Hole was an American
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band formed in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, California in
1989. It was founded by singer
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as t ...
and guitarist
Eric Erlandson
Eric Theodore Erlandson (born January 9, 1963) is an American musician, guitarist, and writer, primarily known as founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole from 1989 to 2002. He has also had several musical s ...
. It had several different bassists and drummers, the most prolific being drummer
Patty Schemel
Patricia Theresa Schemel (born April 24, 1967) is an American drummer and musician who rose to prominence as the drummer of alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998. Born in Los Angeles, Schemel was raised in rural Marysville, Washington, ...
, and bassists
Kristen Pfaff
Kristen Marie Pfaff (née Parco; May 26, 1967 – June 16, 1994) was an American musician, best known as the bassist for alternative rock band Hole from 1993 to 1994. Prior to Hole, Pfaff was the bassist and backing vocalist for Minneapolis-base ...
(d. 1994) and
Melissa Auf der Maur. Hole released a total of four studio albums between two incarnations spanning the 1990s and early-2010s and became one of the most commercially successful rock bands in history fronted by a woman.
Influenced by Los Angeles'
punk rock scene, the band's debut album, ''
Pretty on the Inside
''Pretty on the Inside'' is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 17, 1991, in the United States on Caroline Records. Produced by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, and Gumball frontman Don Fleming, the al ...
'' (1991), was produced by
Kim Gordon
Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...
of
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
, and attracted critical interest from British and American alternative press. Their second album, ''
Live Through This
''Live Through This'' is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 12, 1994, by DGC Records. Recorded in late 1993, it departed from the band's unpolished hardcore aesthetics to more refined melodies ...
'', released 1994 by
DGC Records
DGC Records (an initialism for the David Geffen Company) was an American record label that operated as a division of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, which is owned by the Universal Music Group.
History
DGC Records was launched in 1990 as a subsi ...
, which featured less aggressive melodies and more restrained lyrical content, was widely acclaimed and reached
platinum status within a year of its release. Their third album, ''
Celebrity Skin
''Celebrity Skin'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before the ...
'' (1998), marked a notable departure from their earlier punk influences, boasting a more commercially viable sound; the album sold around 2 million copies worldwide, and earned them significant critical acclaim.
They disbanded in 2002, and the members individually pursued other projects. Eight years later in 2010, Hole was reformed by Love with new members, despite Erlandson's claim that the reformation breached a mutual contract he had with her. The reformed band released the album ''
Nobody's Daughter
''Nobody's Daughter'' is the fourth and final studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 23, 2010, by Mercury Records. The album was initially conceived as a solo project and follow-up to the Hole frontwoman Courtn ...
'' (2010), which was conceived as Love's second solo album. In 2013, Love retired the Hole name, releasing new material and touring as a solo artist.
Hole received several accolades, including four
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
nominations. They were also commercially successful, selling over three million records in the United States alone, and had a far-reaching influence on contemporary female artists. Music and
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
scholars have also recognized the band as the most high-profile musical group of the 1990s to discuss gender issues in their songs, due to Love's aggressive and violent lyrical content, which often addressed themes of body image, abuse, and sexual exploitation.
Background
Hole formed after
Eric Erlandson
Eric Theodore Erlandson (born January 9, 1963) is an American musician, guitarist, and writer, primarily known as founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole from 1989 to 2002. He has also had several musical s ...
responded to an advertisement placed by
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as t ...
in ''
The Recycler
The Recycler was first published in July, 1973, under the name E-Z Buy E-Z Sell by Canadians Gunter and Nancy Schaldach after they moved to Los Angeles. They modeled their paper after a similar publication in Vancouver.
The Recycler changed the ec ...
'' in the summer of 1989. The advertisement read: "I want to start a band. My influences are
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 Nake ...
,
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
, and
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
." Erlandson recalled of their first meeting: "We met at this coffee shop, and I saw her and I thought "Oh, God. Oh, no, What am I getting myself into?" She grabbed me and started talking, and she's like "I know you're the right one", and I hadn't even opened my mouth yet."
[ (re-published in ''The '90s: The Inside Stories from the Decade That Rocked'' by Rolling Stone LLC)] In retrospect, Love said that Erlandson "had a
Thurston ">oorequality about him" and was an "intensely weird, good guitarist." In his 2012 book, ''
Letters to Kurt
''Letters to Kurt'' is a collection of poetry and essays by musician Eric Erlandson, published in April 2012 by Akashic Books. The book largely reads as a meditation on suicide idols, and as an elegy to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, whom Erlandso ...
'', Erlandson revealed that he and Love had a sexual relationship during their first year together in the band, which Love also confirmed.
Love had been living a nomadic life prior, immersing herself in numerous music scenes and living in various cities along the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
. After unsuccessful attempts at forming bands in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
(where she was briefly a member of
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/r ...
) and
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
, Love relocated to Los Angeles, where she found work as an actress in two
Alex Cox
Alexander B. H. Cox (born 15 December 1954) is an English film director, screenwriter, actor, non-fiction author and broadcaster. Cox experienced success early in his career with ''Repo Man (film), Repo Man'' and ''Sid and Nancy'', but since th ...
films (''
Sid and Nancy
''Sid and Nancy'' (also known as ''Sid and Nancy: Love Kills'') is a 1986 British biographical film directed by Alex Cox, co-written with Abbe Wool, and starring Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb. The film portrays the life of Sid Vicious, bassist of t ...
'' and ''
Straight to Hell''). Erlandson, a Los Angeles native and a graduate of
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...
, was working as an
accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy.
Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...
for
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
at the time he met Love.
Love originally wanted to name the band Sweet Baby Crystal Powered by God, but opted for the name Hole instead. During an interview on ''
Later... with Jools Holland'', she claimed the name for the band was partly inspired by a quote from
Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...
' ''
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
'' that read: "There is a hole that pierces right through me." She also cited a conversation with her mother as the primary inspiration for the band's name, in which her mother told her that she couldn't live her life "with a hole running through her."
[ Scans availabl]
here
. Love also acknowledged the "obvious" genital reference in the band's name, alluding to the
vagina
In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...
.
Career
1989–1991: Early work and indie success
![Hole 1989 LA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Hole_1989_LA.jpg)
In the months preceding the band's full formation, Love and Erlandson would write and record in the evenings at a rehearsal space in Hollywood, loaned to them by the
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...
