Low’s Mimi Parker has died. The band announced the news on its official Twitter account this 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,” the message reads. “Keep her name close and sacred. Share this moment with someone who needs you. Love is indeed the most important thing.” Parker had been living with ovarian cancer since 2020. She was 55 years old, Low’s management told The Guardian.
Mimi Parker was from Minnesota; she spent her childhood in the Bemidji area and moved to Duluth for college. Her mother was an aspiring country singer and frequently played music around the house. “So she had a guitar and we would kind of just sit around and play music,” Parker said on Fresh Air in 2005. “And my role was always to come up with harmonies, because she and my sister would usually sing the lead, so from the beginning… I just learned how to listen and kind of draw and come up with harmonies.” Parker began drumming in middle school, performing the snare in marching band. Parker met her future husband and bandmate Alan Sparhawk in grade school. Parker and Sparhawk began dating in high school and were married several years later.
Low was born from Sparhawk’s experimentations in another project called Zen Identity. Sparhawk enlisted Parker to play drums, and, alongside bassist John Nichols, the trio formed Low in 1993. (Nichols would soon be replaced by Zak Sally.) Low released their debut album, I Could Live in Hope, the following year. Low were pioneers of a genre categorized as “slowcore,” defined by glacial tempos and quiet performances. Famously, their 1999 Christmas EP featured a cover of “Little Drummer Boy” that would appear in a Gap commercial. In 2004, Low released their first album on Sub Pop, The Great Destroyer, which moved toward a more dynamic rock sound.
Low experienced lineup changes over the years, but Parker and Sparhawk consistently remained. Over the years they worked with producers including Kramer, Steve Albini, Dave Friddman, and BJ Burton. In 2018, Low experienced a critical breakthrough with the Burton-produced Double Negative. In 2021, they released Hey What, Parker and Sparhawk’s first record as a duo.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Mimi Parker was born in Duluth, Minnesota and spent her childhood there. Parker grew up in the Bemidji area and moved to Duluth for college.
