Linda Perhacs, the revered folk singer-songwriter who achieved cult status decades after the 1970 release of her seminal debut album, Parallelograms, has been reported missing. A dedicated group of her friends and long-term collaborators—including former manager Laurel Stearns, Julia Holter, and DubLab co-founder Mark “Frosty” McNeill—have launched a public appeal to locate the 82-year-old musician. The group notes that they have not had contact with Perhacs for eight months and are urging anyone with information regarding her current location or well-being to reach out to Stearns directly at lstearns@primarywave.com.
According to reports, Perhacs had been residing at an assisted living facility in the San Fernando Valley, California, for the past eight years. At some point during her stay, she was discharged under the supervision of her caregivers. Since that time, both the musician and her legal guardians have remained unreachable despite repeated attempts by her inner circle to establish contact.
A Legacy of Rediscovery
Stearns, who managed Perhacs from 2013 to 2016 and oversaw the release of her 2014 sophomore album, The Soul of All Natural Things, emphasized the urgency of the situation. “The most important thing is to make sure that she’s safe and she’s comfortable,” Stearns stated. Following the initial disappearance, Stearns filed an official report with the Los Angeles Police Department on June 6. While the department conducted an investigation, they were unable to disclose details regarding Perhacs’ status to her friends, citing legal privacy restrictions as they are not family members or holders of power of attorney.
Perhacs’ career remains a unique story of artistic endurance. After her debut LP was rediscovered in the 2000s, her influence permeated the modern music landscape. Her work was sampled by artists ranging from Daft Punk to Nas, and she became a foundational figure for the freak-folk movement, earning the admiration of artists such as Sufjan Stevens, Joanna Newsom, and Devendra Banhart. In 2017, she released her third album, I’m a Harmony, which continued her tradition of collaborative, boundary-pushing songwriting.