarist Wayne Swinny has died aged 59 after being admitted to an intensive care unit with a brain haemorrhage.

In a statement shared on Facebook on Wednesday (22 March) afternoon, the Grammy-nominated Tennessee rock band announced that Swinny had died during their Spring Mayhem tour.

“It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our brother Wayne Swinny,” they wrote.

“Wayne passed away this afternoon from a spontaneous brain hemorrhage while we were out on tour. Details for the funeral arrangements will be announced shortly. Wayne will be missed by all those who knew him. We love you Wayne.”

Commenting on the post, musician Jay Gearhart wrote: “This breaks my heart. He was such an amazing dude. Rest in peace uncle wayway.”

Band Shallowpoint commented: “Beyond sad to hear this. We played with you guys a few years ago and he hung out with us after the show. Super friendly fun guy. He will be greatly missed.”

In a statement earlier on Wednesday, the group had shared that founding band member Swinny had been found on Tuesday (21 March) morning in a state of “medical distress”.

Paramedics were called and the musician was transported to hospital “where he was diagnosed with a spontaneous haemorrhage in his brain” and sent to the ICU.

The band had asked fans to keep Swinny in their “thoughts and prayers”.

Saliva had been on tour across the US as part of their Spring Mayhem tour with fellow bands Throughfire and Any Given Sin and had played in Nashville the night before.

Swinny formed the “Click Click Boom” group with former bandmates Josey Scott Sappington, Todd Poole, Dave Novotny and Chris D’Abaldo. He is the only founding member still in the band.

Saliva released 11 studio albums over the years, the most recent being 2018’s 10 Lives. Their most recent single “High On Me” was released in November 2022.