; during the day, Love worked as a
stripper
A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event.
M ...
to support the band and purchase amplifiers and their
backline for live shows. Hole's first official rehearsal took place at Fortress Studios in Hollywood with Love, Erlandson and Lisa Roberts on bass. According to Erlandson, "these two girls show up dressed completely crazy, we set up and they said, "okay, just start playing something." I started playing and they started screaming at the top of their lungs for two or three hours. Crazy lyrics and screaming. I said to myself, "most people would just run away from this really fast. But I heard something in Courtney's voice and lyrics." Initially, the band had no percussion until Love met drummer Caroline Rue,
[ and later recruited a third guitarist, Mike Geisbrecht. Hole's first show took place at ]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, 6160 Hollywood Blvd. The space had previously been occupied by a Greek restaurant called The King's Palac ...
, a small bar in Hollywood, in September 1989. By early 1990, Geisbrecht and Roberts had both left the band, which led to the recruitment of bassist Jill Emery.
Hole released their no wave-influenced debut single "Retard Girl
"Retard Girl" is the debut single by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love, and released in April 1990 by Sympathy for the Record Industry. Recorded in March 1990, the single was produced by Love's ...
" in April 1990, and followed it with "Dicknail
"Dicknail" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist/guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released by Sub Pop Records as the band's second single in February 1991 on 7" vinyl. The song ...
" in 1991, released on Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry (also known as Sympathy Records or Sympathy 4 the R.I.) is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by Long Gone John. The first Sympathy release was the Lazy Cowgirls' ''Radio Cowgirl'' LP ...
and Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...
, respectively. According to disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer
Rodney Bingenheimer (born December 15, 1946) is an American radio disc jockey who is best known as the host of ''Rodney on the ROQ'', a radio program that ran on the Los Angeles rock station KROQ from 1976 to 2017. In the early 1970s, he also ma ...
, Love would often approach him at a Denny's
Denny's (also known as Denny's Diner on some of the locations' signage) is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,700 restaurants in many countries.
Description
Originally opened as a Diner, coffee shop un ...
on Sunset Blvd. where he went for coffee in the mornings, and convinced him to give "Retard Girl" airtime on his station KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock").
The stat ...
.
In 1991, the band signed onto Caroline Records
Caroline Records is a record label originally founded in 1973. Initially founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976, and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. ...
to release their debut album, and Love sought Kim Gordon
Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...
of Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
to produce the record. She sent a letter, a Hello Kitty
, also known by her full name , is a fictional Character (arts), character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphi ...
barrette, and copies of the band's early singles to her, mentioning that the band greatly admired Gordon's work and appreciated "... the production of the SST record" (either referring to Sonic Youth's album ''Sister
A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...
'' or ''EVOL Evol may refer to:
* ''Evol'' (Sonic Youth album), 1986
* ''Evol'' (Future album), 2016
* EvoL, South Korean girl group
* "E.V.O.L.", a song by Marina and the Diamonds
* ' Kamen Rider Evol', the main antagonist of a Japanese tokusatsu series, Ka ...
''). Gordon, impressed by the band's singles, agreed to produce the album, with assistance from Gumball's Don Fleming. The album, titled ''Pretty on the Inside
''Pretty on the Inside'' is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 17, 1991, in the United States on Caroline Records. Produced by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, and Gumball frontman Don Fleming, the al ...
'', was released in September 1991 to positive reception from underground critics, branded "loud, ugly and deliberately shocking," and earned a spot on ''Spin''s "20 Best Albums of the Year" list. It was also voted album of the year by New York's ''Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...
'' and peaked at number 59 on the UK albums chart. The album spawned one single, "Teenage Whore
"Teenage Whore" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole. It is the first track on the band's debut studio album, ''Pretty on the Inside'' (1991), and was released as a single in the United Kingdom on the European label, City Slang in ...
", 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, ''Pretty on the Inside'' was abrasive and drew on elements of punk rock and sludge metal
Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...
, characterized by overt noise and feedback, chaotic guitar riffs, contrasting tempos, graphic lyrics, and a variation of Love's vocals ranging from whispers to guttural screaming. In later years, Love referred to the album as "unlistenable", despite its critical accolades and eventual cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
. The band embarked on a European tour in the fall of 1991 supporting Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. Orig ...
. They also toured intermittently in the United States between July and December 1991, playing primarily at hard rock and punk clubs, including CBGB
CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...
and the Whisky a Go Go
The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boul ...
, where they opened for The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamb ...
. In a write-up by the ''Los Angeles Times'' on the band's final show of the tour, it was noted that Love smashed the headstock of her Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a range ...
guitar onstage.
In mid-1991, the band began to get the attention of the major labels. The first to court them was Maverick
Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to:
History
* Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick
Aviation
* AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design
* General Aviation Design Burea ...
— a Warner
Warner can refer to:
People
* Warner (writer)
* Warner (given name)
* Warner (surname)
Fictional characters
* Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, stars of the animated television series ''Animaniacs''
* Aaron Warner, a character in ''Shatter Me s ...
subsidiary founded by Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
and music executive Freddy DeMann Frederick DeMann is a film producer, music executive, and co-founder of Maverick Records.
During his music career, he managed Michael Jackson, Madonna and Shakira. During DeMann's tenure, Michael Jackson's albums '' Off the Wall'' and '' Thriller' ...
. Love, however, was uninterested: "hey
Hey or Hey! may refer to:
Music
* Hey (band), a Polish rock band
Albums
* ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014
* ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980
* ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
would have me riding on elephants. They don't know what I am. For them, I'm a visual, period." She was also uneasy about sharing the spotlight on a label so heavily associated with one of the industry's most iconic female performers. In a 1992 interview with Vanity Fair, Love described Madonna's interest as "kind of like Dracula's interest in his latest victim."
