Hole, an American rock group, was founded in 1989 by Courtney Love (lead singer and rhythm guitarist) and Eric Erlandson (lead guitar). The group had multiple different bassists and drummers, the most prolific of the latter being Patty Schemel, and of the former, Kristen Pfaff and Melissa Auf der Maur. The group broke up in 2012 but had been a big hit. They released a total of four studio albums and became one of the most known and successful rock groups founded by a woman to this day. Their debut album Pretty on the Inside was released in 1991 and has sold over 200,000 copies. This album includes songs “Teenage W***e”, “Babydoll”, “Garbage Man”, “Sassy”, “Good Sister/Bad Sister”, “Mrs Jones”, “Berry”, “Loaded”, “Star Belly”, and “Pretty On The Inside”. The most popular song was “Teenage W***e”.
They then released their second album Live Through This in 1994 with DGC Records. This album is known for incorporating elements of punk, grunge, and pop rock music in one. Live Through This went platinum within a year of its release. This album carries the songs “Violet”, “Miss World”, “Plump”, “Asking for It”, “Jennifer’s Body”, “Doll Parts”, “Credit in the Straight World”, “Gutless”, “Softer, Softest”, and “Olympia”. This album sold 1.5 million copies and was ranked in Rolling Stone’s 2020 updated list of “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” at number 106.
In 1998, they released their third album Celebrity Skin, holding the songs “Awful”, “Petals”, “Celebrity Skin”, “Malibu”, “Reasons To Be Beautiful” , “Heaven Tonight”, “Boys On The Radio”, “Use Once & Destroy”, “Playing Your Song”, “Northern Star”, “Hit So Hard”, and “Dying”. This album sold around 1.4 million copies in the United States alone and 2 million copies worldwide. It was the last album the group released before their first breakup in 2002.
Eight years after their breakup, the band reformed and released the album Nobody’s Daughter in 2010. This album includes the songs “Nobodys Daughter”, “Skinny B***h”, “Honey”, “Pacific Coast Highway”, “Samantha”, ”Someone Else’s Bed”, “For Once In Your Life”, “Letter To God”, “Loser Dust”, “How Dirty Girls Get Clean”, “Never Go Hungry”, “Happy Ending Story”, and “Codine”. Three years later, Love decided to end the band for good and started releasing her own material as a solo artist.
The band Hole was gifted with several accolades and four Grammy Award nominations. Music and feminist scholars have acknowledged the group as the most prominent musical group of the 1990’s to talk about gender problems in their music. Overall, Hole was a very successful group and is still talked about to this day.
