How Jill Sobule’s anthem “I Kissed a Girl” changed queer pop forever 30 years ago

Jill Sobule performs on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” May 26, 1995. Photo: Margaret Norton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank.

1995 was a big year for Jill Sobule, as well as queer music fans craving a pop song that spoke to their lived experiences. Thirty years ago today, Sobule released “I Kissed a Girl,” which reached number 20 on U.S. Billboard‘s Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song’s anniversary is an eerie coincidence given the unexpected passing of Sobule, whose body was recovered from a house fire early yesterday morning in Woodbury, Minnesota. She was 66.

Not to be confused with K*ty P*rry’s 2008 song of the same name, Sobule’s OG version leaned heavily on guitar with a

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