Jennifer Finch, L7 Bassist, Dies at 59
Jennifer Finch, the longstanding bass player of punk rock act L7, has passed away at the age of 59 after a battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer.
A statement from Finch’s family was released on social media, and reads as follows:
"We are devastated to announce the death of our partner, sister, daughter, and friend Jennifer Precious Finch. Jennifer’s impact on the world of music was seismic; her impact on our lives, even moreso. We appreciate everyone’s interest and concern, thank you for all the kind messages. We appreciate some space to heal privately during this difficult time."
An obituary from Pitchfork can be found below. Our thoughts are with Finch’s family, friends, and bandmates at this time.
When Finch was initially diagnosed with brain cancer, she was advised to treat it with radiation, but as time passed, “unforeseen complications” resulted in her needing to undergo multiple surgeries. The severe physical limitations of those procedures required extensive medical care, leading her L7 bandmates to share a GoFundMe to cover Finch’s medical expenses and at-home care.
Born August 5, 1966, Finch grew up in Los Angeles as an adopted child with a burgeoning interest in photography, often documenting the early punk scene that was burgeoning around her by shooting bands like the Cramps and Bad Religion. With each passing year, she further immersed herself in the local music scene (eagle-eyed viewers can spot Finch in the crowd in the 1981 documentary The Decline of Western Civilization) before finally joining the Courtney Love-led band Sugar Babydoll in 1984 and, two years later, garage-punk act the Pandoras.
L7 was co-founded by singer-guitarists Suzi Gardner and Donita Sparks in 1985; the lineup expanded to include drummer Dee Plakas and Finch by 1986, with the latter using her “persistent” determination to join their ranks, according to her bandmates, despite not formally knowing how to play bass. As L7 played around the city, Finch’s connections to longtime figures and fellow musicians helped boost the band’s status and further integrate them into Los Angeles’ music scene.
During their original run, L7 recorded six albums, with Finch playing on the first four: their 1988 self-titled debut, 1990’s Smell the Magic, the 1992 staple Bricks Are Heavy, and 1994’s Hungry for Stink. L7 were vocal champions of women’s rights and the feminist movement at large, and used their platform to push for political change, including the formation of the Rock for Choice concerts in 1991. L7’s biggest crossover hit was “Pretend We’re Dead,” a deceptively sunny single that laments the political and socioeconomic structures that marginalize women, which became a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. In 1996, Finch left the band and L7 continued on with Greta Brinkman in her place, followed by Belly’s Gail Greenwood in 1997 and Janis Tanaka in 1999.
After announcing in 2014 that they planned to get back together, L7 officially returned the following year with extensive reunion tours, this time with Finch back in their ranks. They started working on new material with similarly confrontational lyrics, such as “Dispatch From Mar-a-Lago” and “I Came Back to Bitch,” and were the subject of a new documentary, L7: Pretend We’re Dead by Sarah Price. Come 2019, L7 rolled out their first album in 20 years, Scatter the Rats.
“L7 ain’t over yet. I’m in my 50s now and we still get to be examples,” Finch told Guitar World last year. “But also we get to fail publicly in a way that we couldn’t do in our 20s. I’ve never felt directly responsible for anyone picking up a guitar – pick up your own fucking guitar! It’s a thing you gotta do or do not. I’m very heart-warmed when particularly women say, ‘Because of you, I got into politics’ or ‘I got my medical degree because of you.’ You know, fighting for housing rights, that’s awesome.”
L7 celebrated their 40th anniversary last year with a special concert at the Belasco in Los Angeles. They also had plans to embark on their Last Hurrah farewell tour without Finch, which is set for this fall, after receiving a blessing from the late bassist to do so.
Countless musicians have paid their respects to Finch while mourning her loss, including heartfelt tributes by the Go-Go’s Kathryn Valentine, Garbage, Lunachicks, and Circle Jerks’ Greg Hetson. “God bless Jennifer Finch, bassist of L7 and all-around great person,” Tom Morello wrote in an Instagram story. “She welcomed my nerdy ass to LA with kindness & respect and without judgement despite her insanely cool stature. She was an important fixture of the LA scene and a friend I admired and she will be missed.”
Main Photo: L7 / Jared Stossel
