By HALLIE GOLDEN
Jill Sobule, the award-winning singer-songwriter whose witty and poignant writing first attracted widespread consideration with the gay-themed music “I Kissed a Girl,” died in a home fireplace Thursday. She was 66.
“Jill Sobule was a force of nature and human rights advocate whose music is woven into our culture,” John Porter, her supervisor, mentioned in a press release. “I was having so much fun working with her. I lost a client & a friend today. I hope her music, memory, & legacy continue to live on and inspire others.”
FILE – Singer Jill Sobule poses on a settee earlier than acting at New York’s “Supper Club” March 19, 1997. (AP Picture/Rick Maiman, File)
FILE – Jill Sobule poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, in New York. (Picture by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)
The house of Jill Sobule confirmed heavy harm on Friday, Could 2, 2025, in Woodbury, Minn., a day after a fireplace engulfed the home, killing the 66-year-old singer-songwriter. (AP Picture/Amy Forliti) (AP Picture/Amy Forliti)
The house of Jill Sobule confirmed heavy harm on Friday, Could 2, 2025, in Woodbury, Minn., a day after a fireplace engulfed the home, killing the 66-year-old singer-songwriter. (AP Picture/Amy Forliti)
The house of Jill Sobule confirmed heavy harm on Friday, Could 2, 2025, in Woodbury, Minn., a day after a fireplace engulfed the home, killing the 66-year-old singer-songwriter. (AP Picture/Amy Forliti)
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FILE – Singer Jill Sobule poses on a settee earlier than acting at New York’s “Supper Club” March 19, 1997. (AP Picture/Rick Maiman, File)
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Throughout her greater than three a long time of recording, Sobule launched 12 albums that addressed such complicated subjects because the dying penalty, anorexia nervosa, copy and LGBTQ+ points.
Her first album, “Things Here Are Different,” was launched in 1990. 5 years later, she obtained widespread consideration for her hit singles, “Supermodel,” from the film “Clueless,” and “I Kissed A Girl,” which, regardless of being banned on a number of southern radio stations, made it into the Billboard High 20.
She additionally starred in an autobiographical off-Broadway musical that originally premiered on the Wild Challenge in New York in 2022 and contains songs and tales about her life.
Sobule was recognized for taking management of her profession by fundraising so she might make her subsequent album. In 2008, after two main file firms dumped her and two indie labels went bankrupt beneath her, she raised tens of 1000’s of {dollars} from followers so she might make a brand new album.
“The old kind of paradigm, where you’ve always waited for other people to do things, you’d have your manager and your agent,” she mentioned on the time. “You’d wait for the big record company to give you money to do things and they tell you what to do. This is so great. I want to do everything like this.”
Sobule was scheduled to carry out in Denver on Friday night time. As a substitute, there will likely be an off-the-cuff gathering hosted by her good friend Ron Bostwick from 105.5 The Colorado Sound on the efficiency house the place attendees can “share a story or song,” in keeping with her publicist.
A proper memorial to have a good time her life and legacy will likely be held later this summer time.
“No one made me laugh more. Her spirit and energy shall be greatly missed within the music community and beyond,” Craig Grossman, her reserving agent, mentioned in a press release.
Born in Denver, Colorado, on Jan. 16, 1959, she has described herself as a shy little one who most popular observing over collaborating.
Sobule was recognized for taking part in dozens of exhibits a 12 months and has described her reside performances as weak experiences. She mentioned she usually doesn’t have a set listing and wings it.
She’s carried out with such icons as Neil Younger, Billy Bragg and Cyndi Lauper, and likewise inducted Neil Diamond into the Songwriter’s Corridor of Fame, in keeping with her web site. She additionally sang a music as herself on an episode of “The Simpsons” in 2019.
“In a good way, I feel like I’m still a rookie,” she informed The Related Press in 2023 in an interview about her musical. “There’s so much more to do and I haven’t done my best yet.”
She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, James and Mary Ellen Sobule, alongside along with her nephews and cousins.
Initially Printed: Could 2, 2025 at 11:19 AM EDT
