Hole

Courtney Love's widely scrutinized public persona as Hole's vocalist and guitarist long eclipsed the music her band produced. In its earliest form, Hole ranked among the loudest and most abrasive alternative acts active during the first years of the 1990s. By the arrival of their second album, 1994's Live Through This, the group had tempered many of its harsher textures while introducing greater melodic emphasis and stronger hooks into its compositions. Love's combative and confrontational character infused the songs and lyrics of both lineups, lending the music an unsettled, volatile quality even during its calmer passages.

She assembled Hole in Los Angeles during 1989 after guitarist Eric Erlandson responded to a classified advertisement she placed. Prior to forming the band, Love had performed with early configurations of both Babes in Toyland and Faith No More. Erlandson and Love later brought in bassist Jill Emery and drummer Caroline Rue, then recorded their debut with Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon serving as producer. Released on Caroline Records in 1991, the raw and unyielding Pretty on the Inside received widespread acclaim, particularly from Britain's weekly music publications.

In early 1992 Courtney Love wed Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. For several months the pair occupied the center of the emerging rock scene before that prominence collapsed. Cobain developed a heroin dependency, and the couple struggled to retain custody of their child after Vanity Fair published allegations that Love had used the drug during pregnancy—an accusation she strongly rejected at the time, though she later conceded to having consumed limited amounts. By 1993 their personal circumstances had stabilized enough for both Cobain and Love to begin recording new albums with their respective groups.

Midway through 1993 Love reconstituted Hole around Erlandson, enlisting bassist Kristen M. Pfaff and drummer Patty Schemel. The revamped lineup prepared to issue its first major-label release, the more pop-leaning Live Through This, on DGC Records in April 1994. Early critical reaction proved highly enthusiastic, with numerous writers already ranking the record among the year's strongest. Four days prior to its street date, Kurt Cobain was discovered deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the couple's Seattle residence; the act had occurred three days earlier.

Two months after Cobain's passing, Kristen M. Pfaff died of a heroin overdose in a Seattle apartment amid reports that Love, deeply shaken by the successive losses, had resumed using the substance. Two months later Hole resumed touring, replacing Pfaff with bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur. Late in 1994 the single "Doll Parts" appeared and reached the Top 60 by the start of 1995. Live Through This dominated numerous year-end critics' lists, including those compiled by Rolling Stone and the Village Voice. Hole then joined the fifth Lollapalooza package and remained on the road through the rest of the year.

Despite the surrounding turmoil, the album marked the band's commercial breakthrough, generating several MTV and radio hits before earning platinum certification early the next year. An extended hiatus followed, during which many observers concluded the group had disbanded as Love appeared to concentrate on her expanding film career in titles such as Feeling Minnesota and The People vs. Larry Flynt. Two rarities collections surfaced to meet fan demand: the 1995 EP Ask for It and the 1997 import My Body, the Hand Grenade.

After repeated postponements the band reconvened to record a successor to Live Through This, enlisting longtime associate Billy Corgan as musical consultant. Celebrity Skin finally appeared in September 1998 to positive notices, though Schemel departed around the same period for undisclosed reasons. Former Shift drummer Samantha Maloney assumed the role as the group launched its first substantial tour in two years. By the tour's conclusion, Auf Der Maur had joined the Smashing Pumpkins while Maloney later served as a temporary drummer for Mötley Crüe. Although Skin achieved platinum status shortly after release, Love expressed dissatisfaction with the label's handling and filed suit against the Universal Music Group in an attempt to exit her contract—under which she still owed five albums—so she could distribute music independently online.

In early 2001 Love revealed plans for a new project called Bastard. Signed to Epitaph, the initial roster featured Love, former Veruca Salt guitarist Louise Post, former Rockit Girl bassist Gina Crosley, and, to the satisfaction of longtime Hole supporters, the return of Schemel on drums. In characteristic fashion the lineup soon shrank to Love and Schemel alone, and the venture dissolved before producing any material. Despite the absence of a concrete new undertaking, Love formally announced Hole's dissolution in May 2002, stating that the split remained amicable and that she would continue friendly relations with former members.

She issued her debut solo album, America's Sweetheart, in 2004. The following year she began writing fresh material while contending with an alleged eating disorder and a rehabilitation stint after violating probation through drug use. Collaborating with figures including producer Linda Perry, Billy Corgan, and guitarist Micko Larkin, formerly of Larrikin Love, the project that became Nobody's Daughter took shape across 2006 and 2007. In mid-2009 Love declared that Nobody's Daughter would instead be released as a Hole album. She promoted the record vigorously in early 2010 through European and American concerts—including appearances at the South by Southwest Festival and on The Late Show with David Letterman—prior to its release.