name	Hole
background	group_or_band
origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
genre	Alternative rock, grunge, punk rock, noise rock, power pop
years active	–2002, 2009–present
label	Sympathy for the Record Industry, Sub Pop, Caroline, DGC/Geffen, City Slang, Mercury
associated acts	Sugar Babydoll, Pagan Babies, Doll Squad, Babes In Toyland, Janitor Joe, Tinker, Rodney & the Tube Tops, The Smashing Pumpkins, RRIICCEE, MAdM, Bastard, The Chelsea, Larrikin Love, Ozric Tentacles
website
current members	Courtney LoveMicko LarkinShawn DaileyStu Fisher
past members	Eric ErlandsonLisa RobertsCaroline RueMike GeisbrechtErrol StewartJill EmeryPatty SchemelLeslie HardyKristen PfaffMelissa Auf der MaurSamantha Maloney }}

Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. Hole achieved considerable commercial and critical success throughout the 1990s.

The band made a splash in the underground rock scene in 1991 with their debut album, ''Pretty on the Inside'', which was musically and lyrically abrasive, noted for its predominant punk and noise rock influence. Their second studio album, ''Live Through This'' (1994), which featured a more streamlined and grunge-oriented sound, received vast critical accolades upon release and has been regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, as well as the group's most notable work.

As the band progressed into the later 1990s, they incorporated elements of pop rock into their sound; the band's third album, ''Celebrity Skin'' (1998), fused hard rock with various pop elements, contrasting to their previous styles. ''Celebrity Skin'' went on to be the band's most commercially successful album, garnering them immense critical attention as well as several Grammy nominations.

In 2009, seven years after disbanding in 2002, Love announced she was reforming Hole with former Larrikin Love guitarist Micko Larkin. Erlandson, however, stated that no reunion could take place contractually without mutual involvement between Love and Erlandson. On January 1, 2010, a website promoting Hole's latest release, ''Nobody's Daughter'', was launched, with links to various social media pages including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace. Despite the dispute between Erlandson and Love, the new Hole album was released on April 27, 2010.

Overview

Hole released three official albums before their split, ''Pretty on the Inside'' (1991), ''Live Through This'' (1994) and ''Celebrity Skin'' (1998), each of which reflect a distinctive and progressive sound and approach. The band's first release, ''Pretty on the Inside'' was a no wave, noise rock and punk-influenced record, experimenting with alternate tunings. The band's second release, the critically acclaimed, ''Live Through This'' showcased a more power pop, and grunge-influenced approach, still infused with a punk rock sound. The band's third release, ''Celebrity Skin'' was prominently powerpop and pop-influenced. Hole also released a number of EPs during their career.

Hole also experienced a number of line-up changes for each album. Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson were the only constant members throughout the group's career. ''Pretty on the Inside'' was recorded with original drummer Caroline Rue and bassist Jill Emery, both of which left the band in 1992, to be replaced by Patty Schemel and Kristen Pfaff, respectively. This new line-up recorded ''Live Through This''. Seattle musician Leslie Hardy was also a touring member for a short time, however did not contribute to any studio work, despite some reports. After Pfaff's death in 1994, Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited, at Billy Corgan's suggestion, as bassist. Prior to the recording of ''Celebrity Skin'', Schemel left the group for reasons which remain disputed, and was replaced by Samantha Maloney, who left the group after the band's tour in 1999. Auf der Maur also left in late 1999, leaving Love and Erlandson the only two remaining members. After attempts at a fourth album, Love and Erlandson announced the split of Hole less than three years later.

In June 2009, Love – via a blog by music magazine ''NME'' – announced Hole was reforming with former Larrikin Love guitarist, Micko Larkin and Melissa Auf der Maur. Auf der Maur later said she had "no clue" of plans for a reunion, and co-founder Eric Erlandson stated via ''Spin'' magazine that no reunion could take place without his involvement, legally. Despite this, Hole was signed to Mercury Records (Island Def Jam) and released ''Nobody's Daughter'' on April 26 and 27, 2010 worldwide. The first single was "Skinny Little Bitch".

History

Background

Hole formed in Los Angeles in August 1989 by its two central members, Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson.

