Credit: Shelly Mosman

Low bassist Zak Sally shares moving eulogy for late Mimi Parker

Thu 17 November 2022 10:29, UK

Zak Kelly, the former bassist of Low, has paid tribute to bandmate Mimi Parker, who passed away on November 5th, 2022. Parker formed Low with husband Alan Sparhawk back in 1993, releasing albums such as 1995’s Long Divison, 2001’s Things We Lost In The Fire and 2018’s Double Negative.

Last summer, Low were forced to cancel a string of tour dates due to “recent developments and changes” in Parker’s treatment for ovarian cancer. In October, the group cancelled all further 2022 dates. Sally, who played bass for Low between 1995 and 2004, has shared a touching eulogy for his former bandmate.

Sally’s message begins: “Like everyone else who has ever listened to Low, right now I am mourning the loss of Mimi Parker. It hurts, and it hurts a lot. There is no getting around that, and no one should even try. I share that with each and every one of you. If you know, you know. And there are so, so many that do. I can’t believe she’s gone.”

The bassist went on to recall Low’s early days playing tiny gigs to small crowds: “In those early days, when we were playing shitholes to virtually no one – Mim didn’t like it,” Sally wrote. “If you think that’s a knock on her, think again – it’s gruelling and brutal and stressful, and we had to do it a lot. You cannot do it in half measures; it requires everything you possess, and was easily the most intense ‘job’ I’ve ever had, by a huge margin”.

He continued: “All of the things that inhabit (and sometimes define) damn near every artist you’ve known and loved: some desire to be recognised, to be paid attention to and lauded – she didn’t have it. In fact, I’m sure she didn’t want it when it happened to come her way”.

Sally added: “What she did, and what you heard and saw – it poured out of her so naturally that she didn’t identify it as ‘talent’ or a ‘unique ability’, and found it strange when others viewed it as such. Mim was special because she truly did not think she was special: you can just be kind, and thoughtful and compassionate and solid as a rock.”

Concluding the eulogy, Sally wrote: “Mimi Parker is gone, but I’m seeing one of my oldest, dearest friends in a new way. Maybe it’s the way the rest of the world always saw her, and I’m finally getting the full picture. Better late than never. And more than anything, it makes me want to fight back the darkness and look for the light. Dig into that, as hard as you can. If you ever listened to Low, and heard her voice, do her that honour. Do it today. Do it right now. I love you Mimi.”

You can read Maynard James Keenan’s tribute to Parker here.