R.I.P. Mimi Parker of Low

Mimi Parker, drummer/vocalist and founding member of Low, has died. She was 55.

The band announced the news via social media on Sunday morning (November 6): “Friends, it’s hard to put the universe into language and into a short message, but She passed away last night, surrounded by family and love, including yours. Keep her name close and sacred. Share this moment with someone who needs you. Love is indeed the most important thing.”

Earlier this year, Low canceled their touring plans because Parker had been undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer. Low’s management told The Guardian that she had been living with cancer since 2020.

Parker was born in Minnesota and attended college in Duluth. She began dating her future bandmate Alan Sparhawk in high school, and the two of them eventually married years later. They founded Low together in 1993 after working together in a project Sparhawk began called Zen Identity. They released their debut album, I Could Live in Hope, in 1994, which became one of the most influential recordings in what would become known as “slowcore.” They’d deliver different permutations of their slower paced, spacious sound on albums like 2001’s Things We Lost in the Fire and 2002’s Trust, and took on more radical departures with 2018’s Double Negative and last year’s Hey What, releasing 13 full-length albums throughout their career.