Hole (band)
Encyclopedia
Hole is an American alternative rock
band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989
. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love
, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson
. Hole achieved considerable commercial and critical success throughout the 1990s.
The band made a splash in the underground rock scene in 1991 with their abrasive debut album, Pretty on the Inside
, heavily influenced by noise rock
and punk
music. Their second studio album, Live Through This
(1994), which featured a more streamlined and grunge
-oriented sound, received unanimous critical acclaim upon release and is perhaps the group's most notable work.
As the band progressed into the later 1990s, they incorporated elements of pop rock
into their sound. The band's third album, Celebrity Skin
(1998), fused hard rock with various pop elements, contrasting to their previous styles. Celebrity Skin went on to be the band's most commercially successful album, garnering them immense critical attention as well as several Grammy nominations.
The group officially disbanded in 2002 and its members began solo careers and other projects. In 2009, Love announced she was reforming Hole with former Larrikin Love
guitarist Micko Larkin
. Erlandson, however, stated that no reunion could take place contractually without mutual involvement between Love and Erlandson. On January 1, 2010, a website promoting Hole's latest release, Nobody's Daughter
, was launched, with links to various social media pages including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace.
Despite the dispute between Erlandson and Love, the new Hole album was released in April 2010 and the band toured Europe and North America in support of the record.
Love had grown up in Oregon
and had a fairly troubled childhood, bouncing between foster homes and juvenile systems due to her anti-authoritarian and often reckless behavior. Her parents were both fledgling hippies; her mother came from a wealthy adoptive family, and her father had been a roadie for The Grateful Dead in San Francisco in the late 1960s. Love became legally emancipated when she was 16 and traveled to England, Ireland, and Japan on a trust fund before returning to Oregon and falling in with Portland
's punk scene in the 1980s. Throughout her teenage and early adult years, Love worked as a stripper
in order to support herself and briefly attended several colleges intermittently. Fascinated by music, she had several unsuccessful attempts at starting bands, mostly with friend Kat Bjelland
. She started two bands in her early adulthood, both of which were fruitless; firstly, Sugar Babydoll
in Portland, and later, The Pagan Babies
in San Francisco; she also briefly sang in Faith No More
. Love made a slight break into the entertainment industry when she landed roles in two Alex Cox
films, Sid & Nancy (1986) and Straight to Hell
(1987), but was dissatisfied with the experience and eventually moved to Los Angeles, intent on forming a band. Love noted that the "cathartic
" nature of music is what drew her to it, and also cited traumatic life experiences as being a motivation: "Start with day one and keep going. [My life was traumatic] from the exact moment of my birth and onward. I always wanted to be in a band. The concept of life just hit me one day."
Erlandson was a California native and had grown up in San Pedro. He began playing music in his teenage years, and, like Love, noted that traumatic experiences also drew him to music, one of which was finding a dead body: "I was walking along the tide pools [in San Pedro], and I found a dead body. I thought they were filming a movie, it was this body that was pure white, it had been thrashed around a few days in the water, hitting the rocks. I walked up close to it and 'oh my God!'... then I saw Kiss
and Aerosmith
and it was all over. I don't know. I had to be a rock star." Erlandson attended Loyola Marymount University
where he studied economics and marketing, and then traveled to Europe in 1988, trying to figure out "what to do with his life". He was working as a royalties manager at Capitol Records
when he met Love, managing the royalties of Paul McCartney
and Tina Turner
.
. The advertisement simply read: "I want to start a band. My influences are Big Black
, Sonic Youth
, and Fleetwood Mac
." Love had several responses to the ad, but chose Erlandson. In retrospect, she said: "He had a Thurston [Moore] quality about him. He was tall, skinny, blonde. He dressed pretty cool, and he knew who Sonic Youth were... he's an intensely weird, good guitarist, and he's the glue that kept me together."
Love has joked that she took the name for the band from "my husband's favorite drinking spot", but this claim is dubious since she met Kurt Cobain
, her second husband, the year after Hole was formed. Love, during in an interview on Later... with Jools Holland, claimed the name was inspired by a quote from Euripides
' Medea
which read "there's a hole that pierces my soul." Additionally, Love has cited a conversation with her mother as being a primary influence for the band's name. In an interview with Flipside magazine in fall 1990, Love said of the band's name: "the name came from my mom. She's like, a therapist, and I said "I had a really fucked childhood", and she said "Well Courtney, you can't walk around with a big hole inside of yourself about it.""
The band's first rehearsal took place in Fortress Studios in Hollywood, where Love, Erlandson and original bassist Lisa Roberts "played something noisy" while "they [Courtney and Lisa] started screaming their poetry
at the top of their lungs for two or three hours." Initially, the band had no percussion, until Love met drummer Caroline Rue at a Gwar
show. They also recruited a third guitarist, Mike Geisbrecht, and began to perform live. Hole's first show took place at Raji's
— a small club in Hollywood — in September 1989. The band played three more shows throughout 1989: at The Shamrock in Los Angeles on October 17, 1989, Nightmoves in Huntington Beach on November 11, 1989 and at Hollywood Live Club on November 17, 1989.
The band's early shows were notable for featuring lots of experimental playing, distortion, and guitar feedback— a style that would be heavily present in their eventual studio material— and Courtney Love interacting a lot with the audience. At the beginning of their third show at Nightmoves, the theme from Phantasm
(1979) was played, and Love introduced the band, saying: "We're Hole. Some of you will like us, and some of you will hate us." Several notable songs were performed at these shows, including the band's eventual debut single, "Retard Girl
", as well as "Phonebill Song", "Berry", and "Turpentine", all of which would eventually make it onto studio recordings.
From the beginning, Hole was primarily influenced by punk
, noise rock
, and no wave
music, which is evident from their earliest recordings. Both Love and Erlandson were big fans of the notorious LA punk band The Germs, and Love once had a "Germs burn" (a circular burn on the arm given to followers and members of the band) given to her by Germs guitarist Pat Smear
, who would later play in Nirvana
. In a 1996 interview for a Germs tribute documentary, Erlandson said: "I think every band is based on one song, and our band was based on "Forming
"... Courtney brought it into rehearsal, and she knew, like, three chords
and it was the only punk rock song we could play." Love also noted early on that the band was "heavily into lyrics", and that they were "the most important thing" to her. The band's music also had a very pro-feminist stance, particularly from Love. In an interview on the topic, she referred to hair bands such as Poison
as "drag queens" and said, "they dress up like women therefore they get to confront emotional issues. The whole feminization of men in heavy metal speaks for itself. Well, scratch that, because I want to transcend this whole 'chick thing'. Fuck this chick thing. The whole thing with music is that it's cathartic, and if it wasn't cathartic then I wouldn't want to play it."
Before Hole began to develop a fanbase, guitarist Mike Geisbrecht left and was replaced briefly by Errol Stewart, who left a few weeks later. Roberts also left the group at some point in early 1990. After Geisbrecht and Roberts' departure, Hole recruited Jill Emery on bass and began recording studio material, as well as playing (and often headlining) local rock shows in Los Angeles. After several months of live performances, the band released their debut single
: "Retard Girl
" in 1990, and followed it with "Dicknail
" in 1991, released on Sympathy for the Record Industry
and Sub Pop
, respectively. According to KROQ-FM
disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer
, Love would often "hang out" at a Denny's
on Sunset Blvd. where he went for coffee in the mornings to try to convince him to play "Retard Girl" on his station. Bingenheimer jokingly said that she would practically "stalk him" every morning.
The band became known at the time for Love's wild onstage behavior, and her ability to really "rile up" the crowd. As the group began to make decent money as an underground band, A&R
reps and music labels started to appear at their shows. After one show, the band was approached by a major music label representative, who told Love they needed a more "full sound", to which she replied "fuck off". The group played shows at several legendary rock bars during this time, particularly at the Whisky a Go Go
in West Hollywood and CBGB
in New York.
. In searching for a label to release the album, the group was approached by both Sub Pop and Sympathy for the Record Industry, who had previously released singles for them, but Love declined their offers. Instead, the band signed onto Caroline Records
, and Love sought Kim Gordon
of Sonic Youth
to produce the album for her. Sending a letter, a Hello Kitty
barrette, and copies of the band's early singles to Gordon, Love mentioned that the band greatly admired Gordon's work and appreciated "... the production of the SST
record" (either referring to Sonic Youth's album Sister
or EVOL
), also noting that they would "prefer to work with a woman" and would be "forever honored" should Gordon produce. Gordon agreed, and Gumball
's Don Fleming assisted in production.
Hole released the debut album, titled Pretty on the Inside
, in September 1991, to vast praise from underground critics, especially in the United Kingdom where the band did an extensive tour with Daisy Chainsaw
, Mudhoney
, and Therapy?
. Hole also toured North America and the rest of Europe in support of the record. Upon the album's release, it was branded by underground music critics as "loud, ugly and deliberately shocking." A 1991 review in Spin said that the album "revolves around a fascination of the repulsive aspects of L.A.— superficiality, sexism, violence, and drugs. Love is the embodiment of what drives the band: the dichotomy of pretty/ugly... The pretty/ugly dynamic also comes across in Hole's music... a song like "Teenage Whore" at first comes across like a ranting noisy rage, but underneath is a surprisingly lush melody." Spin also ranked the album in their "20 Best Albums of the Year" list, and it was voted album of the year by New York's Village Voice. The album peaked at number 59 on the UK albums chart, and sold well for an independent release.
The album spawned one single, "Teenage Whore
", which entered the UK Indie Chart at number one, as well as the band's debut music video for the song "Garbadge Man". Musically and lyrically, the album was very abrasive, characterized by overt noise and feedback, chaotic guitar riffs, graphic lyrics, and a variation of Love's vocals ranging from whispers to guttural screaming. The album also featured guitar riffs lifted verbatim from Neil Young
and Bauhaus
songs, as well as a sample
from Fleetwood Mac
's "Rhiannon
". In later years, Courtney Love referred to the album as "unlistenable", despite its critical accolades and eventual cult following
.
A fair amount of drama occurred during the band's tour to promote Pretty on the Inside, particularly during the last show of the tour on December 19, 1991 at the Whisky A Go Go, where Hole opened for The Smashing Pumpkins
. Courtney Love infamously smashed her guitar onstage in a fit of anger after the audience failed to respond well to their set, and Erlandson "demolished" his instrument as well. That same evening, roadie Joe Cole
, who had attended the concert with friend Henry Rollins
, was murdered in a robbery after arriving home. Love was an acquaintance of Cole's, and the band later dedicated their second album to him.
Another notable incident occurred while playing in London with Mudhoney, where Love had her clothes violently torn off of her while stage diving, an event that would later become the inspiration for the song "Asking for It
". According to Love, after jumping off the stage, her dress and underwear were torn off of her by audience members, people "shoved their fingers inside of her", and she was "completely naked" when she got back onstage: "I felt like Karen Finley
. But the worst thing of all was that I saw a photograph of it later— someone took a picture of me right when this was happening, and I had this big smile on my face like I was pretending it wasn't happening. I can't compare it to rape because it's not the same. But in a way it was. I was raped by an audience— figuratively, literally, and yet, was I asking for it?"
The band concluded their tour at the end of 1991, and, in 1992, Love met Kurt Cobain
of Nirvana
(the two had initially crossed paths in 1989 in Portland, Oregon
), and became pregnant.
As a result of Pretty on the Insides success and the furious press coverage around Courtney Love and husband Kurt Cobain, Hole was signed to Geffen Records
with an eight-album contract in late 1992, around the time they recruited Janitor Joe
bassist, Kristen Pfaff
and drummer Patty Schemel
. After another well-praised tour of Europe and the United States in 1993 – the first leg of which was for promotion of their single, "Beautiful Son
" – Hole began work on their major label debut at Triclops Studios in Atlanta, Georgia in the fall of 1993.