1992–1999: Mainstream success
1992–1995: ''Live Through This''
Love and Erlandson began writing new material for a second Hole album in 1992, in the midst of Love's pregnancy with Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
frontman Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
. Love's desire to take the band in a more melodic and controlled rock format led bassist Emery to leave the band, and drummer Caroline Rue followed. In an advertisement to find a new bass player, Love wrote: " wantsomeone 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." In April 1992, drummer Patty Schemel
Patricia Theresa Schemel (born April 24, 1967) is an American drummer and musician who rose to prominence as the drummer of alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998. Born in Los Angeles, Schemel was raised in rural Marysville, Washington, ...
was recruited after an audition in Los Angeles, but the band spent the remainder of the year without a bassist; Love, Schemel, and Erlandson began to write material together in the interim.[
Hole signed to Geffen's subsidiary DGC label with an eight-album contract in late 1992. In the spring of 1993, the band released their single " Beautiful Son", which was recorded in Seattle with producer ]Jack Endino
Jack Endino (born Michael M. Giacondino; 1964) is an American producer and musician based in Seattle, Washington. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands including Mudhon ...
as a fill-in bass player; Love also played bass on the single's b-side "20 Years In the Dakota", as well as on their contribution to the 1993 Germs tribute album '' A Small Circle of Friends''. In the spring of 1993, Love and Erlandson recruited Janitor Joe
Janitor Joe was an American noise rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, in 1992. The band's founding members were vocalist and guitarist Joachim Breuer, former member of the Minneapolis-based rock band Bastards, bassist and v ...
bassist Kristen Pfaff
Kristen Marie Pfaff (née Parco; May 26, 1967 – June 16, 1994) was an American musician, best known as the bassist for alternative rock band Hole from 1993 to 1994. Prior to Hole, Pfaff was the bassist and backing vocalist for Minneapolis-base ...
, and the band toured the United Kingdom in the summer of that year (including the Phoenix Festival on July 16), mainly performing material from their upcoming major label debut, ''Live Through This'', which they recorded at Triclops Studios in Marietta, Georgia in October 1993.
''Live Through This
''Live Through This'' is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 12, 1994, by DGC Records. Recorded in late 1993, it departed from the band's unpolished hardcore aesthetics to more refined melodies ...
'' was released on April 12, 1994, one week after Love's husband, Kurt Cobain, was found dead in his Seattle home. In the wake of Love's family tragedy, ''Live Through This'' was a critical success. It spawned several popular singles, including "Doll Parts
"Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole (band), Hole, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their second studio album, ''Live Through This'', ...
", "Violet
Violet may refer to:
Common meanings
* Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue
* One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly:
** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants
Places United States
* Viol ...
", and "Miss World
Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss Int ...
", going multi-platinum and being hailed "Album of the Year" by ''Spin'' magazine. ''NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' called the album "a personal but secretive thrash-pop opera of urban nihilism and passionate dumb thinks," 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'', rumors circulated insinuating that Cobain had actually written the majority of the album, though the band vehemently denies this. The band's drummer Patty Schemel, who had been friends with Cobain since the late 1980s, said: "There's that myth that Kurt obainwrote all our songs— it's not true. Courtney and Eric wrote ''Live Through This''." The band 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 and engineers 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 is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
and Yoko."
In 1994, bassist Kristen Pfaff went into a drug treatment facility to treat her heroin addiction. Pfaff contemplated leaving the band for health reasons. In June 1994, she was found dead of a heroin overdose in the bathroom of her Seattle home, 2 months after the death of Cobain. The band put their impending tour on hold, pulling out of the upcoming Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...
festival.
Recruiting bassist Melissa Auf der Maur over the summer, they commenced their world tour on August 26 at the Reading Festival
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
in England, giving a performance that John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
described as "teetering on the edge of chaos." The band embarked on a worldwide tour throughout late 1994 and for the duration of 1995, with appearances at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas
Almost Acoustic Christmas is an annual concert run by the Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM.
The first show was held in December 1989, though then it was simply called the KROQ Xmas Bash. In 1990 the show became bigger and attracted increasingl ...
, ''Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'', the Big Day Out
The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...
festival, ''MTV Unplugged
''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...
'', the 1995 Reading Festival
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
, Lollapalooza 1995, and at the ''MTV Video Music Awards
The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...
'', where they were nominated for the "Doll Parts" music video.
Love's reckless stage presence during the tour became a media spectacle, drawing press from MTV and other outlets due to her unpredictable performances. While touring with Sonic Youth, Love got into a physical fight with Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968) is an American singer, musician, artist, feminist activist, pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. In the early-to-mid-1990s she was the lead singer of feminist punk band B ...
backstage at a 1995 Lollapalooza festival and punched her in the face. In an August 1995 band interview with ''Rolling Stone'', drummer Patty Schemel formally came out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
as a lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
, saying: "It's important. I'm not out there with that fucking pink flag or anything, but it's good for other people who live somewhere else in some small town who feel freaky about being gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
to know that there's other people who are and that it's okay." In a retrospective interview, Schemel said:
Toward the end of the tour, the band released their first EP, titled '' Ask for It'', in September 1995; it featured 1991 Peel session
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
recordings, as well as covers of songs by Wipers and The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise w ...
. The band performed its last show of the year on September 3, 1995, at the Molson Polar Beach Party in Tuktoyaktuk
Tuktoyaktuk , or ''Tuktuyaaqtuuq'' (Inuvialuktun: ''it looks like a caribou''), is an Inuvialuit hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, at the northern terminus of the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway.Montgomery, ...
, Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
, Canada. The concert was a promotional event for the Molson Brewery
The Molson Brewery is a Canadian based brewery company based in Montreal which was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors.
Molson Coors maintains some of its Can ...
, and also featured performances by Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
, Veruca Salt
Veruca Salt is an American alternative rock band founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1992 by vocalist-guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post, drummer Jim Shapiro and bassist Steve Lack. They are best known for their first single, " Seether", that ...
, and Moist.
1996–1999: ''Celebrity Skin''
In 1996, the band recorded and released a cover of Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
's "Gold Dust Woman
"Gold Dust Woman" is a song from British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac's 11th studio album, '' Rumours'' (1977). The song was written and sung by Stevie Nicks and released as a B-side to the " Don't Stop" single (in the UK) and the "You Make ...
" for '' The Crow: City of Angels'' (1996) soundtrack, the band's first studio song to feature Melissa Auf der Maur on bass, and produced by Ric Ocasek
Richard Theodore Otcasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019), known as Ric Ocasek, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the primary co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the rock ...
. Hole released two retrospective albums during this time: firstly, their second EP, titled '' The First Session'' (1997), which consisted 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
Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a special ...
", which had previously been unreleased to the public. The same year, the band released their first compilation album, ''My Body, The Hand Grenade
''My Body, the Hand Grenade'' is the first and only compilation album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on October 28, 1997, through the band's European label, City Slang Records. It was also imported for sale in the United Stat ...