Love had grown up in Oregon and had a fairly troubled childhood, bouncing between foster homes and juvenile systems due to her anti-authoritarian and often reckless behavior. Her parents were both fledgling hippies; her mother came from a wealthy adoptive family, and her father had been a roadie for The Grateful Dead in San Francisco in the late 1960s. Love became legally emancipated when she was 16 and traveled to England, Ireland, and Japan on a trust fund before returning to Oregon and falling in with Portland's punk scene in the 1980s. Throughout her teenage and early adult years, Love worked as a stripper in order to support herself and briefly attended several colleges intermittently. Fascinated by music, she had several unsuccessful attempts at starting bands, mostly with friend Kat Bjelland. She started two bands in her early adulthood, both of which were fruitless; firstly, Sugar Babydoll in Portland, and later, The Pagan Babies in San Francisco; she also briefly sang in Faith No More. Love made a slight break into the entertainment industry when she landed roles in two Alex Cox films, ''Sid & Nancy'' (1986) and ''Straight to Hell'' (1987), but was dissatisfied with the experience and eventually moved to Los Angeles, intent on forming a band. Love noted that the "cathartic" nature of music is what drew her to it, and also cited traumatic life experiences as being a motivation: "Start with day one and keep going. [My life was traumatic] from the exact moment of my birth and onward. I always wanted to be in a band. The concept of life just hit me one day."

Erlandson was a California native and had grown up in San Pedro. He began playing music in his teenage years, and, like Love, noted that traumatic experiences also drew him to music, one of which was finding a dead body: "I was walking along the tide pools [in San Pedro], and I found a dead body. I thought they were filming a movie, it was this body that was pure white, it had been thrashed around a few days in the water, hitting the rocks. I walked up close to it and 'oh my God!'... then I saw Kiss and Aerosmith and it was all over. I don't know. I had to be a rock star." Erlandson attended Loyola Marymount University where he studied economics and marketing, and then traveled to Europe in 1988, trying to figure out "what to do with his life". He was working as a royalties manager at Capitol Records when he met Love, managing the royalties of Paul McCartney and Tina Turner.

Formation and early years

Hole formed after Eric Erlandson replied to an advertisement placed by Courtney Love in punk rock fanzine ''Flipside''. The advertisement simply read: "I want to start a band. My influences are Big Black, Sonic Youth, and Fleetwood Mac." Love had several responses to the ad, but chose Erlandson. In retrospect, she said: "He had a Thurston [Moore] quality about him. He was tall, skinny, blonde. He dressed pretty cool, and he knew who Sonic Youth were... he's an intensely weird, good guitarist, and he's the glue that kept me together."

Love has joked that she took the name for the band from "my husband's favorite drinking spot", but this claim is dubious since she met Kurt Cobain, her second husband, the year after Hole was formed. Love, during in an interview on ''Later... with Jools Holland'', claimed the name was inspired by a quote from Euripides' ''Medea'' which read "there's a hole that pierces my soul." Additionally, Love has cited a conversation with her mother as being a primary influence for the band's name. In an interview with ''Flipside'' magazine in fall 1990, Love said of the band's name: "the name came from my mom. She's like, a therapist, and I said "I had a really fucked childhood", and she said "Well Courtney, you can't walk around with a big hole inside of yourself about it.""

The band's first rehearsal took place in Fortress Studios in Hollywood, where Love, Erlandson and original bassist Lisa Roberts "played something noisy" while "they [Courtney and Lisa] started screaming their poetry at the top of their lungs for two or three hours." Initially, the band had no percussion, until Love met drummer Caroline Rue at a Gwar show. They also recruited a third guitarist, Mike Geisbrecht, and began to perform live. Hole's first show took place at Raji's — a small club in Hollywood — in September 1989. The band played three more shows throughout 1989: at The Shamrock in Los Angeles on October 17, 1989, Nightmoves in Huntington Beach on November 11, 1989 and at Hollywood Live Club on November 17, 1989.

The band's early shows were notable for featuring lots of experimental playing, distortion, and guitar feedback— a style that would be heavily present in their eventual studio material— and Courtney Love interacting a lot with the audience. At the beginning of their third show at Nightmoves, the theme from ''Phantasm'' (1979) was played, and Love introduced the band, saying: "We're Hole. Some of you will like us, and some of you will hate us." Several notable songs were performed at these shows, including the band's eventual debut single, "Retard Girl", as well as "Phonebill Song", "Berry", and "Turpentine", all of which would eventually make it onto studio recordings.

