Maynard James Keenan shares tribute to Low’s Mimi Parker
This past weekend, Mimi Parker, one-half of indie rock icons Low, passed away after a battle with ovarian cancer. Parker had been performing with her husband and fellow Low member, Alan Sparhawk, for nearly 30 years. The pair were the only two constant members of the band.
Now, Tool and Puscifer lead singer Maynard James Keenan has shared a tribute to Parker on his social media. In it, Keenan expressed his sadness at having never met Parker while being a big fan of her music. Keenan’s post comes complete with a message to live in the now.
“This is crushing news from Alan, Low,” Keenan writes. “Although I’ve never met them, Mimi and Alan have been a huge influence on my writing approach w[ith] regards to pace, space, and harmony.
“A few years ago right after Bowie, Lemmy, and Alan Rickman died, I began writing letters, 12 at a time, to strangers who have had a huge influence on me,” Keenan continues. “This was in reaction to the outpouring of love I was reading that these dead artists would never hear. I chose to write and send those words of appreciation, along w[ith] some wine and gifts to my guides while they could still read them.”
“Mimi and Alan were on that next round of 12 letters, and had been for about 6 months. And I fucking waited too long,” Keenan says. “I was literally going to ask [management] to track down a good address for them this weekend. I had no idea she was sick. This puts an added sting to my procrastination. The song I was listening to on loop yesterday was ‘Congregation’.”
“My point I suppose is Do Not Wait. Life Is Too Short. Say the Words. Send the Letter. Make the Call,” Keenan concludes. “Also- Do yourself a favour and dig deep on the Low catalog. Things We Lost in the Fire is a good place to start. Alan, Puscifer will be dedicating ‘Horizons’ and ‘A Singularity’ to Mimi the next few days while we play our way through Canada. So sorry for your loss.”
Check out Keenan’s full tribute down below.
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