The Black Belles is an American all-female "

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band formed in Nashville in 2009. The band consist of

Olivia Jean Olivia Jean Markel White (born February 23, 1990) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She is known as the lead singer and guitarist of the all-female " garage goth" rock band the Black Belles. Early life Jean was ra ...

(vocals, guitar, keyboard), Ruby Rogers (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Shelby Lynne (drums, backing vocals). Former musicians include Tina NoGood (keyboard), Lil' Boo (keyboard), and Erin Belle.

History

The Black Belles were formed in 2009 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. Original members consisted of musicians

(vocals, guitar), Ruby Rogers (bass guitar), and Shelby Lynn (drums, percussion). In 2009

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

, musician and founder of

Third Man Records Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Tennessee, Detroit, Michigan, and Soho, London—with ...

, discovered and signed The Black Belles to his label. Prior to the bands formation White received a demo of solo recordings by Jean. In 2009, Jean was invited by White to record her songs in Nashville at Third Man Records. Because Jean did not have a band, White introduced her to musicians Shelby Lynne and Ruby Rogers. The group went into the studio and recorded a handful of Jean's original songs. Regarding their start with Third Man Records, Jean said in an interview, "I did it for myself, but I didn't play anything live, because I didn't have a band. But once we all met, we kind of collaborated together and shared ideas, threw all those ideas together and we had a lot of material to work with." After their success in the studio, the group decided to become a band. The band name was inspired by the legend of Bell Witch Cave located in Adams, Tennessee. The band's musical style and aesthetic is heavily based on their mutual interest in garage rock,

goth rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

, and goth culture. They are known for wearing their signature wide brimmed hats that resemble witches hats. The band's gothic look and sound later led to a collaboration with television host and scream queen icon

Elvira Elvira is a female given name. First recorded in medieval Spain, it is likely of Germanic (Gothic) origin. Elvira may refer to: People Nobility * Elvira Menéndez (died 921), daughter of Hermenegildo Gutiérrez and wife of Ordoño II of Leó ...

In 2010 Jack White produced the bands first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

consisting of "What Can I Do?" (a song from Jean's demo) and a cover of

The Knickerbockers The Knickerbockers were an American garage rock band formed in Bergenfield, New Jersey in 1964. They released the 1965 hit " Lies", which was known for its resemblance to the Beatles. The band was formed in 1964 by the brothers Beau Charles (g ...

"Lies". The bands debut album ''The Black Belles'', also produced by Jack White, was released on October 8, 2011. The band gained attention re-releasing "What Can I Do?" with Elvira, who used the song as the theme for her television show

Elvira's Movie Macabre ''Elvira's Movie Macabre'' (titled on-screen as ''Movie Macabre with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark'' in its original run), or simply ''Movie Macabre'', is an American hosted horror movie television program that originally aired locally from 1981 ...

. In 2011, the band recorded a single with comedian and talk show host

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...

. The single was based on Colbert's comedic love song "Charlene (I'm Right Behind You)". The Black Belles performed the b-side of the single "Charlene II (I'm Right Behind You)" live on ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show fo ...

''. The band saw moderate success with touring; however, in 2012 the band was put on hiatus. Olivia Jean went on to pursue her career as a solo artist. In 2014, Jean released her solo album, ''Bathtub Love Killings'', also with Third Man Records.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Belles All-female bands Garage rock groups from Tennessee Musical groups from Nashville, Tennessee Musical groups established in 2009 Third Man Records artists