Studying Time: 3 minutes
Tragic information out of the music trade and leisure world:
Jill Sobule, the groundbreaking singer-songwriter of the 1995 smash hit single “I Kissed a Girl,” has handed away in a home hearth in Minneapolis, her consultant confirmed to Selection and different shops on Thursday.
She was 66 years previous.
“Jill Sobule was a force of nature and human rights advocate whose music is woven into our culture,” her supervisor, John Porter, mentioned in a press release.
“I was having so much fun working with her. I lost a client and a friend today. I hope her music, memory, & legacy continue to live on and inspire others.”
The aforementioned tune is broadly thought of to have been the primary brazenly lesbian pop tune to peak within the Billboard high 20.
The monitor paved the best way for a vast variety of future LGBTQ+ singer to be candid about their sexuality inside their songwriting and to search out continued mainstream success because of this.
Sobule launched 12 albums over the course of a three-decade-plus profession.
Her greatest recognized songs included “Supermodel” from the film Clueless and, extra not too long ago, the Drama Desk-nominated autobiographical musical “Fuck 7th Grade,” which loved 4 theatrical runs in three years.
The unique forged recording of the present is about to be launched on June 6, alongside a particular thirtieth anniversary reissue of her self-titled album, which options “I Kissed a Girl” and “Supermodel.”
Sobule was scheduled to carry out in Denver on Might 2.
Her physique was found in a house in Woodbury, Minnesota yesterday and police are investigating the reason for the hearth, in line with the Minnesota Star Tribute.
Sobule’s administration and fellow artists mourned the star’s demise by recognizing her dedication to progressive activism and her musical expertise.
Her agent Craig Grossman of Black Oak Artists, mentioned in a press release to Rolling Stone:
“I was fortunate enough to get to know Jill beyond a professional relationship. No one made me laugh more. Her spirit and energy shall be greatly missed within the music community and beyond.”
Added Sarah Thyre on Instagram about her expertise collaborating with Sobule:
“This one hits hard. Jill Sobule was an amazing, generous artist who lent her time and talent to abortion rights and other progressive causes.”
Ken Hertz, the artist’s longtime lawyer, mentioned:
“Jill wasn’t just a client. She was family to us. She showed up for every birth, every birthday, and every holiday. She performed at our daughter’s wedding, and I was her ‘tech’ when she performed by Zoom from our living room (while living with us) during the pandemic.”
Sobule got here out as bisexual in a 2002 interview with The New York Occasions.
“All anyone wanted to know was, ‘What was I?’” Sobule instructed the outlet, including:
It was a bizarre factor, as a result of there was part of me that needed to say I’m bisexual, however I simply didn’t wish to get into that. There was a giant debate about me, and folks have been saying, ‘Oh, she’s such a closet case — she received’t come out and say she’s a lesbian.’ And different individuals have been saying, ‘Oh, she’s a heterosexual girl attempting to catch a lesbian development.’ You couldn’t win.“
A proper memorial celebrating Sobule’s life and legacy will happen throughout the summer season, her rep confirmed.
She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, James and Mary Ellen Sobule, and her nephews, Ian Matthew and Robert and Robert’s spouse Irina.
Might Jill Sobule relaxation in peace.