In March 1994, Love and husband Kurt Cobain individually checked themselves into rehab clinics in Los Angeles for purported heroin addiction. Cobain checked himself out of rehab shortly after arriving and returned to Seattle, just a week before the release of Hole's second album. The album, titled Live Through This
, was released on April 12, 1994, and in tragic timing— four days after finding that Love's husband, Cobain, had committed suicide
in their Seattle home. In the days following his death, Love mourned with fans outside their house, and a recording of her reading his suicide note was played at a memorial service in Seattle, where she arrived shortly after the ceremony to distribute some of his clothing to fans.
Cobain's suicide also stirred controversy surrounding the final track on Live Through This— "Rock Star"— which contained lyrics that read: "How'd you like to be Nirvana?/ So much fun to be Nirvana / A barrel of laughs to be Nirvana / Say you'd rather die". The song was inexplicably taken off of the album and replaced by an outtake titled "Olympia". It is widely believed that, because the song lyrics appeared inappropriate in the wake of Cobain's suicide, the song was replaced. However, by the time the decision to remove "Rock Star" was made, the artwork and inserts for the album had already been printed, so the title "Rock Star" remains the official title of the song.
Amidst the emotional impact and hysteria surrounding Cobain's death, Live Through This was a critical success, and spawned a slew of fairly popular singles: "Doll Parts
", "Violet
", "Miss World
" and "Softer, Softest
". The album went multi-platinum and was hailed "Album of the Year" by Spin magazine and received unanimously rave reviews from major music periodicals. NME
called the album "a personal but secretive thrash-pop opera of urban nihilism and passionate dumbthinks", and Rolling Stone said the album "may be the most potent blast of female insurgency ever committed to tape".
Despite the critical praise for Live Through This, furious rumors circulated insinuating that Cobain had actually written the majority of the album, though the band vehemently denies this. They did, however, state that Love convinced Cobain to provide backing vocals on "Asking for It" and "Softer, Softest" while visiting the studio, and music producers present during the recording sessions noted that Cobain seemed "completely unfamiliar" with the songs. According to Rolling Stone rock journalist Gavin Edwards, Love and Cobain had written songs together in the past, but opted to not release them because it was "a bit too redolent of John
and Yoko
". Incidentally, Love has revealed that the alternate mix of "Asking for It" featuring Cobain, was planned to be released as a single before his suicide occurred.
With Love mourning Cobain's death, the band pushed forward to prepare for a tour to promote the massively successful album, but it came to a halt when bassist Kristen Pfaff died that June of an apparent heroin overdose. Hole pulled out of the upcoming Lollapalooza
festival, which was also going to include Cobain's band, Nirvana
. The band disappeared from the media spotlight in the summer of 1994, and on September 1, played their first headlining show since the album's release at the Phoenix Theatre in Toronto, dedicating it to Kristen. The band, now with Melissa Auf der Maur
on bass, recruited by Love at Billy Corgan
's suggestion, toured extensively throughout late 1994 and 1995, and the tour became notorious for its press coverage surrounding Love's fragile emotional state.
Appearances included the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas, Saturday Night Live
, the Big Day Out
festival, MTV Unplugged
, the Reading Festival, and Lollapalooza 1995. Perhaps most infamously, the band was asked to play at MTV Video Music Awards
, where they were nominated for the "Doll Parts" music video. They also performed "Violet" at the awards show. Before the song, a clearly distraught Love dedicated the performance to Cobain, Pfaff, Joe Cole
, and River Phoenix
, all of whom had recently died. Love ended the performance by chanting "God bless your soul", throwing her guitar into the air, pushing over a microphone stand into the audience, and knocking over stereo equipment before exiting the stage.
During this time period, Love's stage antics had grown wild, garnering much attention from the press. At Lollapalooza on July 4, 1995, in George, Washington
, Love punched Bikini Kill
singer Kathleen Hanna
in the face and pelted her with candy and a burning cigarette, after Hanna had allegedly made a drug joke about Love's two-year-old daughter. Love went to court over the case and was sentenced to anger management classes. More controversy was stirred at a Pittsburgh Lollapalooza concert in the fall of 1995, when Love stormed offstage with the band in tears after an audience member threw shotgun shell
s at her, referencing unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that she may have been involved in husband Kurt Cobain's death. A similar event had happened several months prior— at an April 1995 show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Love cursed at an audience member for throwing things at her, and eventually stormed off the stage with the band after playing only four songs.
Toward the end of the tour to promote Live Through This, the band released their first EP
, titled Ask for It
, in September 1995; it featured 1991 Peel session
recordings of "Doll Parts" and "Violet", as well as covers of The Wipers
' "Over the Edge" and "Pale Blue Eyes
" by The Velvet Underground
. After the band's tours in 1995, a final music video for the album was filmed for "Violet", and Hole entered the studio to begin work on a new album. There were multiple attempts to record Hole's third album, and one such attempt was in New Orleans in winter 1995. Interviews with Erlandson have confirmed the authenticity of this session, and the style is thought to have been a transition between the alternative style of Live Through This and the band's later pop-influenced sound, however no material from the sessions has surfaced.
(1996). Despite the reported hiatus and Love's acting career, the band recorded and released a cover of Fleetwood Mac
's "Gold Dust Woman
" for The Crow: City of Angels
(1996), the band's first studio song to feature Melissa Auf der Maur on bass.
During the supposed hiatus, Hole released two retrospective albums: firstly, their second EP, titled The First Session
(1997), which was composed of a complete version of the band's first recording session at Rudy's Rising Star in Los Angeles in March 1990, some of which had been bootlegged widely years prior. It featured the group's first ever recorded track, "Turpentine", which had previously been unreleased to the public, as well as their first single, "Retard Girl", and its two b-sides.
The same year, the band released their first compilation album, My Body, The Hand Grenade
(1997), which was produced chiefly by Eric Erlandson; Love designed the packaging and artwork on the album. The album was composed as a retrospective on the band's career, featuring early singles, mid-period b-sides and recent live tracks, illustrating their path from a "tiny L.A. basement studio into alternative rock superstardom". One outtake from the Live Through This recording sessions which was included on this release was the controversial song, "Old Age". The history and writer of this song was the subject of controversy among Courtney Love detractors who believed Kurt Cobain
had written Hole's second album, an allegation for which no evidence has ever surfaced. It was eventually learned "Old Age" had been written by Kurt Cobain for the Nevermind
sessions in 1991, then given to Hole, whereupon its lyrics were rewritten by Love, who "tried to make it goth". Another song featured on the album was "20 Years in the Dakota", which discussed Yoko Ono
's struggles as John Lennon
's wife, a position which Love herself has been frequently compared to, due to the perception that Ono drew Lennon away from The Beatles
and that Love drew Cobain away from Nirvana. The album also featured a demo version of "Miss World", as well as recordings from a 1995 MTV Unplugged performance.
Although Hole as a band did not perform during 1996 and 1997, members of Hole performed separately, including Love's guest appearance at a Smashing Pumpkins
' show in February 1996, at which she performed "Silverfuck" and "Farewell and Goodnight", with Smashing Pumpkins' frontman, and former boyfriend, Billy Corgan
. Auf der Maur and Schemel also performed a show in Toronto in July 1996. Erlandson also collaborated with Thurston Moore
of Sonic Youth and director Dave Markey
in the short-lived project, Rodney & the Tube Tops
, with whom he released one single.
(1998) adopted a complete new sound for the band, which had become known for its grunge and punk rock roots. Featuring a more pop-oriented sound, Celebrity Skin was a critical success with strong sales and successful singles, including the title track, "Celebrity Skin
", "Malibu
", and "Awful". Eric Erlandson told Rolling Stone, "I still think a lot of Celebrity Skin is my Johnny Thunders
influence coming up – which Courtney just fucking hates."
The album was recorded in Conway Recording Studios
in Los Angeles throughout 1997, after many "fruitless attempts" in Miami, London and New York. Although Patty Schemel is listed as drummer in the liner notes of the record, she did not actually appear on the record as she had left the band prior to the main recording sessions and was in turn replaced by a session drummer (the band would eventually recruit drummer Samantha Maloney for the tour). The studio work on Celebrity Skin took almost a year and a half— according to Erlandson, Courtney was more focused on song-writing and singing and "did not care about her instrument". Eric also noted that Billy Corgan, who co-wrote a large portion of the album, played bass on "Hit So Hard".
In reaction to public speculation that Kurt Cobain
had written the band's second album, Celebrity Skins liner notes listed explicitly every musician's contribution to the record, specifying authorship for every song. Love wrote a comprehensive amount of the lyrics, while Erlandson, assistant-producing alongside Michael Beinhorn, had a hand in every song. Co-songwriters on the album also included Melissa Auf der Maur, Patty Schemel, Jordon Zadorozny
of Blinker the Star
, and Charlotte Caffey
of The Go-Go's
, each contributing pieces to a number of songs, however the most notable contributor was Billy Corgan, who co-wrote five of the twelve songs on the album.
Nonetheless, as with the rumors surrounding the writing credits on Live Through This, unwarranted controversy stirred over the authorship of the songs. Upon its release, Corgan made references that he should have "been given credit" for writing the entire album. Eric Erlandson responded to Corgan's statements in a Rolling Stone interview, commenting: "We were working on all the stuff that Courtney and I had already written. Billy really facilitated things, in a way... I would bring in the music, Courtney would start coming up with lyrics right away, and [Billy] would help map it all out." Erlandson also stated: "Courtney writes all her own lyrics. Nobody else is writing those lyrics and nobody ever has."
One journalist took note of the controversy when reviewing the album, stating: "Back in 1994, the acclaim for Live Through This was undercut by whispers that Love's late husband wrote the album. Combine those conspiracy theories with the unfounded but persistent rumor that Cobain was actually murdered, and it is no surprise that, in the song "Celebrity Skin", Love calls herself a walking study in demonology
."
The album received unanimously positive reviews, with praise from music periodicals such as Rolling Stone, NME, and Blender, as well as a four-star review from the Los Angeles Times, calling it a "wild emotional ride" sure to be "one of the most dissected and debated collections of the year." The album charted incredibly well, peaking at number 9 on the Billboard 200
, and garnering the band its first and only number 1 single, "Celebrity Skin", which topped the Modern Rock Tracks
. "Malibu" was the album's second successful single, making it to number 3 on the Modern Rock Tracks. Commercially speaking, Celebrity Skin went on to be the band's greatest success.
toured together, with Manson promoting his then-recent album, Mechanical Animals
(1998) on the "Beautiful Monsters Tour
". The tour turned into a publicity magnet, and Hole dropped out of the tour nine dates in, due to both the majority of the fans being Manson's, who were not very interested in the Hole performances, and the financial arrangement for the bands (50/50 cost and revenue splitting) as a reason for discontinuing the tour (Hole had relatively little production costs and ending up paying a large amount for Manson's high cost production). Manson and Love often mocked one another onstage as well, and Love attacked Manson's stage antics, which included tearing up a Bible during performances: "You know, whenever somebody rips up the Bible in front of 40,000 people, I think it's a big deal," she said during a 1999 interview. The band played one last show on the tour after a poorly-received concert at Portland's Rose Garden Arena
, which ended with Manson fans booing the band and Love dropping her guitar and walking offstage after a 45-minute set.
Nonetheless, Melissa Auf der Maur considered the tour "the best [we] ever were as a live band", and documented the Celebrity Skin concerts by taking photographs, several of which were featured in National Geographic music editorials. As noted by Auf der Maur, it was a "daily event" for Love to invite audience members onstage to sing with her for the last song at nearly every concert performed during the tour.
