Jill Sobourg, singer-songwriter Jill Sobourg, singer-songwriter, hit “I Kiss a Girl” and “Supermodel” film, “Supermodel,” and after hearing it on “Clueless,” he was followed by 30 years of tour, advocacy and a one-woman musical, died Thursday morning in a house fire in Woodbury, Minnesota. She was 66 years old.
Her death was announced by her spokesperson, David Elkin.
The Public Safety Department in Woodbury, a suburb of St. Paul, said firefighters responded to reports that the home was engulfed in flames at 5:30 a.m. The homeowner said one person could still be inside. The department said firefighters found the body of a woman in her 60s inside the house. The Woodbury Police Department has confirmed that the victim is Mr. Sobourg.
The cause of the fire is still under active investigation.
Sobourg was scheduled to perform the song for her autobiographical one-person musical, “F*ck7thgrade,” at her hometown of Swallow Hill Music, venue in her hometown of Denver, on Friday.
Instead, a free, unofficial gathering will be held in the honor of Sobre.
Her second album, released in 1995, featured “I Kissed a Girl” by the bisexual Sobourg, known as “Gille Sobourg.”
I kissed a girl
Her lips were sweet.
She was like kissing me.
I kissed a girl, I won't change the world
But I'm very happy
I kissed a girl!
The song came out when he was “Day,” a strange musician. But it invaded the mainstream and headed towards the Billboard charts. It reached the top 20 of the magazine's Modern Rock Truck Chart, known at the time as the Alternative Airplay Chart. It was also the first song with an openly gay theme to reach the top 20 on the Billboard charts. (It reached number 67 on the Hot 100 Singles chart.)
“Supermodel,” a rebellious rock song from the same album, was included in the soundtrack to the romantic comedy “Clueless,” further enhancing Ms. Sobule's popularity.
“People call me a one-hit wonder,” Sobre told me in a 2022 interview with the New York Times. “And they say, 'Wait a minute, I'm a wonder of two hits!” ”
Her next album was creatively bold, with pigeonhole difficulties, and didn't reach the same level of mainstream success. However, they had loyal supporters and received positive reviews.
“Now she sings about her stupid boyfriend, weight-troubled women, Alzheimer's and the long list of famous people,” Robbie Walliver wrote in the 2000 Times.
Jill Susan Sobourg was born in Denver on January 16, 1959 to Marvin Lee Sobourg, a veterinarian and Elaine (Claymish) Sobourg, a musician (later remarried and known as Elaine Dillon). “Beverly Hillbillies” and Jim's teacher, “The One Who Looked Like Pete Rose”
Decades later she wrote a musical. She called it “a growth-like story of this universal strange story,” where she sang about the frustration she experienced in middle school. She was called a homophobic slur, and was recalled that she was out of place among the other girls and had no unrequited love for the girl.
She began displaying her talent in the guitar in the eighth grade, and eventually dropped out of school to focus on music. Her recording career began in 1990 when she released the album “Things Here Are Different.” The album's single, “Love Fall Fall Love,” received several radio plays.
Five years later, her second album, “Jill Sobule,” attacked her career with a higher and more abundant amount.
“I Kissed A Girl” returned to headlines again in 2008. Katy Perry released a song of the same name that was far more successful. In one interview, Sobourg recalled that Perry would later “jealous” when he used the title. In another interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2008, she said: She added: “Katy Perry's song is kind of a catchy party song, but I admit I smile when criticism mentions my version in a light that is more favorable to me. Is that wrong?”
Sobourg's survivors include her brother James.
In addition to her performance, Sobre was openly spoken about a variety of political and cultural topics, including the death penalty, anorexia, reproduction, and in particular LGBTQ issues.
“She literally created a path for the strange people and women in music,” Sarah Kate Ellis, president of LGBTQ advocacy group Glaad, said in a statement.
When interviewed by The Times in 2022 about the musical, Sobule emphasized that her goal is to reach a wide audience of people who felt like exiles.
“We wanted to make sure the show wasn't just for those interested in my career, as most people can give (exploited) things,” she said. “I'm not that famous. It's like this universal story of a weirdo growing up.”
Caryn Ganz and Ash Wu contributed the report.
