I heard the news, late in the evening last night, that singer/songwriter Jill Sobule had died in a house fire in Woodbury, Minnesota, at the age of 66. She may have been temporary in the Minneapolis/St Paul area on her way to Denver today (May 2) for an appearance at Swallow Hill Music’s Tuft Theater for her musical, “Jill Sobule presents: Songs From F*ck 7th Grade & More.”

Most people will know Sobule’s 1995 song “I Kissed a Girl”, a song that is often considered the first openly gay-themed song to hit the Billboard Top 20.

ECR Music Group issued a statement.

The entire ECR Music Group family is shocked and saddened today by the death of our artist Jill Sobule; we mourn with the millions who loved her, and we celebrate her music, and enduring artistic legacy.

We did catch Sobule at the Parkway Theater in April 2024 and wrote, “Sobule has been performing since 1990 with eight studio albums, coming to national prominence with her self-titled sophomore album with songs like “I Kissed a Girl” and “Supermodel.” Like a lot of singer-songwriters, Sobule was quite talkative between songs and had the audience laughing throughout. She even asked the audience if they wanted to hear a happy or sad song. Overwhelmingly, the answer was happy. So, Sobule played a rather uplifting song about the apocalypse, “A Good Life.””

Rest in peace, Jill Sobule.