On June 18, 1999 during Hole's set at the Hultsfred Festival
in Sweden, a 19-year old girl died after being crushed by the mosh pit behind the mixing board. The band did not comment on her death. Hole played its final show at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver on July 14, 1999. A few months later, Auf der Maur quit Hole and went on to become a touring bassist for The Smashing Pumpkins. Despite being the only two remaining members of the group, Love and Erlandson still continued with Hole. The band's final release was a single for the movie Any Given Sunday
(1999). "Be a Man
", released in March 2000, was an outtake from the Celebrity Skin sessions, and was another song co-written and included bass-work by Corgan.
with controversial artist, Vincent Gallo
and Love began a solo career, releasing her debut, America's Sweetheart in 2004. Melissa Auf der Maur
also embarked on a solo career, and released her self-titled
debut album in 2004, which also included Erlandson on lead guitar on the track, "Would If I Could." Her second album, Out of Our Minds
, was released on March 30, 2010.
Hole's original body of work includes thirteen singles, six Grammy nominations, three LPs, three EPs, one compilation album and 10 music videos.
posted two in-depth blogs, and links to two interviews, of Courtney Love announcing the reunion of Hole. The article was primarily focused on Love's upcoming solo release, Nobody's Daughter
, yet it claimed with the "rock Courtney back in action, this music could only come out under one name, Hole". According to the blog post, Melissa Auf der Maur
would once again be bassist, with Micko Larkin
replacing Eric Erlandson, and a drummer was not mentioned. There was also mention of "tours next year". However, days later, Melissa Auf der Maur, interviewed in Toronto where she was appearing at the North by Northeast
music festival, said she had "no clue" about the band's reported reunion and denied the NME claim she had, or was asked to, contribute vocals to the album or had been asked to tour with the purportedly reunited band saying, "I actually don't know [about the reunion]...I arrived at [the music festival in Toronto] and I heard that Hole were getting back together from people sending me links," she said. Auf der Maur did, however, state that she had been asked by Love to do harmonies on the album, but nothing else.
Eric Erlandson
stated in a Spin magazine that contractually no reunion can take place without his involvement, therefore Nobody's Daughter would remain Love's solo record, as opposed to a "Hole" record. Erlandson stated that he and Love "have a contract", which was later revealed to be a contract preventing either from reforming Hole without mutual involvement. Love then responded to Erlandson's comments in a Twitter
post, claiming that "he's out of his mind, Hole is my band, my name, and my Trademark". Shortly after this quarrel Love began posting new Hole logos, stage ideas, and guitar pick ideas on her Facebook page, implying, though not confirming, that Hole had reformed. In a later interview, just days before the expected release of Hole's Nobody's Daughter, Erlandson explained how "[Courtney's] management convinced me that it was all hot air and that she would never be able to finish her album. Now I'm left in an uncomfortable position."
In December 2009, three upcoming shows were announced in New York, Milan and Amsterdam, at The Standard Hotel's Boom Boom Room, the Magazzini Generali and Paradiso
respectively, though flyers from the New York show credit the performer solely as Courtney Love. The official Paradiso website issued a press release the same month stating Melissa Auf der Maur
would partake in the show, but when asked by a fan on her official Facebook
fan page, Auf der Maur claimed that "[this] mysterious press release is news to me [...] putting my detective hat on now [...] more on this soon." The Paradiso's website claimed in January 2010 that "many quarrels are settled."
Auf der Maur stated in an interview with New York Magazine in April, 2010:
"Even in rock and roll, I believe there's a right and wrong. I'm still close friends with Eric, and he's the only one who can do anything on his end about it. He's a peaceful man who has made great efforts in his own life to find peace. I feel protective of the legacy of Hole and my memories in it. It wasn't even so much about doing a reunion. I told Courtney, 'I support the retrospective of everything done in that time. If and when you're ready to look at that, I'll support it.' What's so funny is that she can come out and say that I asked her to do a reunion. That's not exactly what was said. What I said was that I think a retrospective would be incredibly valuable right now and that's obviously not where she's at. I've always wished the best for her. I want her to be happy. I want her to be musical. I care about her well-being. When she gets an idea in her mind, that's what she stays with regardless of what other people think or feel."
Hole launched a new website, and an official Facebook page on January 1, 2010. The band played its first performance since the reunion on February 12, 2010 on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
playing "Samantha". On February 17, 2010 they played a full set at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, with support from Little Fish
. Further shows were performed at 02 Academy Brixton and SPIN's
annual SXSW
music festival, with further dates being added for the United States and United Kingdom in April and May 2010. Television appearances, in efforts to promote the upcoming album, include performing on Late Show with David Letterman
on April 27, Jimmy Kimmel Live! on April 29 and on Later with Jools Holland
on the 4th of May. On March 16, the first Hole single in ten years, and first from Nobody's Daughter was released, titled "Skinny Little Bitch
". It was the most added song on alternative radio and the second most added song on active rock in early March in the United States, debuting at #32 on Billboard's Alternative Singles Chart.
Nobody's Daughter
was released on April 26 and 27, 2010 worldwide through Mercury Records
, and was received by music critics with moderately positive acclaim. Rolling Stone
gave the album three out of five stars, but noted "[while Love] was an absolute monster vocalist in the nineties, the greatest era ever for rock singers... She doesn't have that power in her lungs anymore — barely a trace. But at least she remembers, and that means something in itself." The magazine also referred to the album as "not a true success", but a "noble effort". Love's voice, which had been noticeably raspier (likely due to years of scream-singing, drug abuse, and smoking) was compared to the likes of Bob Dylan
.
NME
, however, gave the album a 6/10 rating, and Robert Christgau
rated it an "A-", saying, "Thing is, I can use some new punk rage in my life, and unless you're a fan of Goldman Sachs
and BP
Petroleum, so can you. What's more, better it come from a 45-year-old woman who knows how to throw her weight around than from the zitty newbies and tattooed road dogs who churn most of it out these days. I know--for her, BP Petroleum is just something else to pretend about. But the emotion fueling her pretense is cathartic nevertheless."
On March 28, 2011, Love, Erlandson, Patty Schemel and Auf der Maur appeared at the New York
screening of Schemel's documentary Hit So Hard: The Life & Near Death Story of Patty Schemel at the Museum of Modern Art
. The appearance was first time in thirteen years that all four members appeared together in public. Schemel has expressed a desire to record with Love, Erlandson and Auf der Maur stating "nothing has been discussed, but I have a feeling." After the screening, the four took part in a Q&A session where Courtney Love stated: "For me, as much as I love playing with Patty — and I would play with her in five seconds again, and everyone onstage — if it's not moving forward, I don't wanna do it. That's just my thing. There's rumblings; there's always bloody rumblings. But if it's not miserable and it's going forward and I'm happy with it… that's all I have to say about that question."
In May 2011, a video for "Samantha
" was shot. It was the first promotional video for Nobody's Daughter, over a year after its release, and Hole's first official music video in eleven years since "Be a Man
" in 2000.
EPs
Compilation albums
US & Canada Billboard Singles Chart peak positions
|-
| || Celebrity Skin
|| Best Rock Album ||
|-
| || Celebrity Skin
|| Best Rock Song ||
|-
| || Celebrity Skin
|| Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ||
|-
| || Malibu
|| Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ||
|-
MTV Video Music Awards
|-
| || Doll Parts
|| Best Alternative Video ||
|-
| || Malibu
|| Best Cinematography in a Video ||
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989
1989 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.-Events:*January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in the USSR...
. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson is an American musician known as the co-founder, former songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole.-Early life and career:...
. Hole achieved considerable commercial and critical success throughout the 1990s.
The band made a splash in the underground rock scene in 1991 with their abrasive debut album, Pretty on the Inside
Pretty on the Inside
Pretty on the Inside is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. Released August 23, 1991 on Caroline Records, it was Hole's first major label release after their formation in 1989 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
, heavily influenced by noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
and punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
music. Their second studio album, Live Through This
Live Through This
Live Through This is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. It was released by Geffen Records on April 12, 1994, just four days after frontwoman Courtney Love's husband, Kurt Cobain, was found dead in their home....
(1994), which featured a more streamlined and grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
-oriented sound, received unanimous critical acclaim upon release and is perhaps the group's most notable work.
As the band progressed into the later 1990s, they incorporated elements of pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
into their sound. The band's third album, Celebrity Skin
Celebrity Skin
Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide by Geffen Records on September 7, 1998 and one day later in the United States...
(1998), fused hard rock with various pop elements, contrasting to their previous styles. Celebrity Skin went on to be the band's most commercially successful album, garnering them immense critical attention as well as several Grammy nominations.
The group officially disbanded in 2002 and its members began solo careers and other projects. In 2009, Love announced she was reforming Hole with former Larrikin Love
Larrikin Love
Larrikin Love were an English four piece indie rock band from London.Consisting of Edward Larrikin , Micko Larkin , Alfie Ambrose and Coz Kerrigan , and also occasionally including violinist Rob Skipper from The Holloways or roving violinist Jonnie Fielding, the band were briefly described as...
guitarist Micko Larkin
Micko Larkin
Michael Joseph "Micko" Larkin is an English musician of Irish background, most notable as the lead guitarist of the indie rock band Larrikin Love and more recently, Hole.-Early life and career :...
. Erlandson, however, stated that no reunion could take place contractually without mutual involvement between Love and Erlandson. On January 1, 2010, a website promoting Hole's latest release, Nobody's Daughter
Nobody's Daughter
Nobody's Daughter is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide on April 27, 2010 through Mercury Records. The album was originally conceived by Hole frontwoman Courtney Love as a solo project titled How Dirty Girls Get Clean, following her poorly-received solo debut...
, was launched, with links to various social media pages including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace.
Despite the dispute between Erlandson and Love, the new Hole album was released in April 2010 and the band toured Europe and North America in support of the record.
Background
Hole formed in Los Angeles in August 1989 by its two central members, Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson.Love had grown up in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and had a fairly troubled childhood, bouncing between foster homes and juvenile systems due to her anti-authoritarian and often reckless behavior. Her parents were both fledgling hippies; her mother came from a wealthy adoptive family, and her father had been a roadie for The Grateful Dead in San Francisco in the late 1960s. Love became legally emancipated when she was 16 and traveled to England, Ireland, and Japan on a trust fund before returning to Oregon and falling in with Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
's punk scene in the 1980s. Throughout her teenage and early adult years, Love worked as a stripper
Stripper
A stripper is a professional erotic dancer who performs a contemporary form of striptease at strip club establishments, public exhibitions, and private engagements. Unlike in burlesque, the performer in the modern Americanized form of stripping minimizes the interaction of customer and dancer,...
in order to support herself and briefly attended several colleges intermittently. Fascinated by music, she had several unsuccessful attempts at starting bands, mostly with friend Kat Bjelland
Kat Bjelland
Katherine "Kat" Bjelland is an American musician who is currently the lead singer-guitarist of the band Katastrophy Wife, and is the former lead singer and guitarist of the punk rock band Babes in Toyland....
. She started two bands in her early adulthood, both of which were fruitless; firstly, Sugar Babydoll
Sugar Babydoll
Sugar Babydoll was a continuous, on-and-off musical project initially formed in Portland, Oregon by Courtney Love in 1981. The group, which in its latter stages included guitarist/vocalist Kat Bjelland and bassist Jennifer Finch, was a precursor to the Pagan Babies, formed by Love and Bjelland in...
in Portland, and later, The Pagan Babies
Pagan Babies (band)
The Pagan Babies were a short-lived American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed by Kat Bjelland and Courtney Love circa late 1985...
in San Francisco; she also briefly sang in Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
. Love made a slight break into the entertainment industry when she landed roles in two Alex Cox
Alex Cox
Alexander Cox is a British film director, screenwriter, nonfiction author and sometime actor, notable for his idiosyncratic style and approach to scripts...
films, Sid & Nancy (1986) and Straight to Hell
Straight to Hell
Straight to Hell is a 1987 action-comedy film directed by Alex Cox, and starring Sy Richardson, The Clash frontman Joe Strummer, Dick Rude, and Courtney Love. The film also features cameos by Dennis Hopper, Grace Jones, Elvis Costello, and Jim Jarmusch. Band members of The Pogues, Amazulu, and The...