From the beginning, Hole was primarily influenced by punk, noise rock, and no wave music, which is evident from their earliest recordings. Both Love and Erlandson were big fans of the notorious LA punk band The Germs, and Love once had a "Germs burn" given to her by Germs guitarist Pat Smear (who would later play in Nirvana). In a 1996 interview for a Germs tribute documentary, Erlandson said: "I think every band is based on one song, and our band was based on "Forming"... Courtney brought it into rehearsal, and she knew, like, three chords and it was the only punk rock song we could play." Love also noted early on that the band was "heavily into lyrics", and that they were "the most important thing" to her. The band's music also had a very pro-feminist stance, particularly from Love. In an interview on the topic, she referred to hair bands such as Poison as "drag queens" and said, "they dress up like women therefore they get to confront emotional issues. The whole feminization of men in heavy metal speaks for itself. Well, scratch that, because I want to transcend this whole 'chick thing'. Fuck this chick thing. The whole thing with music is that it's cathartic, and if it wasn't cathartic then I wouldn't want to play it."

Before Hole began to develop a fanbase, guitarist Mike Geisbrecht left and was replaced briefly by Errol Stewart, who left a few weeks later. Roberts also left the group at some point in early 1990. After Geisbrecht and Roberts' departure, Hole recruited Jill Emery on bass and began recording studio material, as well as playing (and often headlining) local rock shows in Los Angeles. After several months of live performances, the band released their debut single: "Retard Girl" in 1990, and followed it with "Dicknail" in 1991, released on Sympathy for the Record Industry and Sub Pop, respectively. According to KROQ-FM disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer, Love would often "hang out" at a Denny's on Sunset Blvd. where he went for coffee in the mornings to try and convince him to play "Retard Girl" on his station. Bingenheimer jokingly said that she would practically "stalk him" every morning.

The band became known at the time for Love's wild onstage behavior, and her ability to really "rile up" the crowd. As the group began to make decent money as an underground band, A&R; reps and music labels started to appear at their shows. After one show, the band was approached by a major music label representative, who told Love they needed a more "full sound", to which she replied "fuck off". The group played shows at several legendary rock bars during this time, particularly at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood and CBGB in New York.

''Pretty on the Inside'' and tour

After nearly two years of live performances and making singles, the band began to consider their first studio album. In searching for a label to release the album, the group was approached by Sub Pop and Sympathy for the Record Industry, who had previously released singles for them, but Love declined their offers. Instead, the band signed onto Caroline Records, and Love sought Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth to produce the album for her. Sending a letter, a Hello Kitty barrette, and copies of the band's early singles to Gordon, Love mentioned that the band greatly admired Gordon's work and appreciated "... the production of the SST record" (either referring to Sonic Youth's album ''Sister'' or ''EVOL''), also noting that they would "prefer to work with a woman" and would be "forever honored" should Gordon produce. Gordon agreed, and Gumball's Don Fleming assisted in production.

Hole released the debut album, titled ''Pretty on the Inside'', in September 1991, to vast praise from underground critics, especially in the United Kingdom where the band did an extensive tour with Daisy Chainsaw, Mudhoney, and Therapy?. Hole also toured North America and the rest of Europe in support of the record. Upon the album's release, it was branded by underground music critics as "loud, ugly and deliberately shocking." A 1991 review in ''Spin'' said that the album "revolves around a fascination of the repulsive aspects of L.A.— superficiality, sexism, violence, and drugs. Love is the embodiment of what drives the band: the dichotomy of pretty/ugly... The pretty/ugly dynamic also comes across in Hole's music... a song like "Teenage Whore" at first comes across like a ranting noisy rage, but underneath is a surprisingly lush melody." ''Spin'' also ranked the album in their "20 Best Albums of the Year" list, and it was voted album of the year by New York's ''Village Voice''. The album peaked at number 59 on the UK albums chart, and sold very well for an independent release. The album spawned one single, "Teenage Whore", which entered the UK Indie Chart at an impressive number one, as well as the band's debut music video for the song "Garbadge Man". Musically and lyrically, the album was very abrasive, characterized by overt noise and feedback, chaotic guitar riffs, graphic lyrics, and a variation of Love's vocals ranging from whispers to guttural screaming. The album also featured guitar riffs admittedly lifted verbatim from Neil Young and Bauhaus songs, as well as a sample from Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon". In later years, Courtney Love referred to the album as "unlistenable", despite its critical accolades and eventual cult following.

