Jennifer Finch, bassist for the influential Los Angeles rock band L7, has died. She was 59 years old.
Finch died of “an aggressive form of brain cancer,” according to a statement from the band.
“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved bandmate, sister and friend Jennifer Finch, whose fierce spirit, humor and boundless creativity helped shape L7 and changed all of our lives forever,” the group said in their statement. “Jennifer was a true original who lived completely on her own terms, and the impact she had on music, art, and everyone who was lucky enough to know her cannot be measured. We love her beyond words and will carry her with us always. Rest in power, our dear friend.”
Finch was receiving ongoing treatment for brain cancer and just last week pulled out of the band's final planned tour. The group said those dates were “planned together with Jennifer when the four of us were in good health and in good spirits,” and Finch had asked the band to continue with the shows while she sought treatment.
Raised in Los Angeles, Finch was an outspoken and ambitious member of '90s rock. She briefly performed in a band with Courtney Love before Hole and Kat Bjelland of Babes In Toyland, and once dated Dave Grohl. But he rose to fame in L7, a seminal act in the '90s alternative rock scene.
Formed in 1985 by guitarists and singers Suzi Gardner and Donita Sparks, drummer Dee Plakas and Finch, they made a quick impact on the Los Angeles punk scene, which was emerging from the hyper-masculine hardcore era of the '80s. Along with Hole and Sleater-Kinney, L7 helped usher in the wave of confrontational female-led rock groups on the charts and at festivals.
“Rock 'n' roll was invented and became popular because of its rebellious nature,” Finch told the Times in 1993. “But the world has seen every form of rebellion, from throwing televisions out of windows to heroin abuse to the guy in the leather jacket with greased-back hair, and the rebel image is getting tired and burned out. So (the press) is finding new interest in women who (rebel), creating a whole new look.”
“The unfortunate thing is that journalists try to create a genre out of gender, which trivializes it,” he added. “That's extremely ignorant, because it overlooks the uniqueness between the groups.”
Bolstered by Finch's ferocious bass lines, the hit single “Pretend We're Dead” received significant airplay on alternative rock stations and became the group's signature song, along with the biting anti-war anthem “Wargasm.” Finch wrote several songs from the group's catalog, including the lurid single “Everglade.” L7 went on hiatus in 2001, but reunited in 2014.
Finch was a talented photographer, whose intimate photographs of Southern California bands lent an air of tragic grit to a booming punk and rock scene. “The irony is not lost on me when I drive from my house, a few blocks from where I grew up, and head to the LA Weekly posting pictures of us as kids hanging out and sucking each other, 20 years ago,” he told LA Weekly in 2006.” It feels strange but strangely hopeful. “That was a totally unique moment and it defined who we are, so maybe it's not a bad thing to be nostalgic.”
Beyond L7, his song with OtherStarpeople, “Then There's None,” appeared on the beloved “Office Space” soundtrack, and he founded the punk band The Shocker in 2002. He starred in the John Waters black comedy “Serial Mom” as a member of the fictional band Camel Lips.
L7’s latest album, “Scatter the Rats,” was released in 2019 and their final tour, “The Last Hurrah,” kicks off in San Diego on October 6.
L7 and Finch's family started a GoFundMe to support her medical care, saying, “We love her and want her to feel the full force of the community that has loved and supported her for so many years.” Information about the surviving family was not immediately available.