(1987), but was dissatisfied with the experience and eventually moved to Los Angeles, intent on forming a band. Love noted that the "cathartic
Catharsis
Catharsis or katharsis is a Greek word meaning "cleansing" or "purging". It is derived from the verb καθαίρειν, kathairein, "to purify, purge," and it is related to the adjective καθαρός, katharos, "pure or clean."-Dramatic uses:...
" nature of music is what drew her to it, and also cited traumatic life experiences as being a motivation: "Start with day one and keep going. [My life was traumatic] from the exact moment of my birth and onward. I always wanted to be in a band. The concept of life just hit me one day."
Erlandson was a California native and had grown up in San Pedro. He began playing music in his teenage years, and, like Love, noted that traumatic experiences also drew him to music, one of which was finding a dead body: "I was walking along the tide pools [in San Pedro], and I found a dead body. I thought they were filming a movie, it was this body that was pure white, it had been thrashed around a few days in the water, hitting the rocks. I walked up close to it and 'oh my God!'... then I saw Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
and Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
and it was all over. I don't know. I had to be a rock star." Erlandson attended Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University is a comprehensive co-educational private Roman Catholic university in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions located in Los Angeles, California, United States...
where he studied economics and marketing, and then traveled to Europe in 1988, trying to figure out "what to do with his life". He was working as a royalties manager at Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
when he met Love, managing the royalties of Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
.
Formation and early years
Hole formed after Eric Erlandson replied to an advertisement placed by Courtney Love in punk rock fanzine FlipsideFlipside (fanzine)
Flipside was a punk rock fanzine published in Los Angeles, California from 1977 to 2000.As one of the first and longest running US punk rock fanzines, this publication extensively chronicled the world of independent and underground music during this era. Known for its highly opinionated cast of...
. The advertisement simply read: "I want to start a band. My influences are Big Black
Big Black
Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Naked Raygun...
, Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, and Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
." Love had several responses to the ad, but chose Erlandson. In retrospect, she said: "He had a Thurston [Moore] quality about him. He was tall, skinny, blonde. He dressed pretty cool, and he knew who Sonic Youth were... he's an intensely weird, good guitarist, and he's the glue that kept me together."
Love has joked that she took the name for the band from "my husband's favorite drinking spot", but this claim is dubious since she met Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
, her second husband, the year after Hole was formed. Love, during in an interview on Later... with Jools Holland, claimed the name was inspired by a quote from Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
' Medea
Medea (play)
Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed...
which read "there's a hole that pierces my soul." Additionally, Love has cited a conversation with her mother as being a primary influence for the band's name. In an interview with Flipside magazine in fall 1990, Love said of the band's name: "the name came from my mom. She's like, a therapist, and I said "I had a really fucked childhood", and she said "Well Courtney, you can't walk around with a big hole inside of yourself about it.""
The band's first rehearsal took place in Fortress Studios in Hollywood, where Love, Erlandson and original bassist Lisa Roberts "played something noisy" while "they [Courtney and Lisa] started screaming their poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
at the top of their lungs for two or three hours." Initially, the band had no percussion, until Love met drummer Caroline Rue at a Gwar
Gwar
Gwar is a satirical heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia, United States, in 1984. The band is best known for its elaborate science fiction/horror film inspired costumes, obscene lyrics and graphic stage performances, which feature humorous enactments of politically and morally taboo...
show. They also recruited a third guitarist, Mike Geisbrecht, and began to perform live. Hole's first show took place at Raji's
Raji's
Raji's was a rock and roll nightclub in central Hollywood, open in the 1980s and early 1990s. It was located in the Hastings Hotel building. The space had previously been a Greek restaurant called The King's Palace....
— a small club in Hollywood — in September 1989. The band played three more shows throughout 1989: at The Shamrock in Los Angeles on October 17, 1989, Nightmoves in Huntington Beach on November 11, 1989 and at Hollywood Live Club on November 17, 1989.
The band's early shows were notable for featuring lots of experimental playing, distortion, and guitar feedback— a style that would be heavily present in their eventual studio material— and Courtney Love interacting a lot with the audience. At the beginning of their third show at Nightmoves, the theme from Phantasm
Phantasm (film)
Phantasm is a low-budget "cult classic" horror film produced in 1977 and released in 1979. The film was directed, written, photographed, co-produced and edited by Don Coscarelli...
(1979) was played, and Love introduced the band, saying: "We're Hole. Some of you will like us, and some of you will hate us." Several notable songs were performed at these shows, including the band's eventual debut single, "Retard Girl
Retard Girl
"Retard Girl" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's debut single in April 1990 on 7" vinyl by Sympathy for the Record Industry. The single was produced by Love's then-husband, James Moreland,...
", as well as "Phonebill Song", "Berry", and "Turpentine", all of which would eventually make it onto studio recordings.
From the beginning, Hole was primarily influenced by punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
, and no wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
music, which is evident from their earliest recordings. Both Love and Erlandson were big fans of the notorious LA punk band The Germs, and Love once had a "Germs burn" (a circular burn on the arm given to followers and members of the band) given to her by Germs guitarist Pat Smear
Pat Smear
Pat Smear is a rock musician who has been a guitarist in several well-known bands including The Germs and Nirvana. He is currently a guitarist for the Foo Fighters...
, who would later play in Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
. In a 1996 interview for a Germs tribute documentary, Erlandson said: "I think every band is based on one song, and our band was based on "Forming
Forming (song)
"Forming" is the debut single by American punk rock band The Germs. Released on What?, an independent start-up label, in July 1977, it is regarded as the first true Los Angeles punk record....
"... Courtney brought it into rehearsal, and she knew, like, three chords
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
and it was the only punk rock song we could play." Love also noted early on that the band was "heavily into lyrics", and that they were "the most important thing" to her. The band's music also had a very pro-feminist stance, particularly from Love. In an interview on the topic, she referred to hair bands such as Poison
Poison (band)
Poison is an American glam metal band that achieved great success in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. To date, Poison has sold over 30 million records worldwide and have sold 15 million records in the United States alone. The band has also charted ten singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100,...
as "drag queens" and said, "they dress up like women therefore they get to confront emotional issues. The whole feminization of men in heavy metal speaks for itself. Well, scratch that, because I want to transcend this whole 'chick thing'. Fuck this chick thing. The whole thing with music is that it's cathartic, and if it wasn't cathartic then I wouldn't want to play it."
Before Hole began to develop a fanbase, guitarist Mike Geisbrecht left and was replaced briefly by Errol Stewart, who left a few weeks later. Roberts also left the group at some point in early 1990. After Geisbrecht and Roberts' departure, Hole recruited Jill Emery on bass and began recording studio material, as well as playing (and often headlining) local rock shows in Los Angeles. After several months of live performances, the band released their debut single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
: "Retard Girl
Retard Girl
"Retard Girl" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's debut single in April 1990 on 7" vinyl by Sympathy for the Record Industry. The single was produced by Love's then-husband, James Moreland,...
" in 1990, and followed it with "Dicknail
Dicknail
"Dicknail" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released as the band's second single in March 1991; however, like the band's first single, "Retard Girl", it was only released on 7" vinyl....
" in 1991, released on Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by record industry anti-mogul Long Gone John...
and Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
, respectively. According to KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...
disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer
Rodney Bingenheimer
Rodney Bingenheimer, born December 15, 1947, is a radio disc jockey on the long-running Los Angeles rock station KROQ who is notable for helping numerous iconic bands become successful in the American market. His contribution to the music business has been described as important...
, Love would often "hang out" at a Denny's
Denny's
Denny's is a full-service coffee shop/family restaurant chain. It operates over 1,500 restaurants in the United States , Canada, Curaçao, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan , Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.Denny's is known for always being...
on Sunset Blvd. where he went for coffee in the mornings to try to convince him to play "Retard Girl" on his station. Bingenheimer jokingly said that she would practically "stalk him" every morning.
The band became known at the time for Love's wild onstage behavior, and her ability to really "rile up" the crowd. As the group began to make decent money as an underground band, A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
reps and music labels started to appear at their shows. After one show, the band was approached by a major music label representative, who told Love they needed a more "full sound", to which she replied "fuck off". The group played shows at several legendary rock bars during this time, particularly at the Whisky a Go Go
Whisky a Go Go
The Whisky a Go Go is a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip.-History:...
in West Hollywood and CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
in New York.
Pretty on the Inside and tour
After nearly two years of live performances and making singles, the band began to consider their first studio albumStudio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
. In searching for a label to release the album, the group was approached by both Sub Pop and Sympathy for the Record Industry, who had previously released singles for them, but Love declined their offers. Instead, the band signed onto Caroline Records
Caroline Records
Caroline Records started out as a subsidiary of Richard Branson's Virgin Records label during the early to mid 1970s. The label originally specialized in putting out budget price LPs by mainly progressive rock and jazz artists generally not considered to have a great deal of 'mainstream' or...
, and Love sought Kim Gordon
Kim Gordon
Kim Althea Gordon is an American musician, vocalist, artist, record producer, video director and actress. She has sung and played bass and guitar in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, and in Free Kitten with Julia Cafritz...
of Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
to produce the album for her. Sending a letter, a Hello Kitty
Hello Kitty
is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, first designed by Yuko Shimizu. She is portrayed as a female white Japanese bobtail cat with a red bow. The character's first appearance on an item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in Japan in 1974 and brought to the United States...
barrette, and copies of the band's early singles to Gordon, Love mentioned that the band greatly admired Gordon's work and appreciated "... the production of the SST
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
record" (either referring to Sonic Youth's album Sister
Sister (Sonic Youth album)
Sister is the fourth album by alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released in 1987 on SST Records. It was re-released in late 1994 on DGC.The album furthers the band's move away from noise rock towards more traditional pop structures, while maintaining an aggressively experimental approach. It...
or EVOL
EVOL
Evol is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released in 1986 on SST Records, and recorded and mixed by New York recording icon Martin Bisi. The album cover features a picture of Lung Leg, a still taken from Submit to Me, a film by Richard Kern...
), also noting that they would "prefer to work with a woman" and would be "forever honored" should Gordon produce. Gordon agreed, and Gumball
Gumball (band)
Gumball was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1990. The original lineup consisted of Don Fleming , Eric Vermillion , and Jay Spiegel . In 1992, a fourth member was added, Malcolm Riviera who had previously played with Fleming and Spiegel in the Velvet Monkeys.-History:After Fleming...
's Don Fleming assisted in production.
Hole released the debut album, titled Pretty on the Inside
Pretty on the Inside
Pretty on the Inside is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. Released August 23, 1991 on Caroline Records, it was Hole's first major label release after their formation in 1989 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
, in September 1991, to vast praise from underground critics, especially in the United Kingdom where the band did an extensive tour with Daisy Chainsaw
Daisy Chainsaw
Daisy Chainsaw was an English alternative rock band, active between 1989 and 1995. It originally featured KatieJane Garside as lead vocalist and lyricist on the band's early EPs and debut album, Eleventeen , before her departure in 1993...
, Mudhoney
Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American alternative rock band. Formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988 following the demise of Green River, Mudhoney's members are vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan Peters. Original bassist Matt Lukin left the...
, and Therapy?
Therapy?
Therapy? is an alternative metal band from Northern Ireland. The band was formed in 1989 by guitarist–vocalist Andy Cairns from Ballyclare and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing from Larne, Northern Ireland. The band initially recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar...
