Judee Sill

Judith Lynne Sill (October 7, 1944 to November 23, 1979) was an American singer-songwriter and composer, born in Studio City, Los Angeles, who spent her early childhood in Oakland.^[1] Classically trained and devoted to Bach, she blended his counterpoint with Christian imagery and California folk and country, a mix she called country-cult-baroque.^[1]

Her father, who ran a bar where she learned piano, died in 1952, and she later described the household her mother built afterward as unhappy and often violent.^[1] As a teenager she took part in armed robberies and spent nine months in reform school, where she played church organ and learned gospel music.^[1] She married pianist Bob Harris in 1966, and both developed heroin addictions; the couple divorced in 1972.^[1]

After opening shows for David Crosby and Graham Nash, she became one of the first artists signed to David Geffen's Asylum label.^[1] Her self-titled debut (1971) and Heart Food (1973) were acclaimed but sold poorly, and Asylum dropped her soon after.^[1] Car accidents and a failed back surgery deepened her addiction, and she died of an overdose in North Hollywood in 1979.^[1]

Her reputation was rebuilt in the 2000s through reissues, including Dreams Come True (2005) and Abracadabra: The Asylum Years (2006), and the 2024 documentary Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill.^[1] Admirers include Warren Zevon, Shawn Colvin, Nick Lowe and Liz Phair.^[1]