L7 bassist Jennifer Finch passes away after brief, aggressive battle with brain cancer

Jennifer Finch, a bassist, singer, and composer whose powerful playing propelled Los Angeles punk band L7 into the early 1990s alternative music surge, passed away at age 59.

Jennifer Finch helped shape L7's signature sound and remained an influential figure in alternative rock for decades

According to remarks made on social media by L7 and Jennifer's family, she passed away on July 18. Only a few days after the band made her diagnosis of an aggressive kind of brain cancer public, she passed away.

L7 had announced earlier this month that Jennifer’s illness would keep her off the road for The Last Hurrah, the band's planned final tour. According to the band, the journey was planned with Jennifer while all four members were still healthy, and she specifically requested that her bandmates continue without her. The tour is still slated to begin in October, with no alterations reported as of this weekend.

Friends and relatives started a GoFundMe page to help with her treatment, and the punk and alternative rock community responded with over $400,000. The band Garbage, Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna, Sub Pop Records, Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong's wife Adrienne Armstrong, Tool's Maynard James Keenan, Fugazi's Guy Picciotto, and Bad Religion guitarist and Epitaph Records founder Brett Gurewitz were among the contributors.

In a statement uploaded to her Instagram account, Jennifer's family announced her passing, lamenting the loss of their "partner, sister, daughter, and friend" and requesting solitude to grieve. In a statement, L7 described Jennifer as someone who lived completely on her terms and whose influence on music and everyone who knew her was incalculable. They lamented Jennifer as a bandmate whose inventiveness and enthusiasm helped define the group.

When Jennifer Finch joined L7 in 1986, she brought a relentless, forward-thinking spirit that contributed to the group's success, as bandmate Donita Sparks previously recounted in the band's 2016 documentary L7: Pretend We're Dead. She played on five studio albums during the following ten years, anchoring the band's guitar-heavy sound with blunt, melodic, and impactful bass work. Bricks Are Heavy, the band's breakthrough album produced by Butch Vig in 1992, was one of them. She also made an appearance on Smell the Magic in the 1990s.

Gail Greenwood, a former bassist for Belly, took over after Jennifer departed the band in 1996 due to personal bereavement, health issues, and financial difficulties. After splitting up in 2001, L7 got back together in 2014 when Jennifer joined the group. She later appeared on Scatter the Rats, the band's 2019 reunion album.

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