. Hole also toured North America and the rest of Europe in support of the record. Upon the album's release, it was branded by underground music critics as "loud, ugly and deliberately shocking." A 1991 review in Spin said that the album "revolves around a fascination of the repulsive aspects of L.A.— superficiality, sexism, violence, and drugs. Love is the embodiment of what drives the band: the dichotomy of pretty/ugly... The pretty/ugly dynamic also comes across in Hole's music... a song like "Teenage Whore" at first comes across like a ranting noisy rage, but underneath is a surprisingly lush melody." Spin also ranked the album in their "20 Best Albums of the Year" list, and it was voted album of the year by New York's Village Voice. The album peaked at number 59 on the UK albums chart, and sold well for an independent release.
The album spawned one single, "Teenage Whore
Teenage Whore
"Teenage Whore" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written collectively by the band. The song was released as the band's third single and the first and only from their debut studio album, Pretty on the Inside, in August 1991...
", which entered the UK Indie Chart at number one, as well as the band's debut music video for the song "Garbadge Man". Musically and lyrically, the album was very abrasive, characterized by overt noise and feedback, chaotic guitar riffs, graphic lyrics, and a variation of Love's vocals ranging from whispers to guttural screaming. The album also featured guitar riffs lifted verbatim from Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
and Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
songs, as well as a sample
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
from Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
's "Rhiannon
Rhiannon (song)
"Rhiannon" is a single released by Fleetwood Mac in 1976. The song was written by Stevie Nicks."Rhiannon" was voted #488 in The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. Its US chart peak was in June 1976, when it hit #11...
". In later years, Courtney Love referred to the album as "unlistenable", despite its critical accolades and eventual cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
.
A fair amount of drama occurred during the band's tour to promote Pretty on the Inside, particularly during the last show of the tour on December 19, 1991 at the Whisky A Go Go, where Hole opened for The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
. Courtney Love infamously smashed her guitar onstage in a fit of anger after the audience failed to respond well to their set, and Erlandson "demolished" his instrument as well. That same evening, roadie Joe Cole
Joe Cole (roadie)
Joseph Dennis "Joe" Cole was a roadie for Black Flag and Rollins Band. He was the best friend and roommate of the musician/author/actor Henry Rollins. His memoirs were published posthumously by 2.13.61 publishing, Planet Joe, in which he documented his experiences on the last Black Flag tour and...
, who had attended the concert with friend Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
, was murdered in a robbery after arriving home. Love was an acquaintance of Cole's, and the band later dedicated their second album to him.
Another notable incident occurred while playing in London with Mudhoney, where Love had her clothes violently torn off of her while stage diving, an event that would later become the inspiration for the song "Asking for It
Asking For It
"Asking for It" is a song by alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released on the band's second studio album and major label debut, Live Through This, in April 1994...
". According to Love, after jumping off the stage, her dress and underwear were torn off of her by audience members, people "shoved their fingers inside of her", and she was "completely naked" when she got back onstage: "I felt like Karen Finley
Karen Finley
Karen Finley is an American performance artist, whose theatrical pieces and recordings have often been labelled "obscene" due to their graphic depictions of sexuality, abuse, and disenfranchisement...
. But the worst thing of all was that I saw a photograph of it later— someone took a picture of me right when this was happening, and I had this big smile on my face like I was pretending it wasn't happening. I can't compare it to rape because it's not the same. But in a way it was. I was raped by an audience— figuratively, literally, and yet, was I asking for it?"
The band concluded their tour at the end of 1991, and, in 1992, Love met Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
of Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
(the two had initially crossed paths in 1989 in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
), and became pregnant.
Mainstream success
Following the success of Pretty on the Inside, Hole began planning a second album in 1992. In the midst of this, Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain were married, and gave birth to their daughter, Frances, in the summer of that year. Love, at the time, had purportedly wanted to transition from Hole's grittier punk rock style to a more melodic, pop-influenced rock format on their next album, which bassist Jill Emery did not want to partake in. "Courtney wanted to be pop, she wanted to change. I don't mind changing, I love it, but I didn't want to go from A to Z— it just felt fake", said Emery. Emery left the band shortly after Love married Kurt Cobain, and drummer Caroline Rue followed. In an advertisement to find a new bass player, Love wrote: "[I want] someone who can play ok, and stand in front of 30,000 people, take off her shirt and have 'fuck you' written on her tits. If you're not afraid of me and you're not afraid to fucking say it, send a letter. No more pussies, no more fake girls, I want a whore from hell."As a result of Pretty on the Insides success and the furious press coverage around Courtney Love and husband Kurt Cobain, Hole was signed to Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
with an eight-album contract in late 1992, around the time they recruited Janitor Joe
Janitor Joe (band)
Janitor Joe, a Minneapolis noise-rock band, formed in 1992. Founding members were guitarist/vocalist Joachim Breuer , bassist/vocalist Kristen Pfaff and drummer Matt Entsminger, though bass duties were later assumed by Wayne Davis following Pfaff's departure in 1993 to join Courtney Love's band,...
bassist, Kristen Pfaff
Kristen Pfaff
Kristen Marie Pfaff was an American bass guitarist, best known for her work with Hole.-Early life and career:Pfaff was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, attending Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart. She spent a short time in Europe and briefly attended Boston College before ultimately...
and drummer Patty Schemel
Patty Schemel
Patricia Theresa Schemel is an American drummer, most notably known as the drummer of the alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998.-Early music career:Schemel learned to play drums after her father bought her a drum kit at age 11...
. After another well-praised tour of Europe and the United States in 1993 – the first leg of which was for promotion of their single, "Beautiful Son
Beautiful Son
"Beautiful Son" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written collectively by frontwoman Courtney Love, lead guitarist Eric Erlandson and drummer Patty Schemel. The song was released as the band's fourth single in April 1993 on the European label City Slang...
" – Hole began work on their major label debut at Triclops Studios in Atlanta, Georgia in the fall of 1993.
In March 1994, Love and husband Kurt Cobain individually checked themselves into rehab clinics in Los Angeles for purported heroin addiction. Cobain checked himself out of rehab shortly after arriving and returned to Seattle, just a week before the release of Hole's second album. The album, titled Live Through This
Live Through This
Live Through This is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. It was released by Geffen Records on April 12, 1994, just four days after frontwoman Courtney Love's husband, Kurt Cobain, was found dead in their home....
, was released on April 12, 1994, and in tragic timing— four days after finding that Love's husband, Cobain, had committed suicide
Death of Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain was found dead at his home located at 171 Lake Washington Boulevard in Seattle, Washington, United States on April 8, 1994. Cobain, the lead singer of the American grunge band Nirvana, had checked out of a drug rehabilitation facility and been reported suicidal by his wife Courtney Love...
in their Seattle home. In the days following his death, Love mourned with fans outside their house, and a recording of her reading his suicide note was played at a memorial service in Seattle, where she arrived shortly after the ceremony to distribute some of his clothing to fans.
Cobain's suicide also stirred controversy surrounding the final track on Live Through This— "Rock Star"— which contained lyrics that read: "How'd you like to be Nirvana?/ So much fun to be Nirvana / A barrel of laughs to be Nirvana / Say you'd rather die". The song was inexplicably taken off of the album and replaced by an outtake titled "Olympia". It is widely believed that, because the song lyrics appeared inappropriate in the wake of Cobain's suicide, the song was replaced. However, by the time the decision to remove "Rock Star" was made, the artwork and inserts for the album had already been printed, so the title "Rock Star" remains the official title of the song.
Amidst the emotional impact and hysteria surrounding Cobain's death, Live Through This was a critical success, and spawned a slew of fairly popular singles: "Doll Parts
Doll Parts
"Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their sophomore studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour...
", "Violet
Violet (song)
"Violet" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was written circa 1991, and was played at several live shows between 1991 and 1992 during Hole's Pretty on the Inside tours...
", "Miss World
Miss World (song)
"Miss World" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by frontwoman Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released as the band's fifth single and the first from their second studio album, Live Through This, in March 1994.-Origin and recording:Erlandson and...
" and "Softer, Softest
Softer, Softest
"Softer, Softest" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by frontwoman Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released as the band's eighth single and fourth and final single from their second studio album, Live Through This, in December 1995...
". The album went multi-platinum and was hailed "Album of the Year" by Spin magazine and received unanimously rave reviews from major music periodicals. NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
called the album "a personal but secretive thrash-pop opera of urban nihilism and passionate dumbthinks", and Rolling Stone said the album "may be the most potent blast of female insurgency ever committed to tape".
Despite the critical praise for Live Through This, furious rumors circulated insinuating that Cobain had actually written the majority of the album, though the band vehemently denies this. They did, however, state that Love convinced Cobain to provide backing vocals on "Asking for It" and "Softer, Softest" while visiting the studio, and music producers present during the recording sessions noted that Cobain seemed "completely unfamiliar" with the songs. According to Rolling Stone rock journalist Gavin Edwards, Love and Cobain had written songs together in the past, but opted to not release them because it was "a bit too redolent of John
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and Yoko
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
". Incidentally, Love has revealed that the alternate mix of "Asking for It" featuring Cobain, was planned to be released as a single before his suicide occurred.
With Love mourning Cobain's death, the band pushed forward to prepare for a tour to promote the massively successful album, but it came to a halt when bassist Kristen Pfaff died that June of an apparent heroin overdose. Hole pulled out of the upcoming Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
festival, which was also going to include Cobain's band, Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
. The band disappeared from the media spotlight in the summer of 1994, and on September 1, played their first headlining show since the album's release at the Phoenix Theatre in Toronto, dedicating it to Kristen. The band, now with Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur is a Canadian rock musician from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her career has included 5 years as bassist with the band Hole and she later toured with The Smashing Pumpkins for their 2000 tour. Her second solo album, Out of Our Minds, was released on March 30, 2010. She is also a...
on bass, recruited by Love at Billy Corgan
Billy Corgan
William Patrick "Billy" Corgan, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional poet best known as the frontman and sole permanent member of The Smashing Pumpkins. Formed by Corgan and guitarist James Iha in Chicago, Illinois in 1987, the band quickly gained steam with the...
's suggestion, toured extensively throughout late 1994 and 1995, and the tour became notorious for its press coverage surrounding Love's fragile emotional state.
Appearances included the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas, Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, the Big Day Out
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...
festival, MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...
, the Reading Festival, and Lollapalooza 1995. Perhaps most infamously, the band was asked to play at MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
, where they were nominated for the "Doll Parts" music video. They also performed "Violet" at the awards show. Before the song, a clearly distraught Love dedicated the performance to Cobain, Pfaff, Joe Cole
Joe Cole (roadie)
Joseph Dennis "Joe" Cole was a roadie for Black Flag and Rollins Band. He was the best friend and roommate of the musician/author/actor Henry Rollins. His memoirs were published posthumously by 2.13.61 publishing, Planet Joe, in which he documented his experiences on the last Black Flag tour and...
, and River Phoenix
River Phoenix
River Jude Phoenix was an American film actor, musician, and teen icon. He was the oldest brother of fellow actors Rain, Joaquin, Liberty, and Summer Phoenix.Phoenix began acting at age 10 in television commercials...
, all of whom had recently died. Love ended the performance by chanting "God bless your soul", throwing her guitar into the air, pushing over a microphone stand into the audience, and knocking over stereo equipment before exiting the stage.
During this time period, Love's stage antics had grown wild, garnering much attention from the press. At Lollapalooza on July 4, 1995, in George, Washington
George, Washington
George is a city in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 528 at the 2000 census. Its name is a play on the name of George Washington.The city is known for being near the Gorge Amphitheatre, sometimes being called, "The Gorge at George"....