'' (1997), featuring early singles, b-sides and recent live tracks.
In 1997, the band entered Conway Recording Studios
Conway Recording Studios is a recording studio in Hollywood, California.
People and awards
Conway started in the early 1970s as a mastering studio. In 1976, the studio began recording albums, including projects by Elton John and Stevie Wond ...
in Los Angeles after attempts to write new material in Miami, New Orleans, London, and New York.[ Recorded over a ten-month period, Hole's third studio album, '']Celebrity Skin
''Celebrity Skin'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before the ...
'' (1998), adopted a complete new sound for the band, incorporating elements of power pop, and had Love drawing influences from Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
and My Bloody Valentine. According to Erlandson, Love was more focused on song-writing and singing than playing guitar on the record; Love stated that her aim for the album was to "deconstruct the California sound" in the L.A. tradition of bands like The Doors
The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...
, The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
and The Byrds
The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...
. In addition to Hole, Smashing Pumpkins
Smash may refer to:
People
* Smash (wrestler) (born 1959), professional wrestler
* Moondog Rex, another professional wrestler who briefly wrestled as the original Smash, before being replaced by the above.
* DJ Smash, DJ and music producer
Art, ...
frontman Billy Corgan
William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the lead singer, primary songwriter, guitarist, and only permanent member of the rock band the ...
entered the studio and helped perfect five of the album's twelve songs. Love, who felt she was in a creative slump, likened Corgan's presence in the studio to "a math teacher who wouldn't give you the answers but was making you solve the problems yourself."
Upon the album's release, Corgan told ''CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
'' that he should have "been given credit or writing the entire album
Or or OR may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* "O.R.", a 1974 episode of List of M*A*S*H episodes (Season 3), M*A*S*H
* Or (My Treasure), a 2004 movie from Israel (''Or'' means "light" in Hebrew)
Music
* Or (album), ''Or ...
" 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 illy
Illycaffè S.p.A. (branded and stylised as illy) is an Italian coffee company specializing in espresso, headquartered in Trieste. Illy markets its coffee globally in silver and red pressurized, oxygen-free cans; operates a network of cafes on s ...
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
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
*
*
* The term has a nega ...
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 is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or pseudoscience. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may b ...
."
Although Schemel is listed as drummer in the liner notes of the record, her drumming does not actually appear on the record; she was replaced by session drummer Deen Castronovo
Deen J. Castronovo (born August 17, 1964) is an American drummer and singer, best known for being a member of classic rock band Journey and hard rock acts Bad English and Hardline. He currently plays drums and shares lead vocals for the bands Jo ...
, under pressure from producer Michael Beinhorn
Michael Beinhorn is a North American record producer, composer, author and musician. He has produced albums for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Hole, Violent Femmes and Marilyn Manson.
Career 1977-1983: Early Years, Material, Herbie Hanco ...
. After the replacement, Schemel quit the band.[''Hit So Hard'' (2011) Documentary. Well Go USA (DVD).] Though Love and Erlandson had authorized Schemel's replacement, both expressed regret in retrospect, and Love stated in 2011 that Beinhorn was notorious for replacing drummers on records, and referred to him as "a Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
". After Schemel's departure, the band hired drummer Samantha Maloney
Samantha Maloney (born December 11, 1975) is an American musician best known for playing in the bands Hole and Mötley Crüe. She has also performed live with Eagles of Death Metal and Peaches.
Early career
Maloney received her first drum-kit a ...
for their upcoming tours and music videos.
''Celebrity Skin'' was a critical success with strong sales and successful singles, including the title track, "Celebrity Skin
''Celebrity Skin'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before the ...
", " Malibu", and " Awful". The album received largely 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 peaked at number 9 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and garnered the band its first and only number 1 single, "Celebrity Skin", which topped the Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...
. "Malibu", released December 29, 1998, was the album's second single; it charted at number 3 on the Modern Rock Tracks.
1999–2002: Final tour and disbandment
In the winter of 1998–99, Hole went on tour to promote ''Celebrity Skin'', joining Marilyn Manson
Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...
, who was promoting his album, ''Mechanical Animals
''Mechanical Animals'' is the third studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on September 15, 1998, by Interscope Records. The album marked a major shift from the industrial metal and alternative metal styles of t ...
'' (1998) on the "Beautiful Monsters Tour
The Beautiful Monsters Tour was a North American concert tour co-headlined by American rock bands Hole and Marilyn Manson. Launched in support of each band's respective third full-length studio LPs, 1998's ''Celebrity Skin'' and ''Mechanical A ...
".[ 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, and the 50/50 financial arrangement between the groups, with Hole's production costs being disproportionately less than Manson's.] Manson and Love often mocked one another onstage, and Love attacked Manson's stage antics, which included tearing up a Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
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. Hole officially announced that they would be dropping out of the tour after a poorly received concert at the Rose Garden Arena
Moda Center, formerly known as the Rose Garden, is the primary indoor sports arena in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is used for basketball, ice hockey, rodeos, circuses, conventions, ice shows, concerts, and dramatic productions. The arena h ...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, which ended with Manson fans booing the band.
The band continued to book shows and headline festivals after dropping off Manson's tour, and according to 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 performance. On June 17, 1999, during Hole's set at the Hultsfred Festival
The Hultsfred Festival ( sv, Hultsfredsfestivalen) was an annual music festival held in Hultsfred, Sweden. It took place at the lake Hulingen during three days in the June or July, from Thursday to Saturday. Since the first festival in 1986, it ...
in Sweden, a 19-year-old girl died after being crushed by the mosh pit behind the mixing board. Hole played its final show at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver on July 14, 1999.
In October 1999, Auf der Maur quit Hole and went on to become a touring bassist for The Smashing Pumpkins. Samantha Maloney also quit a few months later. The band's final release was a single for the movie ''Any Given Sunday
''Any Given Sunday'' is a 1999 American sports drama film directed by Oliver Stone depicting a fictional professional American football team. The film features an ensemble cast, including Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, Jam ...
'' (1999). " Be a Man", released in March 2000, was an outtake from the ''Celebrity Skin'' sessions. In April 2002, Love called The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...
and said she had written nine songs with songwriter Linda Perry
Linda Perry (born April 15, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, and has since founded two record labels and composed and produced hit songs for ...
