Denver’s music community is grieving following the unexpected death of beloved local singer-songwriter Jill Sobule, who passed away Thursday in a tragic house fire in Woodbury, Minnesota. Sobule, aged 66, was best known for her groundbreaking 1995 hits, “I Kissed a Girl” and “Supermodel,” the latter featured prominently in the popular film “Clueless.”
Sobule was set to perform at Swallow Hill Music in Englewood on Friday, May 2, as part of a performance hosted by 105.5 The Colorado Sound and The Colorado Playlist. That night will now be an informal memorial, which is open to the public from 7:30 to 9 p.m. and will be hosted by Ron Bostwick.
Swallow Hill Music expressed its sorrow on social media:
“We are terribly saddened to share the news that Jill Sobule passed away yesterday. Jill was a beloved member of the Swallow Hill community, and we know she will be sorely missed.”
Swallow Hill Music this morning shared on social media: “We are terribly saddened to share the news that Jill Sobule passed away yesterday. Jill was a beloved member of the Swallow Hill community, and we know she will be sorely missed.”
Her management has stated that an informal memorial celebrating her life and legacy will take place later this summer.
A Life of Musical Honesty and Activism
Sobule was born in Denver on January 6, 1959. Jill has recently been receiving fresh praise for her work in “F**7thGRADE”, her new musical, which was nominated for a 2023 Drama Desk Award and received attention from The New York Times. Her most recent work approached the themes of bullying, identity, and growing up.
“Growing up in the ’60s in elementary school, Jill had this inner struggle knowing she didn’t fit in,” recalled Cathy Pepper, Sobule’s childhood friend and former classmate from Carson Elementary School in Denver. Pepper herself was humorously immortalized as the bully character in Sobule’s musical, which Pepper described as “an affectionate nod” to her name rather than a criticism.
“She would ride her blue Raleigh Chopper bike because she didn’t want the cute pink Stingray, and yet none of us knew what gay even was,”
Pepper added.
Remarkable Creativity
Sobule’s “I Kissed a Girl” became a centerpiece of pop music when it hit the Billboard Top 20. It is Sobule’s song where she touches on themes such as eating disorders and societal pressures forced upon women that are seldom discussed, which is her work notable for exploring these themes.
Sobule and Pepper reestablished contact roughly five years ago when Sobule reached out for old school pictures for a flea market-themed musical project she was working on. This rekindling of friendship resulted in Pepper arranging personal concerts for Sobule, one being at Sobule’s childhood home located on South Elm Street.
As Pepper reflects on those concerts, she fondly adds,
“There was such a sweet sadness to her music as she would sing telling her stories, but her wit and her sense of humor came out in the funniest ways. You’d be crying in your heart, you’d be laughing out loud on the outside, because she could make fun of all of that raw honesty that she had. She was this tiny little thing, and yet she would open her mouth and sing and sound just like a songbird.”
Sobule’s association with Swallow Hill Music goes as far back as 1982, making her performance this past Friday particularly sentimental for the music scene in Denver. She was also set to perform at The Art Campus at Willits in Basalt on Saturday, May 3, and then at The Armory in Fort Collins on Sunday, May 4.
The Associated Press reports that the investigation into the cause of the fatal fire remains ongoing.
