Singer Maynard James Keenan (Tool, Puscifer) has penned a touching tribute to the late Mimi Parker of Low, who passed away over the weekend after a battle with ovarian cancer.
Parker formed the indie rock band Low with her husband Alan Sparhawk in 1993, helping to spearhead the slowcore movement.
In a post on Instagram, Keenan credited Parker and Low as a “huge influence” on his writing style and encouraged fans to dig into Low’s discography, citing 2001’s Things We Lost in the Fire as a good starting point. He also expressed regret over not sending a planned letter to the band prior to Parker’s passing.
Keenan’s full post reads:
“This is crushing news from Alan, @lowtheband. Although I’ve never met them, Mimi and Alan have been a huge influence on my writing approach w regards to pace, space, and harmony. A few years ago right after Bowie, Lemmy, and Alan Rickman died, I began writing letters, 12 at a time, to strangers who have had a huge influence on me. This was in reaction to the outpouring of love I was reading that these dead artists would never hear. I chose to write and send those words of appreciation, along w some wine and gifts to my guides while they could still read them. Mimi and Alan were on that next round of 12 letters, and had been for about 6 months. And I fucking waited too long. I was literally going to ask mgt to track down a good address for them this weekend. I had no idea she was sick. This puts an added sting to my procrastination. The song I was listening to on loop yesterday was Congregation. My point I suppose is Do Not Wait. Life Is Too Short. Say the Words. Send the Letter. Make the Call. Also- Do yourself a favor and dig deep on the @lowtheband catalog. Things We Lost in the Fire is a good place to start. Alan, @puscifer will be dedicating Horizons and A Singularity to Mimi the next few days while we play our way through Canada. So sorry for your loss.”
Maynard and Puscifer are currently in the midst of a North American tour. The outing continues Monday night (November 7th) in Montreal and runs through November 22nd in Prescott, Arizona. Get tickets via Ticketmaster.
Below you see Keenan’s full post.