Chicks Who Rock

Love then relocated to Minneapolis, MN, and formed the all-female post-punk group Babes in Toyland with Kat Bjelland. The band achieved notoriety through the pairs "baby doll" image, later referred to as the "kinderwhore" image. Bjelland eventually tossed her out of the band. After working as a stripper in Alaska, Love returned to Los Angeles to pursue a career in Hollywood. After well received roles in Sid and Nancy (1986) and Straight to Hell (1987) She started Hole in 1989 with Eric Erlandson (guitar), Jill Emery (bass), and Caroline Rue (drums). The group played their first gig in November, after only three months of rehearsal, and quickly started releasing singles on the Long Beach, California, independent label Sympathy for the Record Industry.

In 1990 Love met Kurt Cobain in Portland’s Satyricon club. Both Hole and Cobains Seattle based Grunge band Nirvana were relatively unknown at the time. Hole’s debut album Pretty on the Inside was released in early 1991 on Caroline Records and was produced by Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and Don Fleming of the band Gumball. It sold well for an independent release and received favourable reviews in the British alternative music press but was largely overlooked in the U.S. Nirvana however were enjoying huge international success with their 1991 album "Nevermind".

Rumours about the couples drug abuse and wild lifestyles soon began to circulate in the media making Love a household name by the time they married in February 1992. Six months later Love gave birth to the couples only daughter Frances Bean Cobain. After only a short period of marriage, Cobain’s life began spiralling out of control and his drug abuse (allegedly) led him to suicide with a shotgun blast to the head in 1994. Amidst the tragedy, in which many Nirvana fans blamed Love for the suicide, Hole released their second album, "Live Through This", only one week after Cobains body was found.

Hole were struck by tragedy again when bassist Kristen Pfaff died of an apparent heroin overdose on June 16, 1994, just two months after Cobain's death and the new album's release. The band recruited 22-year-old bassist Melissa Auf der Maur a few months later. Meanwhile, “Live Through This” was a commercial and critical success. Rolling Stone, Spin and the Village Voice all declared it “Album of the Year”, and by November the record was certified gold. By April 1995, it went platinum. Hole then performed a successful stint on the 1995 Lollapalooza tour. On the back of this success Hole released "My Body, the Hand Grenade", a collection of b-sides, demo recordings, live songs, and other rare and unreleased tracks. 

In 1998, Hole released their third and final studio album "Celebrity Skin". The album entered the Billboard 200 at #9 and went on to go multi-platinum. The second single from the album, "Malibu", saw Love receive a Grammy nomination for the Best Rock Vocal. The title track was also a huge success, being the only Hole single to reach #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. In 2002, after sales of over 8 million, Hole officially disbanded making the announcement via a message posted at the band's official website.

In 2004 Love released her first solo album “America’s Sweetheart ”. Promotion of the record was overshadowed by Love's personal troubles, which included several arrests and a custody battle over her daughter which she lost. Though some critics gave the album positive reviews, it was a commercial flop, selling about 130,000 copies in the U.S. and 250,000 worldwide.

In June 2005, three months after being released from court-ordered drug rehabilitation, Love started recording her second solo LP, Nobody's Daughter. An anti-cocaine song entitled “Loser Dust”, as well as several other new songs (“My Bedroom Walls”, “Pacific Coast Highway”, “Sunset Marquis”) were written during rehab. Former 4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry is producing the record, which also features the writing contributions and recording collaboration from The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan.

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