Hole | Artist

Band member Kristen Pfaff died in 1994 at the age of 27, tragically joining that illustrious group of brilliant yet ill-fated artists known as the "27 Club"

Hole was an American alternative rock band formed 1989 in Los Angeles, California, by singer and guitarist Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson. The first lineup also included Jill Emery (bass), Caroline Rue (drums), Mike Geisbrecht (guitar) and Errol Stewart (guitar). Guitarists Geisbrecht and Stewart lasted less than a year, and the band's rhythm section also changed frequently. Bassist Kristen Pfaff died of a drug overdose in 1994. The band was started by Courney Love, an itinerant actress/musician and former wife of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. In their early days Love worked as a stripper during the day to support the band and purchase amplifiers for their live shows. Hole released their no-wave influenced debut single "Retard Girl" in April 1990, followed by "Dicknail" in 1991. In 1991 the band signed with Caroline Records to release their debut album Pretty on the Inside, which was produced by Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. The album spawned one single "Teenage Whore", which entered the UK Indie Chart at number one, as well as the band's debut music video for the song "Garbadge Man". The band's second album Live Through This, released in 1994, was a critical and commercial success. Before disbanding in 2012, they released four studio albums plus numerous EP's and Singles. Standouts include Pretty on the Inside (1991), Live Through This (1994), Celebrity Skin (1998) and the 1997 compilation My Body, The Hand Grenade. 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, rape, child abuse, addiction, celebrity, suicide, elitism, and inferiority complex; all of which were addressed mainly from a female, and often feminist standpoint. She went on to say "I try to place beautiful imagery next 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." Hole was one of the most commercially successful female-fronted alternative rock bands in history, selling over 3 million records in the US between 1991-2010. Love's subversive public image and song lyrics expressed pain, sorrow, and anger, with an underlying message of survival in the face of overwhelming circumstances. Courtney Love claimed the name for the band was partly inspired by a quote from Euripides' Medea that read: "There is a hole that pierces right through me."

Artist Website: wikipedia/Hole_(band)

Featured Albums: Hole

Related Artists: Courtney Love, Pagan Babies, Nirvana

Collections: 27 Forever