A fair amount of drama occurred during the band's tour to promote ''Pretty on the Inside''; on December 19, 1991, roadie Joe Cole attended a Hole show at the Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles with roommate/friend Henry Rollins of Black Flag, and was murdered in a robbery after arriving home from the concert. Love was an acquaintance of Cole's, and the band's second album would be dedicated to him. At the end of the tour, while playing in London with Mudhoney at their final show, Love had her clothes torn off of her while stage diving; an incident that would later become the inspiration for the song "Asking for It"— a similar retread of themes heavily present in the band's 1991 single, "Dicknail".

According to Love, after jumping off the stage, her dress and underwear were torn off of her by audience members, people "shoved their fingers inside of her", and she was "completely naked" when she got back onstage: "I felt like Karen Finley. But the worst thing of all was that I saw a photograph of it later— someone took a picture of me right when this was happening, and I had this big smile on my face like I was pretending it wasn't happening. I can't compare it to rape because it's not the same. But in a way it was. I was raped by an audience— figuratively, literally, and yet, was I asking for it?" Nonetheless, the band ended their tour, and, in 1992, Love met Kurt Cobain of Nirvana (the two had initially crossed paths in 1989 in Portland, Oregon), and became pregnant.

Mainstream success

Following the success of ''Pretty on the Inside'', Hole began planning a second album in 1992. In the midst of this, Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain were married, and gave birth to their daughter, Frances, in the summer of that year. Love, at the time, had purportedly wanted to transition from Hole's grittier punk rock style to a more melodic, pop-influenced rock format on their next album, which bassist Jill Emery did not want to partake in. "Courtney wanted to be pop, she wanted to change. I don't mind changing, I love it, but I didn't want to go from A to Z— it just felt fake", said Emery. Emery left the band shortly after Love married Kurt Cobain, and drummer Caroline Rue followed. In an advertisement to find a new bass player, Love wrote: "[I want] someone who can play ok, and stand in front of 30,000 people, take off her shirt and have 'fuck you' written on her tits. If you're not afraid of me and you're not afraid to fucking say it, send a letter. No more pussies, no more fake girls, I want a whore from hell."

As a result of ''Pretty on the Inside'''s success and the furious press coverage around Courtney Love and husband Kurt Cobain, Hole was signed to Geffen Records with an eight-album contract in late 1992, around the time they recruited Janitor Joe bassist, Kristen Pfaff and drummer Patty Schemel. After another well-praised tour of Europe and the United States in 1993 – the first leg of which was for promotion of their single, "Beautiful Son" – Hole began work on their major label debut at Triclops Studios in Atlanta, Georgia in the fall of 1993.

In March 1994, Love and husband Kurt Cobain individually checked themselves into rehab clinics in Los Angeles for purported heroin addiction. Cobain checked himself out of rehab shortly after arriving and returned to Seattle, just a week before the release of Hole's second album. The album, titled ''Live Through This'', was released on April 12, 1994, and in tragic timing— four days prior to finding that Love's husband, Cobain, had committed suicide in their Seattle home. In the days following his death, Love mourned with fans outside their house, and a recording of her reading his suicide note was played at a memorial service in Seattle, where she arrived shortly after the ceremony to distribute some of his clothing to fans.

thumb|right|235px|Back cover art of ''Live Through This'', exhibiting the mislabeled closing track "Rock Star". The photo on the left is of Courtney Love during her childhood in Oregon.Cobain's suicide also stirred controversy surrounding the final track on ''Live Through This''— "Rock Star"— which contained lyrics that read: "How'd you like to be Nirvana?/ So much fun to be Nirvana / A barrel of laughs to be Nirvana / Say you'd rather die". The song was inexplicably taken off of the album and replaced by an outtake titled "Olympia". It is widely believed that, because the song lyrics appeared inappropriate in the wake of Cobain's suicide, the song was replaced. However, by the time the decision to remove "Rock Star" was made, the artwork and inserts for the album had already been printed, so the title "Rock Star" remains the official title of the song.

