Jill SobuleThe groundbreaking singer writer and activist whose song from 1995 “I Kissed a Girl” is generally considered the first openly gay song that cracked Billboard Top 20, died in a Minneapolis House Fire early Thursday morning, her rope confirmed. She was 66.
Sobule’s unusually diverse three decades/12 album careers included that song as well as “supermodel” from the movie “Clueless” and, recently, the drama desk-nominated autobiographical musical “Fuck 7th Grade”, which enjoyed four theater runs in three years. The original role recording of the show will be released on June 6, along with a special 30th anniversary publishing of her self-titled album, which contains “I Kissed A Girl” and “Supermodel.”
She was scheduled to perform in her native Denver tomorrow night at Swallow Hill Music’s Tuft Theater, “Jill Sobule presents: songs from F*ck 7th grade & more”; Instead, there will be an informal collection worth of her friend Ron Bostwick from 105.5 sc.
Her boss, John Porter, said in a statement: “Jill Sobule was a natural power and human rights whose music is woven into our culture. I had so much fun working with her. I lost a client and a friend today. I hope her music, memory and inheritance continue to live and inspire others.”
Ken Hertz, her long -standing lawyer, said: “Jill was not just a client. She was a family for us. She showed up for every birth, every birthday and every vacation. She performed at our daughter’s wedding, and I was her” technology “when she performed zoom from our living room (while she lived with us) during the pandemic.”
Born in Denver in 1959 Sobule released his Todd Rundgren-produced debut album, “Things Here Are Different” in 1990; A second album was recorded with British singer Joe Jackson, but was not released. She signed with Atlantic in 1995 and liked hits with her self-titled album, but the pop format limited the extensive topics and the ideas of her often weak songs that have ranged from the death penalty to store lift, from anorexia to the magazine and in the following year she released music on independent label.
In 2008, she became a pioneer when it comes to using crowdfunding to release albums and offered protectors from a free download along with the physical copy of the album (for $ 10) to the ability to sing on the record ($ 10,000). In less than two months, she had reached her target goal of $ 75,000, via more than 500 donations and released the album, “California Years”, 2009 on her Pinko Records label.
A formal memorial that celebrates her life and inheritance will take place during the summer, said her rope.
She is survived by her brother and sister -in -law, James and Mary Ellen Sobule, and her nephew, Ian Matthew and Robert and Robert’s wife Irina.