, Love punched Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill was an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington in October 1990. The group consisted of vocalist and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band is widely considered to be the pioneer of the riot grrrl movement,...
singer Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna is an American musician, feminist activist, and punk zine writer. In the early- to mid-1990s she was the lead singer and songwriter of Bikini Kill, before fronting Le Tigre in the late 1990s and early 2000s...
in the face and pelted her with candy and a burning cigarette, after Hanna had allegedly made a drug joke about Love's two-year-old daughter. Love went to court over the case and was sentenced to anger management classes. More controversy was stirred at a Pittsburgh Lollapalooza concert in the fall of 1995, when Love stormed offstage with the band in tears after an audience member threw shotgun shell
Shotgun shell
A shotgun shell is a self-contained cartridge loaded with lead shot or shotgun slug designed to be fired from a shotgun....
s at her, referencing unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that she may have been involved in husband Kurt Cobain's death. A similar event had happened several months prior— at an April 1995 show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Love cursed at an audience member for throwing things at her, and eventually stormed off the stage with the band after playing only four songs.
Toward the end of the tour to promote Live Through This, the band released their first EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, titled Ask for It
Ask for It
Ask for It is the first EP by alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1995. It was the band's second and last release on Caroline Records, the first being their debut album Pretty on the Inside . Although the EP was released after 1994's platinum-selling Live Through This, its contents...
, in September 1995; it featured 1991 Peel session
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
recordings of "Doll Parts" and "Violet", as well as covers of The Wipers
Wipers
The Wipers were a punk rock group formed in Portland, Oregon in 1977 by guitarist Greg Sage, drummer Sam Henry and bassist Dave Koupal. Wipers were one of the earliest American purveyors of the genre, and the group's tight song structure and use of heavy distortion has been hailed as extremely...
' "Over the Edge" and "Pale Blue Eyes
Pale Blue Eyes
"Pale Blue Eyes" is a song written by Lou Reed and performed by The Velvet Underground. It was included on the band's eponymous 1969 album The Velvet Underground....
" by The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
. After the band's tours in 1995, a final music video for the album was filmed for "Violet", and Hole entered the studio to begin work on a new album. There were multiple attempts to record Hole's third album, and one such attempt was in New Orleans in winter 1995. Interviews with Erlandson have confirmed the authenticity of this session, and the style is thought to have been a transition between the alternative style of Live Through This and the band's later pop-influenced sound, however no material from the sessions has surfaced.
Hiatus and retrospective releases
Hole was thought to be on hiatus in 1996, due to Love's rising movie career which skyrocketed when she landed a lead role in The People vs. Larry FlyntThe People vs. Larry Flynt
The People vs. Larry Flynt is a 1996 American biographical drama film directed by Miloš Forman about the rise of pornographic magazine publisher and editor Larry Flynt, and his subsequent clash with the law. The film stars Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, and Edward Norton.The film was written by...
(1996). Despite the reported hiatus and Love's acting career, the band recorded and released a cover of Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
's "Gold Dust Woman
Gold Dust Woman
"Gold Dust Woman" is a song from the best-selling Fleetwood Mac album Rumours. It was written and sung by Stevie Nicks and released as a B-side to the "You Make Loving Fun" single...
" for The Crow: City of Angels
The Crow: City of Angels
The Crow: City of Angels is a 1996 action film directed by Tim Pope. It is a sequel to the 1994 cult film The Crow.-Plot:The film is set in Los Angeles, where drug king Judah Earl controls it all...
(1996), the band's first studio song to feature Melissa Auf der Maur on bass.
During the supposed hiatus, Hole released two retrospective albums: firstly, their second EP, titled The First Session
The First Session
The First Session is an EP by American alternative rock band Hole, released on August 26, 1997 on Sympathy for the Record Industry. The EP features the entire recording of the band's first ever studio session on March 17, 1990 and also a twenty-page booklet focusing on the band's early career prior...
(1997), which was composed of a complete version of the band's first recording session at Rudy's Rising Star in Los Angeles in March 1990, some of which had been bootlegged widely years prior. It featured the group's first ever recorded track, "Turpentine", which had previously been unreleased to the public, as well as their first single, "Retard Girl", and its two b-sides.
The same year, the band released their first compilation album, My Body, The Hand Grenade
My Body, the Hand Grenade
My Body, the Hand Grenade is a compilation album by alternative rock band Hole that includes b-sides, demo recordings, live songs, and other rarities and unreleased tracks by the band...
(1997), which was produced chiefly by Eric Erlandson; Love designed the packaging and artwork on the album. The album was composed as a retrospective on the band's career, featuring early singles, mid-period b-sides and recent live tracks, illustrating their path from a "tiny L.A. basement studio into alternative rock superstardom". One outtake from the Live Through This recording sessions which was included on this release was the controversial song, "Old Age". The history and writer of this song was the subject of controversy among Courtney Love detractors who believed Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
had written Hole's second album, an allegation for which no evidence has ever surfaced. It was eventually learned "Old Age" had been written by Kurt Cobain for the Nevermind
Nevermind
Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on DGC Records...
sessions in 1991, then given to Hole, whereupon its lyrics were rewritten by Love, who "tried to make it goth". Another song featured on the album was "20 Years in the Dakota", which discussed Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
's struggles as John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's wife, a position which Love herself has been frequently compared to, due to the perception that Ono drew Lennon away from The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and that Love drew Cobain away from Nirvana. The album also featured a demo version of "Miss World", as well as recordings from a 1995 MTV Unplugged performance.
Although Hole as a band did not perform during 1996 and 1997, members of Hole performed separately, including Love's guest appearance at a Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
' show in February 1996, at which she performed "Silverfuck" and "Farewell and Goodnight", with Smashing Pumpkins' frontman, and former boyfriend, Billy Corgan
Billy Corgan
William Patrick "Billy" Corgan, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional poet best known as the frontman and sole permanent member of The Smashing Pumpkins. Formed by Corgan and guitarist James Iha in Chicago, Illinois in 1987, the band quickly gained steam with the...
. Auf der Maur and Schemel also performed a show in Toronto in July 1996. Erlandson also collaborated with Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
of Sonic Youth and director Dave Markey
Dave Markey
Dave Markey is an American film director.As a self-taught filmmaker and musician, Markey directed, produced, edited, and photographed most of his films, the majority of which has been self-funded and distributed. His work documents the punk scene in Southern California throughout the 1980s and 1990s...
in the short-lived project, Rodney & the Tube Tops
Rodney & the Tube Tops
Rodney & the Tube Tops were a short-lived American alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington. The band — which was more of a side-project — included members of Hole, Sonic Youth and White Flag and were eponymously named after frontman, legendary DJ Rodney Bingenheimer.-Origins and career:The...
, with whom he released one single.
Celebrity Skin and disbandment
Hole's third studio album, Celebrity SkinCelebrity Skin
Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide by Geffen Records on September 7, 1998 and one day later in the United States...
(1998) adopted a complete new sound for the band, which had become known for its grunge and punk rock roots. Featuring a more pop-oriented sound, Celebrity Skin was a critical success with strong sales and successful singles, including the title track, "Celebrity Skin
Celebrity Skin (song)
"Celebrity Skin" is the tenth single by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 1, 1998 by Geffen Records. It is the debut single from their third studio album Celebrity Skin and is Hole's most commercially successful single, being the only one to reach #1 on the Modern Rock...
", "Malibu
Malibu (song)
"Malibu" is the eleventh single by American alternative rock band Hole, and the second from their third studio album Celebrity Skin, released in November 1998...
", and "Awful". Eric Erlandson told Rolling Stone, "I still think a lot of Celebrity Skin is my Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr. , was an American protopunk guitarist, singer and songwriter.He came to prominence in the early '70s as a member of the New York Dolls...
influence coming up – which Courtney just fucking hates."
The album was recorded in Conway Recording Studios
Conway Recording Studios
Conway Recording Studios is a recording and post production facility in Hollywood, California.Conway has hosted a variety of producers, mixers and artists, such as Alicia Keys, Barbra Streisand, The Black Eyed Peas, Blink-182, Britney Spears, Carlos Santana, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews Band,...
in Los Angeles throughout 1997, after many "fruitless attempts" in Miami, London and New York. Although Patty Schemel is listed as drummer in the liner notes of the record, she did not actually appear on the record as she had left the band prior to the main recording sessions and was in turn replaced by a session drummer (the band would eventually recruit drummer Samantha Maloney for the tour). The studio work on Celebrity Skin took almost a year and a half— according to Erlandson, Courtney was more focused on song-writing and singing and "did not care about her instrument". Eric also noted that Billy Corgan, who co-wrote a large portion of the album, played bass on "Hit So Hard".
In reaction to public speculation that Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
had written the band's second album, Celebrity Skins liner notes listed explicitly every musician's contribution to the record, specifying authorship for every song. Love wrote a comprehensive amount of the lyrics, while Erlandson, assistant-producing alongside Michael Beinhorn, had a hand in every song. Co-songwriters on the album also included Melissa Auf der Maur, Patty Schemel, Jordon Zadorozny
Jordon Zadorozny
-External links:...
of Blinker the Star
Blinker the Star
Blinker the Star is a Canadian indie rock band, originally from Pembroke, Ontario, Canada. Band leader Jordon Zadorozny is known for having cowritten songs with Courtney Love...
, and Charlotte Caffey
Charlotte Caffey
Charlotte Irene Caffey is an American rock and roll guitarist and songwriter, best known for her work in the Go-Go's in the 1980s, including writing "We Got the Beat."...
of The Go-Go's
The Go-Go's
The Go-Go’s are an all-female American rock band formed in 1978. They made history as the first all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts....
, each contributing pieces to a number of songs, however the most notable contributor was Billy Corgan, who co-wrote five of the twelve songs on the album.
Nonetheless, as with the rumors surrounding the writing credits on Live Through This, unwarranted controversy stirred over the authorship of the songs. Upon its release, Corgan made references that he should have "been given credit" for writing the entire album. Eric Erlandson responded to Corgan's statements in a Rolling Stone interview, commenting: "We were working on all the stuff that Courtney and I had already written. Billy really facilitated things, in a way... I would bring in the music, Courtney would start coming up with lyrics right away, and [Billy] would help map it all out." Erlandson also stated: "Courtney writes all her own lyrics. Nobody else is writing those lyrics and nobody ever has."
One journalist took note of the controversy when reviewing the album, stating: "Back in 1994, the acclaim for Live Through This was undercut by whispers that Love's late husband wrote the album. Combine those conspiracy theories with the unfounded but persistent rumor that Cobain was actually murdered, and it is no surprise that, in the song "Celebrity Skin", Love calls herself a walking study in demonology
Demonology
Demonology is the systematic study of demons or beliefs about demons. It is the branch of theology relating to superhuman beings who are not gods. It deals both with benevolent beings that have no circle of worshippers or so limited a circle as to be below the rank of gods, and with malevolent...
."
The album received unanimously positive reviews, with praise from music periodicals such as Rolling Stone, NME, and Blender, as well as a four-star review from the Los Angeles Times, calling it a "wild emotional ride" sure to be "one of the most dissected and debated collections of the year." The album charted incredibly well, peaking at number 9 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, and garnering the band its first and only number 1 single, "Celebrity Skin", which topped the Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
. "Malibu" was the album's second successful single, making it to number 3 on the Modern Rock Tracks. Commercially speaking, Celebrity Skin went on to be the band's greatest success.
Marilyn Manson and subsequent tours
In the winter of 1998, Hole went on tour to promote Celebrity Skin, and made further appearances at festivals throughout 1999 after an extensive American and European tour. Hole and Marilyn MansonMarilyn Manson (band)
Marilyn Manson is an American metal band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Formed in 1989 by Brian Warner and Scott Putesky, the group was originally named Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids with their uniquely theatrical performances gathering a local cult following in the early '90s. This attention...
toured together, with Manson promoting his then-recent album, Mechanical Animals
Mechanical Animals
Mechanical Animals is the third full-length studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on September 14, 1998, in Australia and on September 15, 1998, in the US, Germany and France through Nothing and Interscope Records and marked the beginning of the band's brief foray into...