Amidst the emotional impact and hysteria surrounding Cobain's death, ''Live Through This'' was a critical success, and spawned a slew of fairly popular singles: "Doll Parts", "Violet", "Miss World" and "Softer, Softest". The album went multi-platinum and was hailed "Album of the Year" by ''Spin'' magazine and received unanimously rave reviews from major music periodicals. ''NME'' called the album "a personal but secretive thrash-pop opera of urban nihilism and passionate dumbthinks", and ''Rolling Stone'' said the album "may be the most potent blast of female insurgency ever committed to tape".

Despite the critical praise for ''Live Through This'', furious rumors circulated insinuating that Cobain had actually written the majority of the album, though the band vehemently denies this. They did, however, state that Love convinced Cobain to provide backing vocals on "Asking for It" and "Softer, Softest" while visiting the studio, and music producers present during the recording sessions noted that Cobain seemed "completely unfamiliar" with the songs. According to ''Rolling Stone'' rock journalist Gavin Edwards, Love and Cobain had written songs together in the past, but opted to not release them because it was "a bit too redolent of John and Yoko". Incidentally, Love has revealed that the alternate mix of "Asking for It" featuring Cobain, was planned to be released as a single before his suicide occurred.

With Love mourning Cobain's death, the band pushed forward to prepare for a tour to promote the massively successful album, but it came to a halt when bassist Kristen Pfaff died that June of an apparent heroin overdose. Hole pulled out of the upcoming Lollapalooza festival, which was also going to include Cobain's band, Nirvana. The band disappeared from the media spotlight in the summer of 1994, and on September 1, played their first headlining show since the album's release at the Phoenix Theatre in Toronto, dedicating it to Kristen. The band, now with Melissa Auf der Maur on bass, recruited by Love at Billy Corgan's suggestion, toured extensively throughout late 1994 and 1995, and the tour became notorious for its press coverage surrounding Love's fragile emotional state.

Appearances included the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas, ''Saturday Night Live'', the Big Day Out festival, ''MTV Unplugged'', the Reading Festival, and Lollapalooza 1995. Perhaps most infamously, the band was asked to play at ''MTV Video Music Awards'', where they were nominated for the "Doll Parts" music video. They also performed "Violet" at the awards show. Before the song, a clearly distraught Love dedicated the performance to Cobain, Pfaff, Joe Cole, and River Phoenix, all of whom had recently died. Love ended the performance by chanting "God bless your soul", throwing her guitar into the air, pushing over a microphone stand into the audience, and knocking over stereo equipment before exiting the stage.

During this time period, Love's stage antics had grown wild, garnering much attention from the press. At Lollapalooza on July 4, 1995, in George, Washington, Love punched Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna in the face and pelted her with candy and a burning cigarette, after Hanna had allegedly made a drug joke about Love's two-year-old daughter. Love went to court over the case and was sentenced to anger management classes. More controversy was stirred at a Pittsburgh Lollapalooza concert in the fall of 1995, when Love stormed offstage with the band in tears after an audience member threw shotgun shells at her, referencing unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that she may have been involved in husband Kurt Cobain's death. A similar event had happened several months prior— at an April 1995 show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Love cursed at an audience member for throwing things at her, and eventually stormed off the stage with the band after playing only four songs.

Toward the end of the tour to promote ''Live Through This'', the band released their first EP, titled ''Ask for It'', in September 1995; it featured 1991 Peel session recordings of "Doll Parts" and "Violet", as well as covers of The Wipers' "Over the Edge" and "Pale Blue Eyes" by The Velvet Underground. After the band's tours in 1995, a final music video for the album was filmed for "Violet", and Hole entered the studio to begin work on a new album. There were multiple attempts to record Hole's third album, and one such attempt was in New Orleans in winter 1995. Interviews with Erlandson have confirmed the authenticity of this session, and the style is thought to have been a transition between the alternative style of ''Live Through This'' and the band's later pop-influenced sound, however no material from the sessions has surfaced.

Hiatus and retrospective releases

Hole was thought to be on hiatus in 1996, due to Love's rising movie career which skyrocketed when she landed a lead role in ''The People vs. Larry Flynt'' (1996). Despite the reported hiatus and Love's acting career, the band recorded and released a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Gold Dust Woman" for ''The Crow: City of Angels'' (1996), the band's first studio song to feature Melissa Auf der Maur on bass.

