Jill Sobule, Singer of ‘Supermodel' and ‘I Kissed a Girl,' Dies in a House Fire

New York Times

02-05-2025

Jill Sobule, the singer and songwriter whose hit 'Supermodel' and gay anthem 'I Kissed a Girl' were followed by three decades of touring, advocacy and a one-woman musical, died on Thursday morning in a house fire in Woodbury, Minn., according to her publicist. She was 66.
The Public Safety Department in Woodbury, a Minneapolis suburb, said that firefighters had responded at 5:30 a.m. to a house that was engulfed in flames. The homeowners said one person was possibly still inside. Firefighters found the body of a woman in her 60s inside the house, the department said.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.
Ms. Sobule was scheduled to perform songs from her one-woman musical, 'F*ck7thGrade,' on Friday at the Swallow Hill Music venue in her hometown, Denver, according to her publicist. She was staying with friends in Minnesota while she rehearsed for the musical, the publicist said.
A free, informal gathering will be held in Ms. Sobule's honor instead.
On her 1995 self-titled album, Ms. Sobule, who was bisexual, featured 'I Kissed a Girl,' which tells the story of a woman kissing her female friend. The song came out when it was 'dicey' to be a queer musician, Ms. Sobule recalled. But it broke into the mainstream, making its way onto the Billboard charts.
'Supermodel,' a rebellious rock song from the same album, was included on the soundtrack of the romantic comedy 'Clueless' and further cemented Ms. Sobule's popularity.
'People call me a one-hit wonder,' Ms. Sobule said in a 2022 interview with The New York Times. 'And I say, 'Wait a second, I'm a two-hit wonder!''
Her next albums — genreless and creative — did not reach the same level of mainstream success, but they received positive reviews from critics and fans.
'Now she sings about dumb boyfriends, weight-obsessed women, Alzheimer's disease and the failings of a long list of celebrated people,' The Times wrote in 2000. 'With a wicked wit and pliant facility for candor, Ms. Sobule is an artist whose talent goes well beyond whom she kisses.'
Ms. Sobule was born in Denver. Additional information about her family could not be immediately confirmed. She joked that growing up, her only queer role models had been Miss Jane Hathaway from 'The Beverly Hillbillies' and her gym teacher, 'who looked like Pete Rose.'
Decades later, she sang about her frustrations in middle school in her musical. She described being called a homophobic slur, feeling out of place among the other girls and having an unrequited crush on a girl.
In eighth grade, her guitar talents began to show, and she eventually dropped out of school to focus on being a musician. Her recording career began in 1990, when she released the album 'Things Here Are Different.' Radios played its single, 'Too Cool to Fall in Love.'
In 1995, her self-titled album catapulted her career to greater heights. 'I Kissed a Girl' made its way back into headlines again in 2008, when Katy Perry released a song with the same name. In an interview, Ms. Sobule later recalled being 'jealous' when Ms. Perry used the title.
A complete list of survivors was not immediately available.
In addition to performing, she was outspoken about a variety of political and cultural topics, including the death penalty, anorexia, reproduction, the French Resistance and L.G.B.T.Q. issues.
'She literally created a path for queer people and women in music,' Sarah Kate Ellis, the president of GLAAD, an L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy group, said in a statement.
In her 2022 interview with The New York Times about her musical, Ms. Sobule reinforced that her goal was to reach a broad audience of people who felt like outcasts.
'We wanted to make sure that the show wasn't just for people interested in my career because most people could give a [expletive],' she said. 'I'm not that famous. It's kind of this universal story of a weirdo growing up.'