Before her tragic death in a Minneapolis house fire earlier this month, singer-songwriter Jill Sobule had completed work on a Drama Desk-nominated “autobiographical musical memoir” called “F*ck 7 th Grade,” which was filled with both the incisive melodicism and humor that marked all of her best work.
The original cast recording of the musical remains scheduled for release on June 6 — and the first video from it can be seen below. While it tells the story of a nerdy but ambitious young boy, “Underdog Victorious” clearly has many autobiographical elements, and Sobule and her band give a rousing performance of the song, and its who-laughs-last lyrics and soaring, signature chorus: “Underdog victorious / He was simply glorious / Someday he’d die notorious / Underdog victorious.”
“F*ck 7th Grade” debuted at a drive-in during the pandemic in Pittsburgh, before experiencing a three year run off Broadway at the Wild Project.
Sobule was also gearing up for the 30th anniversary of her landmark self-titled album — which featured the hits “I Kissed a Girl” (not the later Katy Perry song of the same title) and “Supermodel” — with a special red vinyl reissue. Several of her concerts scheduled for the summer are being transformed into celebrations of her life and music, which her team is calling “Jillith Fairs.”
The cause of the fire in which Sobule died remains under investigation.
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