Vivian Trimble, the keyboardist and co-founder of New York-based alt-rock band Luscious Jackson, has died at the age of 59. The band shared the news of Trimble’s death on its Facebook page. According to its statement, Trimble had been battling cancer for several years, developed a complication on Monday (April 3), and died on Tuesday (April 4).
Here’s the band’s statement in full:
Trimble formed Luscious Jackson with Jill Cunniff (vocals, bass) and Gabby Glaser (vocals, guitar) in 1991. Former Beastie Boys drummer Kate Schellenbach joined the band in 1992 during the recording of its In Search of Manny EP, and after signing to the Beasties’ taste-making Grand Royal label, Luscious Jackson enjoyed a great ’90s run of three albums and an EP, highlighted by its 1994 debut Natural Ingredients,
The follow-up, 1996’s Fever In Fever Out, produced a surprise mainstream hit single with “Naked Eye,” which reached No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 18 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Throughout the decade, Luscious Jackson performed on the Lollapalooza tour, appeared on Saturday Night Live, MTV’s 120 Minutes, and The Adventures of Pete and Pete.
Trimble left Luscious Jackson in 1998, a year before the release of the group’s third album, Electric Honey. She quickly formed the duo Dusty Trails with the Breeders’ Josephine Wiggs, resulting in a lone 2000 album. Trimble previously worked with Wiggs in 1996, when the latter engineered a well-regarded album of music made by Trimble and Cunniff as a duo under a different name: Kostars’ Klassics With a “K.”