During the supposed hiatus, Hole released two retrospective albums: firstly, their second EP, titled ''The First Session'' (1997), which was composed of a complete version of the band's first recording session at Rudy's Rising Star in Los Angeles in March 1990, some of which had been bootlegged widely years prior. It featured the group's first ever recorded track, "Turpentine", which had previously been unreleased to the public, as well as their first single, "Retard Girl", and its two b-sides.

The same year, the band released their first compilation album, ''My Body, The Hand Grenade'' (1997), which was produced chiefly by Eric Erlandson; Love designed the packaging and artwork on the album. The album was composed as a retrospective on the band's career, featuring early singles, mid-period b-sides and recent live tracks, illustrating their path from a "tiny L.A. basement studio into alternative rock superstardom". One outtake from the ''Live Through This'' recording sessions which was included on this release was the controversial song, "Old Age". The history and writer of this song was the subject of controversy among Courtney Love detractors who believed Kurt Cobain had written Hole's second album, an allegation for which no evidence has ever surfaced. It was eventually learned "Old Age" had been written by Kurt Cobain for the ''Nevermind'' sessions in 1991, then given to Hole, whereupon its lyrics were rewritten by Love, who "tried to make it goth". Another song featured on the album was "20 Years in the Dakota", which discussed Yoko Ono's struggles as John Lennon's wife, a position which Love herself has been frequently compared to, due to the perception that Ono drew Lennon away from The Beatles and that Love drew Cobain away from Nirvana. The album also featured a demo version of "Miss World", as well as recordings from a 1995 ''MTV Unplugged'' performance.

Although Hole as a band did not perform during 1996 and 1997, members of Hole performed separately, including Love's guest appearance at a Smashing Pumpkins' show in February 1996, at which she performed "Silverfuck" and "Farewell and Goodnight", with Smashing Pumpkins' frontman, and former boyfriend, Billy Corgan. Auf der Maur and Schemel also performed a show in Toronto in July 1996. Erlandson also collaborated with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and director Dave Markey in the short-lived project, Rodney & the Tube Tops, with whom he released one single.

''Celebrity Skin'' and disbandment

Hole's third studio album, ''Celebrity Skin'' (1998) adopted a complete new sound for the band, which had become known for its grunge and punk rock roots. Featuring a more pop-oriented sound, ''Celebrity Skin'' was a critical success with strong sales and successful singles, including the title track, "Celebrity Skin", "Malibu", and "Awful". Eric Erlandson told ''Rolling Stone'', "I still think a lot of ''Celebrity Skin'' is my Johnny Thunders influence coming up – which Courtney just fucking hates."

The album was recorded in Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles throughout 1997, after many "fruitless attempts" in Miami, London and New York. Although Patty Schemel is listed as drummer in the liner notes of the record, she did not actually appear on the record as she had left the band prior to the main recording sessions and was in turn replaced by a session drummer (the band would eventually recruit drummer Samantha Maloney for the tour). The studio work on ''Celebrity Skin'' took almost a year and a half— according to Erlandson, Courtney was more focused on song-writing and singing and "did not care about her instrument". Eric also noted that Billy Corgan, who co-wrote a large portion of the album, played bass on "Hit So Hard".

In reaction to public speculation that Kurt Cobain had written the band's second album, ''Celebrity Skin'''s liner notes listed explicitly every musician's contribution to the record, specifying authorship for every song. Love wrote a comprehensive amount of the lyrics, while Erlandson, assistant-producing alongside Michael Beinhorn, had a hand in every song. Co-songwriters on the album also included Melissa Auf der Maur, Patty Schemel, Jordon Zadorozny of Blinker the Star, and Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's, each contributing pieces to a number of songs, however the most notable contributor was Billy Corgan, who co-wrote five of the twelve songs on the album.

Nonetheless, as with the rumors surrounding the writing credits on ''Live Through This'', unwarranted controversy stirred over the authorship of the songs. Upon its release, Corgan made references that he should have "been given credit" for writing the entire album. Eric Erlandson responded to Corgan's statements in a ''Rolling Stone'' interview, commenting: "We were working on all the stuff that Courtney and I had already written. Billy really facilitated things, in a way... I would bring in the music, Courtney would start coming up with lyrics right away, and [Billy] would help map it all out." Erlandson also stated: "Courtney writes all her own lyrics. Nobody else is writing those lyrics and nobody ever has."

