Follow the story of the first American singer/songwriter to sign to the Asylum label, Judith Lynne Sill released two albums and nearly completed the third before dying of an overdose in 1979.
On November 13th, a new documentary about 1970s singer/songwriter Judee Sill will premiere in New York as part of the 2022 DOC NYC Festival. Titled “Lost Angel: The Genius Of Judee Sill” features interviews with Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Shawn Colvin, and David Geffen (who discovered Sill), as well as younger musicians such as Adrianne Lenker, Weyes Blood, and Fleet Foxes.
It charts her life from a troubled adolescence of addiction, armed robbery and prison through her meteoric rise in the music world and early tragic death. In two years, Judee went from living in a car, to an Asylum Record deal and the cover of Rolling Stone. As told by David Geffen, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and Graham Nash — along with Judee herself — the film explores Judee’s unique musical style and the inspiring recent rediscovery of her singular music by many young artists today.
Signed to Geffen’s Asylum Records, Sill released two albums in the early ’70s before dying of a drug overdose in 1979 at the age of 35. The film examines Sill’s early life and music as well as her personal struggles with addiction and being incarcerated.
Sill was influenced by Bach, while lyrically her work drew substantially on Christian themes of rapture and redemption
Judith Lynne Sill (October 7th, 1944 – November 23rd, 1979) was an American singer and songwriter. The first artist signed to David Geffen’s Asylum label, she released two albums on Asylum and partially completed a third album before dying of a drug overdose in 1979. Her eponymous debut album was released in late 1971 and was followed about 18 months later by “Heart Food”. In 1974, she recorded demos for a third album, which never was completed. The demos were released posthumously with other rarities on the 2005 two-disc collection “Dreams Come True”.
The Fat Angel Sings 