Jennifer Finch of L7 has died. The musician joined the Los Angeles punk band in 1986 as bassist and vocalist and performed on 5 of their studio LPs, together with 1990’s Scent The Magic and 1992’s Bricks Are Heavy, two of the grunge period’s important and most influential albums. Earlier this week, Finch revealed she’d been identified with an aggressive type of mind most cancers, forcing her to sit down out L7’s fall farewell tour. A GoFundMe launched by her family and friends rapidly surpassed its aim, elevating practically $400,000. She was 59.
“We’re devastated to announce the demise of our accomplice, sister, daughter, and pal Jennifer Valuable Finch,” reads a press release on the musician’s social media. “Jennifer’s affect on the world of music was seismic; her affect on our lives, even moreso. We admire everybody’s curiosity and concern, thanks for all the sort messages. We admire some house to heal privately throughout this troublesome time.”
Jennifer Finch was born August 5, 1966 and raised by her adoptive mother and father in West Los Angeles. (She selected the center title Valuable within the ’90s in tribute to her adoptive father, who was an enormous supporter of her artistic pursuits.) Earlier than becoming a member of L7, Finch performed in Sugar Babydoll with future Gap and Babes In Toyland founders Courtney Love and Kat Bjelland. She was additionally a prolific music photographer, documenting the LA punk and alt-rock scene beginning within the mid-’80s.
Finch joined L7 a 12 months after Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner began the band, and she or he was on board when their 1988 self-titled debut was one of many first non-Unhealthy Faith albums to come back out on Epitaph. L7 had been an LA band, however they spent numerous time in Seattle within the late ’80s and early ’90s, simply as grunge taking maintain. Their sophomore album Scent The Magic got here out on Sub Pop in 1990, and Finch dated Dave Grohl for some time when he was in Nirvana. In 1991, they shaped Rock For Selection, a collection of live shows that raised cash for abortion rights.
After Scent The Magic, L7 signed with Slash Data and launched their Butch Vig-produced major-label debut Bricks Are Heavy in 1992. That album is a full-on basic of the early alt-rock period. The catchy, galvanizing single “Fake We’re Useless” grew to become an alt-rock radio hit, and it is one in every of many absolute bangers on that report. “Shitlist”? “Wargasm”? “Everglade”? That factor is stacked. L7 had been larger-than-life characters with function and swagger and nice, nice songs. At a pivotal second in rock historical past, they had been one of many coolest bands on the planet.
L7’s 1994 follow-up Hungry For Stink it did not have one other hit on the extent of “Fake We’re Useless,” however it’s arguably simply pretty much as good as Bricks Are Heavy. The band performed the primary stage throughout the 1994 Lollapalooza tour, arguably the height of that total enterprise. Throughout that run, Finch wrote or co-wrote a lot of L7’s greatest songs, together with “One Extra Factor” and “She Has Eyes.”
Finch left L7 in 1996, and former Stomach bassist Gail Greenwood joined as much as take her place. L7 launched a pair extra albums earlier than breaking apart in 2001. Along with L7, Finch performed in bands like OtherStarPeople, the Shocker, and Intercourse In Progress. When L7 reunited in 2014, Finch rejoined them, and she or he performed on their 2019 reunion album Scatter The Rats. On the time of her demise, plans had been underway to protect an intensive archive of her work.
L7 shared this assertion:
We’re shattered by the lack of our beloved bandmate, sister and pal Jennifer Finch, whose fierce spirit, humor and boundless creativity helped form L7 and altered all of our lives without end. Jennifer was a real authentic who lived totally on her personal phrases, and the affect she made on music, artwork and everybody fortunate sufficient to know her can’t be measured. We love her past phrases and can carry her with us all the time. Relaxation in energy our expensive pal.
