Jill Sobule Dies In House Fire: Who Was Jill Sobule? Jill Sobule, best known for the 1995 single “I Kissed a Girl” and “Supermodel,” died in a house fire in Woodbury, Minnesota, on Thursday morning, May 1, 2025, at the age of 66.

Jill Sobule Dies In House Fire

On Thursday morning, award-winning singer-songwriter Jill Sobule died in a house fire. She was 66.

On Thursday afternoon, her publicist, David Elkin, confirmed her death via email.

Sobule was supposed to play Friday night in Denver. Rather, according to her spokesperson, her friend Ron Bostwick of 105.5 The Colorado Sound will organize a casual get-together at the performance venue where guests can “share a story or song.”

Later this summer, there will be a formal memorial service to honor her life and legacy.

She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, James and Mary Ellen Sobule, along with her nephews and cousins.

Who Was Jill Sobule?

American singer-songwriter Jill Sobule (January 16, 1959 – May 1, 2025) is well known for her 1995 single “I Kissed a Girl” and her “Supermodel” from the 1995 movie Clueless’ soundtrack. Reminiscent of American artists from the 1970s like Warren Zevon, Harry Nilsson, Loudon Wainwright III, Harry Chapin, and Randy Newman, her folk-infused works alternate between poignant ballads and sardonic, narrative character studies. Sobule’s writing often contained autobiographical elements, such as her Jewish origin and her struggles with depression and anorexia as a teenager.

Sobule was an early proponent of crowdfunding when she published California Years in 2009, an album that was fully financed by fan donations.

In her twelve albums throughout her more than thirty years as a recording artist, Sobule tackled difficult subjects like the death penalty, anorexia nervosa, reproduction, and LGBTQ+ problems. However, it was the gay-themed song “I Kissed a Girl” that first brought her humorous and moving writing to the attention of the general public.

In 1990, she published her debut album, “Things Here Are Different.” Her successful singles “Supermodel” from the film “Clueless” and “I Kissed A Girl,” which made it into the Billboard Top 20 despite being banned from some southern radio stations, garnered her a lot of attention five years later.

In addition, she appeared in an autobiographical off-Broadway musical that featured songs and anecdotes from her life and had its world premiere in 2022 at the Wild Project in New York.