Spotlight On: MIMI PARKER
11/6/22 - UPDATED NOTE from Carmel Holt:
Dear listener: I am absolutely heartbroken, as we all are, to receive the sad news today of Mimi Parker’s passing. It was a great privilege to spend time with her and humbling to hold space for her as she opened up to share the news of her battle with ovarian cancer for the very first time. Revisiting this conversation today was moving and a beautiful way to connect with her again and remember her, as well as to tap into her deep love of the music she made and the life she shared with her husband and bandmate, Alan Sparhawk and their children. My heart goes out to them, especially, and I mourn her along with countless fans worldwide. We have truly lost a SHERO.
I re-released our SHEROES interview in August 2022 as a SHEROES podcast episode, which I hope you will listen to while sending love and prayers to her family.
Thank you, Mimi. This was a gift of a lifetime.
- Carmel
To hear the full radio hour of this episode as it was broadcast on the SHEROES syndicated radio show (includes Episode 58 playlist, interview, and guest DJ from one of our affiliate stations) listen below:
ABOUT THIS WEEK’S SHERO IN THE SPOTLIGHT:
Drummer, vocalist, and songwriter Mimi Parker and her husband, guitarist, songwriter and singer Alan Sparhawk, met as kids in rural Minnesota, became a couple in high school, and in 1993 formed a band that would become one of the most revered names in indie rock: Low. As a long time fan of the band, I realized that I hadn't heard many (or perhaps any?) interviews that focused on Mimi, and as their critically hailed thirteenth album HEY WHAT topped every 2021 year end best-of list imaginable, I thought it would be a great time to invite Mimi to the show. I couldn't have anticipated how important and rare this conversation would be. In addition to hearing about her nearly three-decade journey with Low, and the new high water mark of this latest album HEY WHAT, what she graciously and openly shares with us in this very special extended SHEROES interview is something she has not discussed publicly until now. It’s an honor to have Mimi Parker of Low as this week’s SHERO in the Spotlight.
Our playlist includes new music SASAMI, and the New York based band Widowspeak.
SHERO BIRTHDAYS:
We celebrate the SHERO birthdays of Sade on 1/16, and both Dolly Parton and Janis Joplin on 1/19!