Jennifer Finch was an American musician, songwriter, photographer, visual artist, and archivist best known as the longtime bassist of the influential Los Angeles rock band L7. With her low-slung bass, fierce stage presence, and unmistakable punk attitude, she became one of the defining figures of the alternative-rock movement of the late 1980s and 1990s.
Born in Los Angeles on August 5, 1966, Finch developed an interest in photography long before she became widely known as a musician. Her father gave her a camera when she was young, and she began photographing the people and places surrounding Southern California’s punk scene while still in her early teens. Her photographs eventually became an important visual record of that community, capturing artists including members of Black Flag, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bad Religion, Redd Kross, and the Cramps.
Before joining L7, Finch played with Sugar Babydoll, an early band that also included Courtney Love and future Babes in Toyland founder Kat Bjelland. She briefly played with the Pandoras before joining L7 in 1986. Her arrival helped solidify the band’s classic lineup alongside Donita Sparks, Suzi Gardner, and drummer Demetra “Dee” Plakas.
Finch contributed bass, vocals, songwriting, energy, and an instinct for promotion and community-building to L7. The band combined punk, metal, hard rock, and alternative music into a sound that was aggressive, melodic, humorous, and entirely its own. Finch appeared on the albums L7, Smell the Magic, Bricks Are Heavy, and Hungry for Stink, which included enduring songs such as “Pretend We’re Dead,” “Shove,” “Wargasm,” “Shitlist,” “Everglade,” and “Andres.”
At the height of L7’s success, the band toured internationally, appeared on MTV and alternative radio, and performed at major events including Lollapalooza, the Reading Festival, and the first Warped Tour. L7 also helped establish Rock for Choice, a series of benefit concerts supporting reproductive freedom that brought together artists including Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Hole, Bikini Kill, Rage Against the Machine, Joan Jett, and the Beastie Boys.
Finch left L7 in 1996 and continued making music as the singer and frontwoman of OtherStarPeople and later The Shocker. She also worked as a photographer, writer, producer, designer, and visual artist. Her early photography was exhibited under the title 14 and Shooting, and selections from the collection were later displayed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2014, Finch reunited with Sparks, Gardner, and Plakas, returning L7’s classic lineup to the stage. The reunion led to extensive touring, the documentary L7: Pretend We’re Dead, and the 2019 comeback album Scatter the Rats, on which Finch wrote and sang “Garbage Truck.”