, but less than a month later Love and Erlandson officially disbanded Hole via a message posted on the band's website.[ 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 RRIICCEE with controversial artist ]Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo (born 1961) is an American actor and director. He has had supporting roles in films such as ''Arizona Dream'' (1993), ''The House of the Spirits'' (1993), ''Palookaville'' (1995), and '' The Funeral'' (1996). His lead roles include ...
. Love began a solo career, releasing her debut, '' America's Sweetheart,'' in 2004, featuring several of the songs written with Perry. Melissa Auf der Maur also embarked on a solo career, and released her self-titled
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
debut album in 2004, which included Erlandson performing lead guitar on the track, "Would If I Could." Her second album, '' Out of Our Minds,'' was released in March 2010. Hole's body of work from its inception to its first disbandment includes thirteen singles, three LPs, three EPs,[ and one compilation album.
]
2009–2013: Reformation and name dispute
On June 17, 2009, seven years after Hole's disbandment, ''NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' reported that Love was re-forming the band with guitarist Micko Larkin
Michael "Micko" Joseph Larkin (born 13 October 1986) is an English musician, most notable as the lead guitarist of the indie rock band Larrikin Love and reformed Hole.
Biography 1986–2006: Early life and career
Larkin was born in Hammersmith ...
for an upcoming album, on which Melissa Auf der Maur would be providing backup vocals. Days later, Melissa Auf der Maur stated in an interview that she was unaware of any reunion, but said Love had asked her to contribute harmonies to an upcoming album. In response, Eric Erlandson stated in an interview with ''Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' magazine that a reunion could not take place without his involvement, citing that he and Love "have a contract."
Hole launched a new website and various social media pages on January 1, 2010, and performed on ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme features Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show) ...
'' in February. On February 17, 2010, they played a full set at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...
, with support from Little Fish. On March 16, the first Hole single in ten years was released, titled " Skinny Little Bitch"; it peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Rock Chart, and at No. 21 on the Alternative Singles chart. The track also received airplay on Active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...
and alternative radio.
''Nobody's Daughter
''Nobody's Daughter'' is the fourth and final studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 23, 2010, by Mercury Records. The album was initially conceived as a solo project and follow-up to the Hole frontwoman Courtn ...
'' was released on April 26, 2010, worldwide on Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
, and was received moderately well by music critics. ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' gave the album three out of five stars, but noted " hile Lovewas 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 become noticeably raspier, was compared to the likes of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
. ''NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' gave the album a 6/10 rating, and Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
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 () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
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." In support of the release, Hole toured extensively between 2010 and 2012 throughout North America and Europe,[ as well as performing in Russia and Brazil.
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 and Near-Death Story of Patty Schemel'' at the ]Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
. The appearance was the first time in thirteen years that all four members appeared together in public. Schemel had 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 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 music video for "Samantha
Samantha (or the alternatively Samanta) is primarily used as a feminine given name. It was recorded in England in 1633 in Newton Regis, Warwickshire. It was also recorded in the 18th century in New England, but its etymology is uncertain.
Specu ...
" was shot in Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, although it remained officially unreleased. In September 2011, Scott Lipps joined the band, replacing drummer Stu Fisher. In April 2012, Love, Erlandson, Auf der Maur and Schemel reunited at the Public Assembly in New York for a two-song set, including "Miss World" and the Wipers' "Over the Edge," at an after-party for the ''Hit So Hard'' documentary. The performance marked the first time the four members performed together since 1998 after Schemel's departure and the 2002 breakup of the band.
On December 29, 2012, Love performed a solo acoustic set in New York City, and in January 2013, performed at the Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
under her own name. She booked further performances across North America as a solo act, with Larkin, bassist Shawn Dailey, and Lipps as her backing band.
2014–2016: Second disbandment
On December 28, 2013, Love posted two photos of herself with Erlandson on Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
and Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, with a caption reading: "And this just happened ... 2014 going to be a very interesting year." Love also tagged Tagged may refer to:
* Tagged (website), a social discovery website
* Tagged (web series), an American teen psychological thriller web series
{{disambiguation ...
Melissa Auf der Maur as well as Hole's former manager, Peter Mensch
Peter Mensch (born March 28, 1953) is an American music manager.
He started his career in music management at the age of 26, managing AC/DC. In 1982, Mensch formed the management company Q Prime with Cliff Burnstein. Their first client was Def L ...
, in the post, alluding to a reconciliation with Erlandson and possible reunion in 2014.
On April 2, 2014, ''Rolling Stone'' reported that the ''Celebrity Skin
''Celebrity Skin'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before the ...
'' line-up of the band had reunited (with Patty Schemel in lieu of Samantha Maloney). ''Rolling Stone'' erroneously reported Love's upcoming solo single, "Wedding Day" to be a product of this reunion. Shortly after, Love curtailed her statement, saying: "We may have made out but there is no talk of marriage. It's very frail, nothing might happen, and now the band are all flipping out on me." On May 1, in an interview with ''Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'', Love discussed the possibility of a reunion, and also stated it had been "a mistake" releasing ''Nobody's Daughter'' as a Hole record in 2010. "Eric was right—I kind of cheapened the name, even though I'm legally allowed to use it. I should save "Hole" for the lineup everybody wants to see and had the balls to put ''Nobody's Daughter'' under my own name." Love further discussed the possibility of reuniting the band, saying:
No one's been dormant. Patty teaches drumming and drums in three indie bands. Melissa has her metal-nerd thing going on—her dream is to play Castle Donington with Dokken
Dokken is an American glam metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. It split up in 1989 and reformed four years later. The band had several hit singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, such as " Alone Again", " In My Dreams", and " Burn ...
. Eric hasn't flipped—I jammed with him, he's still doing his Thurston oore
Oore is a village in Tori Parish, Pärnu County in southwestern Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Fin ...
crazy tunings, still corresponding with Kevin Shields
Kevin Patrick Shields (born 21 May 1963) is an American-born Irish musician, singer-songwriter, composer, and producer, best known as the vocalist and guitarist of the band My Bloody Valentine. They became influential on the evolution of alter ...
. We all get along great. There are bands who reunite and hate each others' guts.
2019–present: Possible reformation and attempted reunions
In October 2019, Hole rehearsed at the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...