(1998) on the "Beautiful Monsters Tour
Beautiful Monsters Tour
Beautiful Monsters was the ill-fated North American arena tour co-headlined by American modern rock legends and cultural icons Hole and Marilyn Manson in 1999...
". The tour turned into a publicity magnet, and Hole dropped out of the tour nine dates in, due to both the majority of the fans being Manson's, who were not very interested in the Hole performances, and the financial arrangement for the bands (50/50 cost and revenue splitting) as a reason for discontinuing the tour (Hole had relatively little production costs and ending up paying a large amount for Manson's high cost production). Manson and Love often mocked one another onstage as well, and Love attacked Manson's stage antics, which included tearing up a Bible during performances: "You know, whenever somebody rips up the Bible in front of 40,000 people, I think it's a big deal," she said during a 1999 interview. The band played one last show on the tour after a poorly-received concert at Portland's Rose Garden Arena
Rose Garden Arena
Rose Garden, commonly known as the Rose Garden Arena, is the primary indoor sports arena in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is suitable for large indoor events of all sorts, including basketball, ice hockey, rodeos, circuses, conventions, ice shows, concerts, and dramatic productions...
, which ended with Manson fans booing the band and Love dropping her guitar and walking offstage after a 45-minute set.
Nonetheless, Melissa Auf der Maur considered the tour "the best [we] ever were as a live band", and documented the Celebrity Skin concerts by taking photographs, several of which were featured in National Geographic music editorials. As noted by Auf der Maur, it was a "daily event" for Love to invite audience members onstage to sing with her for the last song at nearly every concert performed during the tour.
On June 18, 1999 during Hole's set at the Hultsfred Festival
Hultsfred Festival
The Hultsfred Festival is an annual music festival held in Hultsfred, Sweden. It takes place at the lake Hulingen during three days in the June or July, from Thursday to Saturday. Since the first festival in 1986, its attendance has increased from 7,500 visitors to approximately 32,000 people in...
in Sweden, a 19-year old girl died after being crushed by the mosh pit behind the mixing board. The band did not comment on her death. Hole played its final show at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver on July 14, 1999. A few months later, Auf der Maur quit Hole and went on to become a touring bassist for The Smashing Pumpkins. Despite being the only two remaining members of the group, Love and Erlandson still continued with Hole. The band's final release was a single for the movie Any Given Sunday
Any Given Sunday
Any Given Sunday is a 1999 American drama film directed by Oliver Stone depicting a fictional professional American football team. The film features an ensemble cast, consisting of Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, LL Cool J, Matthew Modine, John C...
(1999). "Be a Man
Be a Man
"Be a Man" is the thirteenth single by alternative rock band Hole and last before their breakup in 2002. The song was a co-written by Hole members Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson with contribution from frequent guest Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins...
", released in March 2000, was an outtake from the Celebrity Skin sessions, and was another song co-written and included bass-work by Corgan.
Post-tour and breakup
Love and Erlandson officially disbanded Hole via a message posted on the band's website in 2002. After the split, the four musicians each took on projects of their own. Erlandson continued to work as a producer and session musician, eventually forming the experimental group RRIICCEERRIICCEE
RRIICCEE is an American experimental band founded by artist Vincent Gallo and former Hole guitarist and co-founder Eric Erlandson.-History:RRIICCEE was formed in 2007 by Gallo and Erlandson, and members have included Gallo , Erlandson , Cory Lee Grant , Rebecca Casabian , Simon...
with controversial artist, Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo is an Italian-American film director and actor. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, did the music for and starred in; The Brown Bunny, which he also...
and Love began a solo career, releasing her debut, America's Sweetheart in 2004. Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur is a Canadian rock musician from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her career has included 5 years as bassist with the band Hole and she later toured with The Smashing Pumpkins for their 2000 tour. Her second solo album, Out of Our Minds, was released on March 30, 2010. She is also a...
also embarked on a solo career, and released her self-titled
Auf der Maur (album)
Auf der Maur is the debut album from former Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf der Maur.Formed following her successful stints as bassist for both Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins, Melissa Auf der Maur's solo project Auf der Maur released their self-titled debut album after Melissa's...
debut album in 2004, which also included Erlandson on lead guitar on the track, "Would If I Could." Her second album, Out of Our Minds
Out of Our Minds
Out Of Our Minds is the second solo album from Melissa Auf der Maur released on March 30, 2010.Released six years after her self-titled debut, the album was also accompanied by a feature film and comic of the same name...
, was released on March 30, 2010.
Hole's original body of work includes thirteen singles, six Grammy nominations, three LPs, three EPs, one compilation album and 10 music videos.
Reformation, Nobody's Daughter to present
On June 17, 2009, NMENME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
posted two in-depth blogs, and links to two interviews, of Courtney Love announcing the reunion of Hole. The article was primarily focused on Love's upcoming solo release, Nobody's Daughter
Nobody's Daughter
Nobody's Daughter is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide on April 27, 2010 through Mercury Records. The album was originally conceived by Hole frontwoman Courtney Love as a solo project titled How Dirty Girls Get Clean, following her poorly-received solo debut...
, yet it claimed with the "rock Courtney back in action, this music could only come out under one name, Hole". According to the blog post, Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur is a Canadian rock musician from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her career has included 5 years as bassist with the band Hole and she later toured with The Smashing Pumpkins for their 2000 tour. Her second solo album, Out of Our Minds, was released on March 30, 2010. She is also a...
would once again be bassist, with Micko Larkin
Micko Larkin
Michael Joseph "Micko" Larkin is an English musician of Irish background, most notable as the lead guitarist of the indie rock band Larrikin Love and more recently, Hole.-Early life and career :...
replacing Eric Erlandson, and a drummer was not mentioned. There was also mention of "tours next year". However, days later, Melissa Auf der Maur, interviewed in Toronto where she was appearing at the North by Northeast
North by Northeast
North by Northeast is an annual five-day live music and film festival and music conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, held each June....
music festival, said she had "no clue" about the band's reported reunion and denied the NME claim she had, or was asked to, contribute vocals to the album or had been asked to tour with the purportedly reunited band saying, "I actually don't know [about the reunion]...I arrived at [the music festival in Toronto] and I heard that Hole were getting back together from people sending me links," she said. Auf der Maur did, however, state that she had been asked by Love to do harmonies on the album, but nothing else.
Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson
Eric Erlandson is an American musician known as the co-founder, former songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole.-Early life and career:...
stated in a Spin magazine that contractually no reunion can take place without his involvement, therefore Nobody's Daughter would remain Love's solo record, as opposed to a "Hole" record. Erlandson stated that he and Love "have a contract", which was later revealed to be a contract preventing either from reforming Hole without mutual involvement. Love then responded to Erlandson's comments in a Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
post, claiming that "he's out of his mind, Hole is my band, my name, and my Trademark". Shortly after this quarrel Love began posting new Hole logos, stage ideas, and guitar pick ideas on her Facebook page, implying, though not confirming, that Hole had reformed. In a later interview, just days before the expected release of Hole's Nobody's Daughter, Erlandson explained how "[Courtney's] management convinced me that it was all hot air and that she would never be able to finish her album. Now I'm left in an uncomfortable position."
In December 2009, three upcoming shows were announced in New York, Milan and Amsterdam, at The Standard Hotel's Boom Boom Room, the Magazzini Generali and Paradiso
Paradiso (Amsterdam)
Paradiso is an iconic rock music venue and cultural center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.-History:It is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century and that was used until 1965 as the meeting hall for a liberal Dutch religious group known as the "Vrije...
respectively, though flyers from the New York show credit the performer solely as Courtney Love. The official Paradiso website issued a press release the same month stating Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur is a Canadian rock musician from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her career has included 5 years as bassist with the band Hole and she later toured with The Smashing Pumpkins for their 2000 tour. Her second solo album, Out of Our Minds, was released on March 30, 2010. She is also a...
would partake in the show, but when asked by a fan on her official Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
fan page, Auf der Maur claimed that "[this] mysterious press release is news to me [...] putting my detective hat on now [...] more on this soon." The Paradiso's website claimed in January 2010 that "many quarrels are settled."
Auf der Maur stated in an interview with New York Magazine in April, 2010:
"Even in rock and roll, I believe there's a right and wrong. I'm still close friends with Eric, and he's the only one who can do anything on his end about it. He's a peaceful man who has made great efforts in his own life to find peace. I feel protective of the legacy of Hole and my memories in it. It wasn't even so much about doing a reunion. I told Courtney, 'I support the retrospective of everything done in that time. If and when you're ready to look at that, I'll support it.' What's so funny is that she can come out and say that I asked her to do a reunion. That's not exactly what was said. What I said was that I think a retrospective would be incredibly valuable right now and that's obviously not where she's at. I've always wished the best for her. I want her to be happy. I want her to be musical. I care about her well-being. When she gets an idea in her mind, that's what she stays with regardless of what other people think or feel."
Hole launched a new website, and an official Facebook page on January 1, 2010. The band played its first performance since the reunion on February 12, 2010 on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross was a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 2 November 2001. The programme featured Ross's take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews and live music from both a guest music group and the house band...
playing "Samantha". On February 17, 2010 they played a full set at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, with support from Little Fish
Little Fish (band)
Little Fish are a British garage rock band from Oxford, United Kingdom, formed in 2006 by vocalist and guitarist Julia "Juju" Sophie Heslop and drummer Neil "Nez" Greenaway....
. Further shows were performed at 02 Academy Brixton and SPIN's
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
annual SXSW
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
music festival, with further dates being added for the United States and United Kingdom in April and May 2010. Television appearances, in efforts to promote the upcoming album, include performing on Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
on April 27, Jimmy Kimmel Live! on April 29 and on Later with Jools Holland
Later with Jools Holland
Later... with Jools Holland is a contemporary British music television show hosted by Jools Holland. A spin-off of The Late Show, it has been running in short series since 1992 and is a part of BBC Two's late-night line-up, usually at around 11pm to 12 midnight...
on the 4th of May. On March 16, the first Hole single in ten years, and first from Nobody's Daughter was released, titled "Skinny Little Bitch
Skinny Little Bitch
"Skinny Little Bitch" is the fourteenth single from alternative rock group Hole. It is their first single in ten years and lead single from fourth studio album Nobody's Daughter. The single also marks the first release by Hole not to feature founding member Eric Erlandson...
". It was the most added song on alternative radio and the second most added song on active rock in early March in the United States, debuting at #32 on Billboard's Alternative Singles Chart.
Nobody's Daughter
Nobody's Daughter
Nobody's Daughter is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide on April 27, 2010 through Mercury Records. The album was originally conceived by Hole frontwoman Courtney Love as a solo project titled How Dirty Girls Get Clean, following her poorly-received solo debut...
was released on April 26 and 27, 2010 worldwide through Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
, and was received by music critics with moderately positive acclaim. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
gave the album three out of five stars, but noted "[while Love] was an absolute monster vocalist in the nineties, the greatest era ever for rock singers... She doesn't have that power in her lungs anymore — barely a trace. But at least she remembers, and that means something in itself." The magazine also referred to the album as "not a true success", but a "noble effort". Love's voice, which had been noticeably raspier (likely due to years of scream-singing, drug abuse, and smoking) was compared to the likes of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
.
NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, however, gave the album a 6/10 rating, and Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
rated it an "A-", saying, "Thing is, I can use some new punk rage in my life, and unless you're a fan of Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
and BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
Petroleum, so can you. What's more, better it come from a 45-year-old woman who knows how to throw her weight around than from the zitty newbies and tattooed road dogs who churn most of it out these days. I know--for her, BP Petroleum is just something else to pretend about. But the emotion fueling her pretense is cathartic nevertheless."
