Hole lyrics and Hole guitar tabs, Hole pictures and biography

US hardcore guitar band fronted by the effervescent Courtney
Love
(b. 9 July 1965, San Francisco, California, USA; vocals,
guitar). An ex-stripper and actress, who had minor roles in Alex
Cox's Sid And Nancy and Straight To Hell, she was born to hippie
parents
( Grateful Dead associate Hank Harrison and Oregon
therapist Linda Carroll) and even attended Woodstock as a small
child. She spent the rest of her childhood years at boarding schools
in England and New Zealand, where her parents had bought a sheep
farm, before travelling around the world in her teens. She spent some
time in San Francisco, joining an ill-fated Sugar Baby Doll
(with L7 's
Jenifer Finch and Kat Bjelland), and also participated in a formative
line-up of Bjelland's Babes In Toyland. In Los Angeles, Love appeared
for a while as vocalist with Faith No More in an incarnation that only
reached the rehearsal stage. Still in LA, she formed Hole with Caroline
Rue
(drums), Jill Emery
(bass) and Eric Erlandson
(b. 9 January 1963,
Los Angeles, California, USA; guitar), following encouragement from
Sonic Youth 's Kim Gordon. The band quickly produced a trio of fine
singles; 'Retard Girl', 'Dicknail', and 'Teenage Whore', which were pointed
and unsettling dirges, set in a grimly sexual lyrical environment. Favourable
UK press coverage, in particular from the Melody Maker 's resident
sycophant Everett True, helped make Hole one of the most promising
new groups of 1991. Equally impressive was a debut album, produced
by Don Fleming
( Gumball, B.A.L.L., etc.) and Kim Gordon
( Sonic
Youth ), followed by massive exposure supporting Mudhoney throughout
Europe. It was on this jaunt that Love achieved further notoriety by being
the first woman musician to 'trash' her guitar on stage in the UK. In March
1992 Love married Nirvana singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain. That same
month bassist Emery departed from the group line-up, with Rue following
shortly afterwards. Love's domestic travails continued to dominate coverage
of her musical project, with Cobain's death on the eve of the release of Live
Through This practically obliterating that album's impact. This served to do
the much-maligned Love a genuine disservice, as the album contained
another startling collection of songs, written with intellect as well as
invective. It included 'I Think That I Would Die', co-written with old
friend and sparring partner Kat Bjelland, as well as a cover version of
the Young Marble Giants' 'Credit In The Straight World'. Replacements
for Emery and Rue had been found in Kristen Pfaff
(bass) and Patty
Schemel
(b. 24 April 1967, Seattle, Washington, USA; drums), though
tragedy again followed Love when Pfaff was found dead from a heroin
overdose in her bathtub shortly after the album's release, and just two
months after Cobain's death. She was replaced by Melissa Auf Der
Maur
(b. 17 March 1972, Montreal, Canada) for Hole's 1994 tour,
which extended into the following year with stays in Australasia
and Europe. These dates again saw Love dominate headlines with violent
and/or inflammatory stage behaviour. In 1997 she moved back into acting
with a starring role in The People Vs Larry Flynt. My Body The Hand Grenade
was a compilation of rare and unreleased material from the group's early days,
compiled by Erlandson.