, in Los Angeles. Nothing transpired after the event, since Love had relocated to the United Kingdom afterwards. In March 2020, Love and Auf Der Maur planned a performance at the "Bans Off My Body" event, which was eventually canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Artistry
Composition
Initially, Hole drew inspiration from no wave and experimental bands, which is evident in their earliest recordings, specifically "Retard Girl
"Retard Girl" is the debut single by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love, and released in April 1990 by Sympathy for the Record Industry. Recorded in March 1990, the single was produced by Love's ...
", but frontwoman Love also drew from a variety of influences. Love cited post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
group Echo & the Bunnymen and classic rock such as Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
[ and ]Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
. The band's first album, ''Pretty on the Inside'', was heavily influenced by noise and punk rock, using discordant melodies, distortion, and feedback, with Love's vocals ranging from whispers to guttural screams. Love described the band's earliest songwriting as being based on "really crazy Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
tunings." Nonetheless, Love claimed to have aimed for a pop sound early on: "There's a part of me that wants to have a grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...
band and another that wants to have a Raspberries
The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...
-type pop band,"[ she told ''Flipside'' magazine in 1991. Both Love and Erlandson were fans of the notorious LA punk band the Germs. 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
Chord may refer to:
* Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve
* Chord ( ...
and it was the only punk rock song we could play."
The band's second album ''Live Through This'', captured a less abrasive sound, while maintaining the group's original punk roots. "I want this record to be shocking to the people who don't think we have a soft edge, and at the same time, o know
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...
that we haven't lost our very, very hard edge," Love told VH1 in 1994. The group's third album, ''Celebrity Skin'', incorporated power pop into their hard rock sound, and was heavily inspired by California bands; Love was also influenced by Fleetwood Mac and My Bloody Valentine while writing the album. The group's 2010 release, ''Nobody's Daughter'', featured a more folk rock-oriented sound, utilizing acoustic guitar and softer melodies.
The group's chord progression
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...
s by and large drew on elements of punk music, which Love described as "grungey", although not necessarily grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...
. Critics described their song style as "deceptively wispy and strummy," combined with "gunshot guitar choruses."[ Although the group's sound changed over the course of their career, the dynamic between beauty and ugliness has often been noted, particularly due to the layering of harsh and abrasive riffs which often bury more sophisticated arrangements.][ ]
Lyrical content
In a 1991 interview, Love stated that lyrics were "the most important" element of songwriting for her.[ Her lyrics explored a variety of themes throughout Hole's career, including ]body image
Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in a number of disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, ps ...
, rape, child abuse
Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...
, addiction, celebrity
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
, suicide, elitism, and inferiority complex; all of which were addressed mainly from a female, and often feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
standpoint. This underlying feminism in Love's lyrics often led the public and critics to mistakenly associate her with the riot grrrl
Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultur ...
movement, of which Love was highly critical.[ ]
In a 1991 interview with Everett True
Everett True (born Jeremy Andrew Thackray on 21 April 1961) is an English music journalist and musician. He became interested in rock music after hearing The Residents, and formed a band with school friends. He has written and recorded as The ...
, Love said: "I try to place eautiful imagerynext to fucked up imagery, because that's how I view things ... I sometimes feel that no one's taken the time to write about certain things in rock, that there's a certain female point of view that's never been given space." Charles Cross has referred to her lyrics on ''Live Through This'' as being "true extensions of her diary," and she has admitted that a great deal of the lyrics from ''Pretty on the Inside'' were excisions from her journals.
Throughout Hole's career, Love's lyrics were often influenced by literature: The title of the band's second album ''Live Through This'', for example (as well as lyrics from the track " Asking for It") is directly drawn from ''Gone With the Wind
Gone with the Wind most often refers to:
* ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell
* ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel
Gone with the Wind may also refer to:
Music
* ''Gone with the Wind'' ...
''; and the group's single "Celebrity Skin
''Celebrity Skin'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before the ...
" (the title track to their 1998 album), contains quotes from Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''The Merchant of Venice
''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.
Although classified as ...
'' and Dante Rossetti
Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...
's poem ''A Superscription''. Love had had a minor background in literature, having briefly studied English literature in her early twenties.
Performances
Throughout the duration of the 1990s, the band received widespread media coverage due to Love's often rambunctious and unpredictable behavior onstage. The band often destroyed equipment and guitars at the end of concerts,[ and Love would ramble between songs, bring fans onstage, and stage dive, sometimes returning with her clothes torn off of her or sustaining injuries.] In a 1995 ''New York Magazine
''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...
'' article, journalist John Homans addressed Love's frequent stage diving during Hole's concerts:
The most shocking, frightening, and fascinating image in rock in the last few years is Courtney Love's stage dive ... When some male performers do it, it looks like muscular, frat-boy fun, controlled aggression ... For obvious reasons, the practice was strictly no-girls-allowed, but Love, typically, decided that she wanted to do it, too. Groped, ravaged, she compared the experience to being rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
d, wrote a song about it, and now does it just about every show.
Nina Gordon
Nina Rachel Gordon Shapiro (born November 14, 1967), known as Nina Gordon, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-founded the alternative rock band Veruca Salt and played on their first two studio albums, ''American Thighs'' ( ...
of Veruca Salt
Veruca Salt is an American alternative rock band founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1992 by vocalist-guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post, drummer Jim Shapiro and bassist Steve Lack. They are best known for their first single, " Seether", that ...
, who toured with Hole in 1995, recalled Love's erratic behavior onstage, saying "She would just go off and he rest of the bandwould just kind of stand there." The majority of Love's chaotic behavior onstage was a result of heavy drug use at the time, which she admitted: "I was completely high on dope; I cannot remember much about it." She later criticized her behavior during that time, saying: "I awpictures of how I looked. It's disgusting. I'm ashamed. There's death and there's disease and there's misery and there's giving up your soul ... The human spirit mixed with certain powders is not the person, it's demonic presence."
Love's stage attire also garnered notoriety, influenced in part by Carroll Baker
Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American former actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in t ...
's wardrobe in the film ''Baby Doll
''Baby Doll'' is a 1956 American dramatic black comedy film directed by Elia Kazan, and starring Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, and Eli Wallach. It was produced by Kazan and Tennessee Williams, and adapted by Williams from his own one-act play '' ...
'' (1956). The style was later dubbed "kinderwhore
Kinderwhore was a clothing style used by a handful of mostly female grunge bands in the US during the early to mid-1990s. The kinderwhore look consisted of torn, ripped tight or low-cut babydoll and Peter-Pan-collared dresses, slips, knee-socks ...
