L7 bassist Jennifer Finch has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, the band announced on Monday (July 13).
The update about Finch’s health comes two months after the iconic all-women rock band announced that it would be hitting the road for a final The Last Hurrah Tour, which kicks off Oct. 6 in San Diego. The bassist’s diagnosis means that she will not be able to join L7 for the trek, which was planned when Finch was still healthy. The band noted in a statement on Instagram that the bassist has asked L7 to continue on with the tour.
“We are all devastated by the news and are surrounding her with love, protecting her privacy and dignity, while helping raise the resources she urgently needs for the care ahead,” L7’s frontwoman Donita Sparks said in a separate statement. “Jennifer is family, and we want her to feel the full strength of the community that has loved and supported her for so many years.”
Finch’s friends and family have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help the rocker with the high expenses of her treatments, recovery and ongoing care.
“When she first heard the diagnosis, there was reason to believe that treatment, including a full course of radiation, would get her back to some version of normal living. Unforeseen complications led to multiple surgeries and a string of difficult setbacks,” the GoFundMe page explains. “The cancer and everything that comes with it have left her with significant physical limitations so she’s handling this the only way she knows how: one day at a time.”
The GoFundMe campaign goes on to share that Finch’s friends and family are no longer sufficient to help with the level of around-the-clock care required, and are now seeking outside help for the musician, who is also a photographer and writer. Donations will help cover things such as physical therapy, in-home nursing care and other home care, medical expenses, legal fees and much more.
Notes the campaign: “These funds will also help to ensure Jennifer’s life work keeps making noise long after this moment.”
According to the press release, Finch’s cancer was initially believed to be addressable with treatment and radiation. However, it “progressed rapidly” and required her to “undergo multiple surgeries” that “have resulted in significant physical limitations.”
Since forming in the mid ’80s, L7 has landed three of its seven studio albums on the Billboard 200: Bricks Are Heavy (No. 160, 1992), Hungry for Stink (No. 117, 1994) and The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum (No. 172, 1997). Though the band’s singles didn’t crack the Billboard Hot 100, “Pretend We’re Dead” off Bricks peaked at No. 8 on the Alternative Airplay chart in 1992, while “Andres” from Hungry reached No. 20. Bricks‘ fan-favorite “Shitlist” didn’t make the charts, but it has been famously featured in films including Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers, as well as Pet Sematary 2, and was used by wrestler Jon Moxley as his theme song.
