Jill Sobule, a groundbreaking US songwriter whose hit I Kissed a Girl is widely considered the first song with openly-gay themes to crack the Billboard Top 20, has died in a house fire in Minneapolis, Minnesota, her publicist has said.

Sobule, whose satirical anthem Supermodel featured in the 1995 coming-of-age film Clueless, was 66.

She had been due to perform on Friday in her home city of Denver, Colorado to showcase songs from her autobiographical stage musical. A free gathering will now take place in her honour.

Tributes have been pouring in on social media, including from English musician Lloyd Cole, who said: "I'm really too numb to post much of anything. We loved her. She loved us."