| Career 7 Year Bitch was formed in 1990 by vocalist Selene Vigil, guitarist Stefanie Sargent, bassist Elizabeth Davis and drummer Valerie Agnew. Vigil, Sargent, and Agnew had been playing together in the Seattle band Barbie's Dream Car when their bassist left for Europe. They subsequently recruited Davis and renamed their band after the movie Seven Year Itch. At their first concert, the band opened for The Gits, who would prove to have a significant influence on their music. In 1991 the band released the single "Lorna" and signed with C/Z Records. Their first album, Sick 'Em, was released in 1992, but it was overshadowed by Sargent's death on June 27. Sargent had passed out on her back after returning home from a party where she had drank alcohol and taken a small amount of heroin. She died of asphyxipation when she failed to wake up after throwing up the contents of her stomach.[1] After a prolonged period of uncertainty, the band decided to continue, recruiting guitarist Roisin Dunne as Sargent's replacement later that year. In July 1993, longtime friend and Gits frontwoman Mia Zapata was brutally raped and murdered while walking home late at night. This event, coupled with Sargent's death the previous year, had a profound effect on the group. As a reaction, the band recorded and released their second album ¡Viva Zapata! (1994) in tribute to both of their fallen friends. Valerie Agnew also became the primary instigator and co-founder of the anti-violence and self-defence ... |