" by the media, and consisted of babydoll dresses, slip
Slip or SLIP may refer to:
Science and technology Biology
* Slip (fish), also known as Black Sole
* Slip (horticulture), a small cutting of a plant as a specimen or for grafting
* Muscle slip, a branching of a muscle, in anatomy
Computing and ...
s and nightgown
A nightgown, nightie or nightdress is a loosely hanging item of nightwear, and is commonly worn by women and girls. A nightgown is made from cotton, silk, satin, or nylon and may be decorated with lace appliqués or embroidery at the bust and hem ...
s, and smeared makeup. Kurt Loder
Kurtis Loder (born May 5, 1945) is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at ''Rolling Stone'', during a tenure that ''Reason'' later called "legendary". He has contribute ...
likened her onstage attire to a "debauched ragdoll", and John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
noted in his review of the band's 1994 Reading Festival performance, that "ove
Ove or OVE may refer to
* Ove (given name)
* Ové, a surname
* Ove Peak in Antarctica
*'' A Man Called Ove (novel)'', a novel by Fredrik Backman
*'' A Man Called Ove'', a 2015 Swedish film based on the novel
* Danish Organisation for Renewable Ener ...
swaying wildly and with lipstick smeared on her face, hands and, I think, her back, as well as on the collar of her dress, ... would have drawn whistles of astonishment in Bedlam. The band teetered on the edge of chaos, generating a tension which I cannot remember having felt before from any stage." ''Rolling Stone'' referred to the style as "a slightly more politically charged version of grunge; apathy turned into ruinous angst, which soon became high fashion's favorite pose."
The band's set lists for live shows were often loose, featuring improvisational jams and rough performances of unreleased songs. By 1998, their live performances had become less aggressive and more restrained, although Love continued to bring fans onstage, and would often go into the crowd while singing.
Legacy
Hole was one of the most commercially successful female-fronted alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
bands in history, selling over 3 million records in the United States between 1991 and 2010. In spite of Love's often polarizing reputation in the media, Hole received consistent critical praise for their output, and was often noted for the predominant feminist commentary found in Love's lyrics, which scholars have credited as "articulating a third-wave feminist
Third-wave feminism is an iteration of the feminist movement that began in the early 1990s, prominent in the decades prior to the fourth-wave feminism, fourth wave. Grounded in the civil-rights advances of the second-wave feminism, second wave, G ...
consciousness". Love's subversive onstage persona and public image coincided with the band's songs, which expressed "pain, sorrow, and anger, but nunderlying message of survival, particularly survival in the face of overwhelming circumstances." Music journalist Maria Raha
Maria Raha (born 1972) is an American author and rock journalist from New York. She graduated from Ithaca College.
She specializes in the American rock underground. She has worked for major music publications such as ''Vibe'' and '' Spin'' as w ...
expressed a similar sentiment in regard to the band's significance to third-wave feminism, stating, "Whether you love Courtney ove
Ove or OVE may refer to
* Ove (given name)
* Ové, a surname
* Ove Peak in Antarctica
*'' A Man Called Ove (novel)'', a novel by Fredrik Backman
*'' A Man Called Ove'', a 2015 Swedish film based on the novel
* Danish Organisation for Renewable Ener ...
or hate her, Hole was the highest-profile female-fronted band of the '90s to openly and directly sing about feminism."
While ''Rolling Stone'' compared the effect of Love's marriage to Cobain on the band to that of John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
and Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
, they noted that "Love's confrontational stage presence, as well as her gut-wrenching vocals and powerful punk-pop songcraft, made her an alternative-rock star in her own right." Author Nick Wise made a similar comparison in discussion of the band's public image, stating, "Not since Yoko Ono's marriage to John Lennon has a woman's personal life and exploits within the rock arena been so analyzed and dissected."
The band has been cited as a major influence on several contemporary artists, including indie singer-songwriter Scout Niblett
Emma Louise Niblett (born 29 September 1973), better known by the stage name Scout Niblett, is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Niblett debuted in 2001 with her first full-length studio album '' Sweet Heart Fever'', and ...
, Brody Dalle
Brody Dalle (born Bree Joanna Alice Robinson; 1 January 1979) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. She began playing music in her adolescence and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18, where she founded the punk rock band The Di ...
(of The Distillers
The Distillers are an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by vocalist and guitarist Brody Dalle. Dalle co-wrote, played guitar and provided lead vocals for nearly every track on the band's three albums. After the ...
and Spinnerette
Spinnerette was an alternative rock band formed in 2007. The band was a vehicle for the solo career of Brody Dalle following the breakup of her previous band, The Distillers, in 2006. The band featured Tony Bevilacqua (also from The Distillers) ...
), Sky Ferreira
Sky Tonia Ferreira (born July 8, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, model, and actress. As a teenager, Ferreira began uploading videos on Myspace of herself singing songs she had written, which led to her discovery by producers Bloods ...
, Lana Del Rey
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent ...
, Tove Lo
Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson (born 29 October 1987), known professionally as Tove Lo (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She has been called "Sweden's darkest pop export" by ''Rolling Stone.'' She is known for her raw, grunge-influenced take o ...
, Tegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara () are a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta. The band is led by identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin (born September 19, 1980). Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumental ...
, Annie Hardy
Annie Summer Hardy (born June 5, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. She is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter of the indie rock band Giant Drag, which she formed in 2003. After releasing their debut EP, '' ...
(of Giant Drag
Giant Drag is an American indie rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2003 by singer and guitarist Annie Hardy and drummer and keyboardist Micah Calabrese. After releasing their debut EP, '' Lemona'' in 2004, the band released their d ...
), Victoria Legrand
Victoria Garance Alixe Legrand (born May 28, 1981) is a French-American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter and keyboardist of the dream pop duo Beach House.
Early life
Legrand was born in Paris, France, the daughter of painte ...
(of Beach House
Beach House is an American musical duo formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. The band consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals).
Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 to ...
), and the British rock band Nine Black Alps
Nine Black Alps are an English alternative rock band, formed in 2003 in Manchester. The band consists of vocalist-guitarist Sam Forrest, guitarist David Jones, drummer James Galley and bassist Karl Astbury.
Taking their name from "The Couriers ...
. The band ranked at number 77 on VH1's ''100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists'' list.