On March 28, 2011, Love, Erlandson, Patty Schemel and Auf der Maur appeared at the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
screening of Schemel's documentary Hit So Hard: The Life & Near Death Story of Patty Schemel at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
. The appearance was first time in thirteen years that all four members appeared together in public. Schemel has expressed a desire to record with Love, Erlandson and Auf der Maur stating "nothing has been discussed, but I have a feeling." After the screening, the four took part in a Q&A session where Courtney Love stated: "For me, as much as I love playing with Patty — and I would play with her in five seconds again, and everyone onstage — if it's not moving forward, I don't wanna do it. That's just my thing. There's rumblings; there's always bloody rumblings. But if it's not miserable and it's going forward and I'm happy with it… that's all I have to say about that question."
In May 2011, a video for "Samantha
Samantha (Hole song)
"Samantha" is a song by alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist Courtney Love, The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and music producer Linda Perry. The song was featured on the band's fourth studio album, Nobody's Daughter, in 2010...
" was shot. It was the first promotional video for Nobody's Daughter, over a year after its release, and Hole's first official music video in eleven years since "Be a Man
Be a Man
"Be a Man" is the thirteenth single by alternative rock band Hole and last before their breakup in 2002. The song was a co-written by Hole members Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson with contribution from frequent guest Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins...
" in 2000.
Current lineup
- Courtney LoveCourtney LoveCourtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
– lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1989–2002, 2009–present) - Micko LarkinMicko LarkinMichael Joseph "Micko" Larkin is an English musician of Irish background, most notable as the lead guitarist of the indie rock band Larrikin Love and more recently, Hole.-Early life and career :...
– lead guitar (2009–present) - Shawn Dailey – bass (2009–present)
- Stu FisherStu FisherStuart "Stu" Fisher is an English musician, notable for being the current drummer of alternative rock band Hole. Prior to becoming a member of Hole, Fisher was also the drummer of English psychedelic rock band Ozric Tentacles and also Fingermonster...
– drums, percussion (2009–present)
Former members
- Eric ErlandsonEric ErlandsonEric Erlandson is an American musician known as the co-founder, former songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole.-Early life and career:...
– lead guitar (1989–2002) - Samantha MaloneySamantha MaloneySamantha Maloney is an American musician best known for playing in the bands Hole, Mötley Crüe, Eagles of Death Metal and in Peaches' live band "The Herms".-Early career:...
– drums, percussion (1998–2000) - Melissa Auf der MaurMelissa Auf der MaurMelissa Auf der Maur is a Canadian rock musician from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her career has included 5 years as bassist with the band Hole and she later toured with The Smashing Pumpkins for their 2000 tour. Her second solo album, Out of Our Minds, was released on March 30, 2010. She is also a...
– bass, backing vocals (1994–1999) - Patty SchemelPatty SchemelPatricia Theresa Schemel is an American drummer, most notably known as the drummer of the alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998.-Early music career:Schemel learned to play drums after her father bought her a drum kit at age 11...
– drums, percussion (1993–1997) - Kristen PfaffKristen PfaffKristen Marie Pfaff was an American bass guitarist, best known for her work with Hole.-Early life and career:Pfaff was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, attending Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart. She spent a short time in Europe and briefly attended Boston College before ultimately...
– bass, backing vocals, piano (1993–1994) - Leslie HardyLeslie HardyLeslie Hardy plays keyboard in the rock and roll band The Murder City Devils. Hardy was also briefly the bassist for the band Hole. She left Hole in early 1993, and was replaced by Kristen Pfaff. In addition to playing music, Leslie is also a real estate agent in the Detroit, Michigan area...
– bass, backing vocals (1992) - Jill EmeryJill EmeryJill Emery is an American artist and former musician based in Los Angeles, California. Best known as the bassist for the alternative rock band Hole from 1990 until 1992, Emery left the band after the subsequent tour for the band's debut album, Pretty on the Inside and was replaced by Kristen Pfaff...
– bass (1991–1992) - Caroline Rue – drums, percussion (1989–1992)
- Lisa Roberts – bass (1989–1990)
- Errol StewartErrol StewartErrol Leslie Rae Stewart is a former South African cricketer and rugby union player. He attended Westville Boys' High School in Westville, Durban where he was selected for the SA schools cricket and rugby sides. He also was selected for Natal schools for Hockey and athletics...
– guitar (1989 1990) - Mike Geisbrecht – guitar (1989)
Discography
Studio albums- Pretty on the InsidePretty on the InsidePretty on the Inside is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. Released August 23, 1991 on Caroline Records, it was Hole's first major label release after their formation in 1989 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
(1991) - Live Through ThisLive Through ThisLive Through This is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. It was released by Geffen Records on April 12, 1994, just four days after frontwoman Courtney Love's husband, Kurt Cobain, was found dead in their home....
(1994) - Celebrity SkinCelebrity SkinCelebrity Skin is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide by Geffen Records on September 7, 1998 and one day later in the United States...
(1998) - Nobody's DaughterNobody's DaughterNobody's Daughter is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide on April 27, 2010 through Mercury Records. The album was originally conceived by Hole frontwoman Courtney Love as a solo project titled How Dirty Girls Get Clean, following her poorly-received solo debut...
(2010)
EPs
- Ask for ItAsk for ItAsk for It is the first EP by alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1995. It was the band's second and last release on Caroline Records, the first being their debut album Pretty on the Inside . Although the EP was released after 1994's platinum-selling Live Through This, its contents...
(1995) - The First SessionThe First SessionThe First Session is an EP by American alternative rock band Hole, released on August 26, 1997 on Sympathy for the Record Industry. The EP features the entire recording of the band's first ever studio session on March 17, 1990 and also a twenty-page booklet focusing on the band's early career prior...
(1997)
Compilation albums
- My Body, the Hand GrenadeMy Body, the Hand GrenadeMy Body, the Hand Grenade is a compilation album by alternative rock band Hole that includes b-sides, demo recordings, live songs, and other rarities and unreleased tracks by the band...
(1997) - IconIcon (Hole album)Icon is a compilation album by American alternative rock band, Hole, due to be released in 2011.-Background and history:Icon is due to be the band's first greatest hits collection and second compilation album, next to 1997's My Body, the Hand Grenade...
(2011)
Chart positions
US & Canada Billboard Album Chart peak positions| Year | Album | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "Live Through This Live Through This Live Through This is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. It was released by Geffen Records on April 12, 1994, just four days after frontwoman Courtney Love's husband, Kurt Cobain, was found dead in their home.... " |
US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
52 |
| 1995 | "Ask For It Ask for It Ask for It is the first EP by alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1995. It was the band's second and last release on Caroline Records, the first being their debut album Pretty on the Inside . Although the EP was released after 1994's platinum-selling Live Through This, its contents... " |
US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
172 |
| 1998 | "Celebrity Skin Celebrity Skin Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide by Geffen Records on September 7, 1998 and one day later in the United States... " |
US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
9 |
| 1998 | "Celebrity Skin" | Top Canadian Albums Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
3 |
| 2010 | "Nobody's Daughter Nobody's Daughter Nobody's Daughter is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide on April 27, 2010 through Mercury Records. The album was originally conceived by Hole frontwoman Courtney Love as a solo project titled How Dirty Girls Get Clean, following her poorly-received solo debut... " |
US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
15 |
| 2010 | "Nobody's Daughter" | Top Canadian Albums Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
11 |
| 2010 | "Nobody's Daughter" | Alternative Albums | 2 |
| 2010 | "Nobody's Daughter" | Rock Albums | 6 |
| 2010 | "Nobody's Daughter" | Digital Albums | 8 |
US & Canada Billboard Singles Chart peak positions
| Year | Single | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "Doll Parts Doll Parts "Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their sophomore studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour... " |
US Billboard Alternative Songs | 4 |
| 1994 | "Miss World Miss World The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951... " |
US Billboard Alternative Songs | 13 |
| 1995 | "Violet Violet (song) "Violet" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was written circa 1991, and was played at several live shows between 1991 and 1992 during Hole's Pretty on the Inside tours... " |
US Billboard Alternative Songs | 29 |
| 1995 | "Softer, Softest Softer, Softest "Softer, Softest" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by frontwoman Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released as the band's eighth single and fourth and final single from their second studio album, Live Through This, in December 1995... " |
US Billboard Alternative Songs | 32 |
| 1995 | "Asking For It Asking For It "Asking for It" is a song by alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released on the band's second studio album and major label debut, Live Through This, in April 1994... " |
US Billboard Alternative Songs | 36 |
| 1995 | "Doll Parts Doll Parts "Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their sophomore studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour... " |
US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
58 |
| 1996 | "Gold Dust Woman Gold Dust Woman "Gold Dust Woman" is a song from the best-selling Fleetwood Mac album Rumours. It was written and sung by Stevie Nicks and released as a B-side to the "You Make Loving Fun" single... " (cover) |
US Billboard Alternative Songs | 31 |
| 1998 | "Malibu Malibu (song) "Malibu" is the eleventh single by American alternative rock band Hole, and the second from their third studio album Celebrity Skin, released in November 1998... " |
US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
81 |
| 1998 | "Celebrity Skin Celebrity Skin Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide by Geffen Records on September 7, 1998 and one day later in the United States... " |
US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
85 |
| 1998 | "Celebrity Skin Celebrity Skin Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide by Geffen Records on September 7, 1998 and one day later in the United States... " |
US Billboard Alternative Songs | 1 |
| 1998 | "Malibu Malibu (song) "Malibu" is the eleventh single by American alternative rock band Hole, and the second from their third studio album Celebrity Skin, released in November 1998... " |
US Billboard Alternative Songs | 3 |
| 1998 | "Awful" | US Billboard Alternative Songs | 13 |
| 1999 | "Malibu Malibu (song) "Malibu" is the eleventh single by American alternative rock band Hole, and the second from their third studio album Celebrity Skin, released in November 1998... " |
US Billboard Adult Pop Songs | 37 |
| 2010 | "Skinny Little Bitch Skinny Little Bitch "Skinny Little Bitch" is the fourteenth single from alternative rock group Hole. It is their first single in ten years and lead single from fourth studio album Nobody's Daughter. The single also marks the first release by Hole not to feature founding member Eric Erlandson... " |
US Billboard Rock Songs Rock Songs Rock Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the airplay of songs on alternative, mainstream rock and triple A radio stations. The first chart was published in the issue dated June 20, 2009. "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day was the first number-one song. The Rock Songs... |
29 |
| 2010 | "Skinny Little Bitch Skinny Little Bitch "Skinny Little Bitch" is the fourteenth single from alternative rock group Hole. It is their first single in ten years and lead single from fourth studio album Nobody's Daughter. The single also marks the first release by Hole not to feature founding member Eric Erlandson... " |
US Billboard Alternative Songs | 19 |
Awards and nominations
Grammy AwardGrammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
|-
| || Celebrity Skin
Celebrity Skin
Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide by Geffen Records on September 7, 1998 and one day later in the United States...
|| Best Rock Album ||
|-
| || Celebrity Skin
Celebrity Skin (song)
"Celebrity Skin" is the tenth single by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 1, 1998 by Geffen Records. It is the debut single from their third studio album Celebrity Skin and is Hole's most commercially successful single, being the only one to reach #1 on the Modern Rock...
|| Best Rock Song ||
|-
| || Celebrity Skin
Celebrity Skin
Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide by Geffen Records on September 7, 1998 and one day later in the United States...
|| Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ||
|-
| || Malibu
Malibu (song)
"Malibu" is the eleventh single by American alternative rock band Hole, and the second from their third studio album Celebrity Skin, released in November 1998...
|| Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ||
|-
MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
|-
| || Doll Parts
Doll Parts
"Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their sophomore studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour...
|| Best Alternative Video ||
|-
| || Malibu
Malibu (song)
"Malibu" is the eleventh single by American alternative rock band Hole, and the second from their third studio album Celebrity Skin, released in November 1998...
|| Best Cinematography in a Video ||