BIOGRAPHY
Judee Sill (1944-1979) grew up amid old Hollywood money marked by early loss: her father died when she was a child, and her brother was killed in a car crash soon after. A troubled adolescence that included armed robbery and heroin addiction led to time in reformatory school, where she learned piano and organ and began kicking her addiction to pursue songwriting. She became the first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum label, releasing her acclaimed self-titled debut in 1971 and Heart Food in 1973, both praised critically despite modest sales. Sill died in 1979 of acute cocaine and codeine intoxication; her unfinished third album, Dreams Come True, was later completed and released in 2005.