Materials loss
In 2008 a fire swept through Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusemen ...
destroying buildings belonging to Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
. It was confirmed, in 2019, that the entire Hole back catalogue, along with hundreds of other artists' music, was completely lost, meaning reissues and remasters are now unlikely. Courtney Love and the band were one of the artists suing UMG for the loss; however, on August 16, 2019, the band was removed from that lawsuit as it was amended "based on UMG's representations that none of Hole's original masters were destroyed (subject to confirmation)".
Members
Timeline
ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20
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Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1989 till:04/14/2012
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Colors =
id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:Backing value:pink legend:Backing_vocals
id:Lead value:teal legend:Lead_guitar
id:Rhythm value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar
id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums
id:album value:black legend:Studio_album
id:ep value:gray(0.6) legend:EP
id:bars value:gray(0.95)
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ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1989
LineData =
layer:back
color:album
at:09/17/1991
at:04/12/1994
at:09/08/1998
at:04/23/2010
color:ep
at:09/08/1995
at:08/26/1997
BarData =
bar:Courtney text:"Courtney Love"
bar:Eric text:"Eric Erlandson"
bar:Mike text:"Mike Geisbrecht"
bar:Micko text:"Micko Larkin"
bar:Lisa text:"Lisa Roberts"
bar:Jill text:"Jill Emery"
bar:Leslie text:"Leslie Hardy"
bar:Kristen text:"Kristen Pfaff"
bar:Melissa text:"Melissa Auf der Maur"
bar:Shawn text:"Shawn Dailey"
bar:Caroline text:"Caroline Rue"
bar:Patty text:"Patty Schemel"
bar:Samantha text:"Samantha Maloney"
bar:Stu text:"Stu Fisher"
bar:Scott text:"Scott Lipps"
PlotData=
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Courtney from:01/01/1989 till:05/31/2002 color:Vocals
bar:Courtney from:12/31/1989 till:05/31/2002 color:Rhythm width:3
bar:Courtney from:01/01/2010 till:04/14/2012 color:Vocals
bar:Courtney from:01/01/2010 till:04/14/2012 color:Rhythm width:3
bar:Eric from:01/01/1989 till:05/31/2002 color:Lead
bar:Eric from:04/13/2012 till:04/14/2012 color:Lead
bar:Mike from:01/01/1989 till:12/31/1989 color:Rhythm
bar:Micko from:01/01/2010 till:04/12/2012 color:Lead
bar:Caroline from:01/01/1989 till:03/31/1992 color:Drums
bar:Patty from:04/01/1992 till:09/01/1998 color:Drums
bar:Patty from:04/13/2012 till:04/14/2012 color:Drums
bar:Samantha from:09/01/1998 till:01/01/2000 color:Drums
bar:Stu from:01/01/2010 till:08/31/2011 color:Drums
bar:Scott from:08/31/2011 till:04/12/2012 color:Drums
bar:Lisa from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1990 color:Bass
bar:Jill from:01/01/1990 till:03/31/1992 color:Bass
bar:Leslie from:04/01/1992 till:12/31/1992 color:Bass
bar:Kristen from:01/01/1993 till:06/16/1994 color:Bass
bar:Kristen from:01/01/1993 till:06/16/1994 color:Backing width:3
bar:Melissa from:08/26/1994 till:10/31/1999 color:Bass
bar:Melissa from:08/26/1994 till:10/31/1999 color:Backing width:3
bar:Melissa from:04/13/2012 till:04/14/2012 color:Bass
bar:Melissa from:04/13/2012 till:04/14/2012 color:Backing width:3
bar:Shawn from:01/01/2010 till:04/14/2012 color:Bass
Discography
* ''Pretty on the Inside
''Pretty on the Inside'' is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 17, 1991, in the United States on Caroline Records. Produced by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, and Gumball frontman Don Fleming, the al ...
'' (1991)
* ''Live Through This
''Live Through This'' is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 12, 1994, by DGC Records. Recorded in late 1993, it departed from the band's unpolished hardcore aesthetics to more refined melodies ...
'' (1994)
* ''Celebrity Skin
''Celebrity Skin'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before the ...
'' (1998)
* ''Nobody's Daughter
''Nobody's Daughter'' is the fourth and final studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 23, 2010, by Mercury Records. The album was initially conceived as a solo project and follow-up to the Hole frontwoman Courtn ...
'' (2010)
Accolades
{, class="wikitable unsortable plainrowheaders"
, -
! scope="col" , Award
! scope="col" , Year
! scope="col" , Category
! scope="col" , Nominated work(s)
! scope="col" , Result
! scope="col" class="unsortable",
, -
! scope="row" rowspan=4, Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
, rowspan=3, 1999
, Best Rock Album
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre. Honors in sev ...
, ''Celebrity Skin
''Celebrity Skin'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before the ...
''
,
, rowspan=3 style="text-align:center;",
, -
, Best Rock Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several ...
, rowspan=2, "Celebrity Skin
''Celebrity Skin'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before the ...
"
,
, -
, rowspan=2, Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group
,
, -
, 2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
, " Malibu"
,
, style="text-align:center;",
, -
! scope="row" rowspan=2, MTV Video Music Awards
The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...
, 1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
, Best Alternative Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video (also known as Best Alternative Music Video) was first given out at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. Prior to being called Best Alternative Video, it was known as Best Post-Modern Video in 1989 a ...
, "Doll Parts
"Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole (band), Hole, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their second studio album, ''Live Through This'', ...
"
,
, style="text-align:center;",
, -
, 1999
, Best Cinematography
, " Malibu"
,
, style="text-align:center;",
, -
! scope="row" rowspan=3, NME Awards
The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine ''NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding of ...
, rowspan=3, 1999
, Best Band
, Hole
,
, rowspan=3,
, -
, Best Album
, ''Celebrity Skin
''Celebrity Skin'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before the ...
''
,
, -
, Best Single
, "Celebrity Skin
''Celebrity Skin'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before the ...
"
,
, -
! scope="row", ''Spin'' Readers' Poll Awards
, 1994
, Album of the Year
, ''Live Through This
''Live Through This'' is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 12, 1994, by DGC Records. Recorded in late 1993, it departed from the band's unpolished hardcore aesthetics to more refined melodies ...
''
,
, style="text-align:center;",
References
Sources
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External links
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Hole
at ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hole
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