in 1988, courtney love had set out in her way to be a successful actress. she tried, although without success, auditioning for role in major films. during that time she found herself getting more and more interested in the musical scene and was impressed with bands such as sonic youth, which proves to be a major influence in the musical production of hole.

courtney was in and out of numerous bands, she sang for the band that would become faith no more. formed a band called 'Sugar Baby Doll' with kat bjelland. formed 'Babes In Toyland' with kat bjelland and jenifer finch. then kicked out from babes in toyland, not once, not twice, but thrice.

courtney then started her own band, hole, and deciding that she would head to los angeles in hope of searching for like-minded musicians. she placed an advertisement in a local newspaper. one of the replies she received came from eric erlandson , they immediately hit it off. earlier, courtney had bought her neighbor, Lisa, a used bass. so the earliest line up of hole (which was supposed to be called 'sweet baby crystal powered by god') comprised of courtney, eric and lisa. lisa was then kicked out for being 'beyond death rock' courtney and eric were in a relationship for over a year.

there are several sources speculating where the name hole came from. one being quote by courtneys mother saying, "courtney, you cant go walking around with a hole in yourself just because youve had a bad childhood." while another points out the relationship of the word hole as in the abyss which signifies emptiness inside from a greek tragedy, medea, written by a greek dramatist, euripides. while others believe from courtneys known sexual aggression, hole refers to female genitalia. caroline rue, drummer, was first to join the band after a few auditions, whom they met a gwar show. after that came jill emery, bassist, who is also known for her paintings on several hole releases (the most recognized one is the back cover of pretty on the inside)

after playing at several clubs in los angeles and releasing several singles such as 'retard girl', 'dicknail', which proved quite a success among the cult scene and gain its popularity worldwide. the band released their first album 'pretty on the inside' in 1991. the album was co-produced by kim gordon of sonic youth. pretty on the inside was named one of the top 100 albums of the decade. not long after that, caroline rue and jill emery left the band. no reason was given public, although it was rumored that jill was fired after a recording session. jill went to play with mazzy star and as far as we know, thats where she still works. the positions were quickly filled by patty schemel , drums, and leslie hardy, bass. patty used to play with kill sybil, during that time their album hit top 40 spot. pattys drumming has become quite an influence in the development of hole. she also became the first woman ever appeared on the cover of 'drum world' the band played extensively in north america and europe. the tours were highly acclaimed.

in 1992, the band was taken aback, when courtney became pregnant, got married to kurt cobain, and gave birth to frances bean, the only daughter born to kurt cobain and courtney love. courtney faced accusation of drug usage during her pregnancy which she furiously denies. this puts her to the 'real world of the press'. she was rather bitter about it, "its the lying i cant stand." and "if you lie about it, i will hit you and kurt will shoot you."

in 1993, the band was back on its feet again, back to recording their second full length album, live through this which was released in 1994. leslie had left the band earlier and was replaced by kirsten pfaff who worked for an independent band, janitor joe. they met at a small gig and kirsten was accepted into the band. they claimed that for the first time they were like a real band. eric and kirsten also developed a close relationship. they signed a million dollar record deal with geffen, which is even more than what nirvana received when they started. the band set out to work on this album. which is a huge transformation from the first. from the aggressive grinding to a more of a somewhat softer tune' (eric: "It's easy when the music is more in your face and aggressive, but now we've made a pop record.") although the anger is still present, eric has proved his skills by switching from his initial power driven chords into more of an 'easy listening' delicate acoustic tunes. still troubled by her personal problems during that time, courtney was under great pressure and she claimed that live through this could have been a better album. the bands trouble is not over yet. courtney was struck by the suicide of her husband, kurt cobain in april 1994, just before LTT was released. then in june 1994, kristen was found dead in her bathroom from drug overdose. eric was probably the most grieving person of this incident.

once again hole had to start pulling itself together, billy corgan, courtneys former boyfriend, had suggested melissa auf der maur a canadian born bassist, who formerly played in a band named tinker. melissa declined the offer at first, but she later accepted.

holes first gig with the new line up began in august 94 at the reading festival. hole then did a brief tour with nine inch nail and courtney and trent reznor were rumored to be a couple. although she always refused. courtney now refers to trent as three inch nail (go figure!)

at the end of 94, hole went on a major us tour, thus gaining popularity for LTT, the album went gold. then platinum. violet and dollparts made it to top 20. the year ended with hole performing for saturday nights live on christmas day. during this time, love was arrested for the 'little' fight she had with a flight attendant on qantas airline on her way to australia. apparently she was asked by the flight attendant to put her feet down and that she would be reported if she didnt. courtneys reply was merely 'go the fuck ahead' for some reason, no one ever knew about or could explain, it was illegal to say 'fuck' on an australian airline. hole appeared on mtv unplugged on valentines day. the show was a success. hole produced another ep, ask for it in 95, it contains some live and previously unreleased tracks. it was not as popular, however.

hole released my body the hand grenade , earlier 1998, once again, it contains rare and unreleased tracks. followed by 'first session' which their first ever studio recording session. shortly after finishing their new album, celebrity skin, patty schemel left the band cited 'personal reasons' hole's new drummer, samantha maloney, originally with the band, shift, joined them on tours.

hole's latest album, celebrity skin has proven to be a major success. this has put hole in a new phase. some fans label them as 'sell outs' and some adore them more. they are currently on tour around the world. their success is bigger than ever.

written by: Ride and sources last: 5 June 99