One journalist took note of the controversy when reviewing the album, stating: "Back in 1994, the acclaim for ''Live Through This'' was undercut by whispers that Love's late husband wrote the album. Combine those conspiracy theories with the unfounded but persistent rumor that Cobain was actually murdered, and it is no surprise that, in the song "Celebrity Skin", Love calls herself a walking study in demonology."

The album received unanimously positive reviews, with praise from music periodicals such as ''Rolling Stone'', ''NME'', and ''Blender'', as well as a four-star review from the ''Los Angeles Times'', calling it a "wild emotional ride" sure to be "one of the most dissected and debated collections of the year." The album charted incredibly well, peaking at number 9 on the Billboard 200, and garnering the band its first and only number 1 single, "Celebrity Skin", which topped the Modern Rock Tracks. "Malibu" was the album's second successful single, making it to number 3 on the Modern Rock Tracks. Commercially speaking, ''Celebrity Skin'' went on to be the band's greatest success.

Marilyn Manson and subsequent tours

In the winter of 1998, Hole went on tour to promote ''Celebrity Skin'', and made further appearances at festivals throughout 1999 after an extensive American and European tour. Hole and Marilyn Manson toured together, with Manson promoting his then-recent album, ''Mechanical Animals'' (1998) on the "Beautiful Monsters Tour". The tour turned into a publicity magnet, and Hole dropped out of the tour nine dates in, due to both the majority of the fans being Manson's, who were not very interested in the Hole performances, and the financial arrangement for the bands (50/50 cost and revenue splitting) as a reason for discontinuing the tour (Hole had relatively little production costs and ending up paying a large amount for Manson's high cost production). Manson and Love often mocked one another onstage as well, and Love attacked Manson's stage antics, which included tearing up a Bible during performances: "You know, whenever somebody rips up the Bible in front of 40,000 people, I think it's a big deal," she said during a 1999 interview. The band played one last show on the tour after a poorly-received concert at Portland's Rose Garden Arena, which ended with Manson fans booing the band and Love dropping her guitar and walking offstage after a 45-minute set.

Nonetheless, Melissa Auf der Maur considered the tour "the best [we] ever were as a live band", and documented the ''Celebrity Skin'' concerts by taking photographs, several of which were featured in ''National Geographic'' music editorials. As noted by Auf der Maur, it was a "daily event" for Love to invite audience members onstage to sing with her for the last song at nearly every concert performed during the tour.

On June 18, 1999 during Hole's set at the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden, a 19-year old girl died after being crushed by the mosh pit behind the mixing board. The band did not comment on her death. Hole played its final show at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver on July 14, 1999. A few months later, Auf der Maur quit Hole and went on to become a touring bassist for The Smashing Pumpkins. Despite being the only two remaining members of the group, Love and Erlandson still continued with Hole. The band's final release was a single for the movie ''Any Given Sunday'' (1999). "Be a Man", released in March 2000, was an outtake from the ''Celebrity Skin'' sessions, and was another song co-written and included bass-work by Corgan.

Post-tour and breakup

Love and Erlandson officially disbanded Hole via a message posted on the band's website in 2002. After the split, the four musicians each took on projects of their own. Erlandson continued to work as a producer and session musician, eventually forming the experimental group RRIICCEE with controversial artist, Vincent Gallo and Love began a solo career, releasing her debut, ''America's Sweetheart'' in 2004. Melissa Auf der Maur also embarked on a solo career, and released her self-titled debut album in 2004, which also included Erlandson on lead guitar on the track, "Would If I Could." Her second album, ''Out of Our Minds,'' was released on March 30, 2010.

Hole's original body of work includes thirteen singles, six Grammy nominations, three LPs, three EPs, one compilation album and 10 music videos.

Reformation, ''Nobody's Daughter'' to present

thumb|right|Courtney Love and guitarist Micko Larkin performing at Bumbershoot in Seattle, Washington in September 2010.On June 17, 2009, ''NME'' posted two in-depth blogs, and links to two interviews, of Courtney Love announcing the reunion of Hole. The article was primarily focused on Love's upcoming solo release, ''Nobody's Daughter'', yet it claimed with the "rock Courtney back in action, this music could only come out under one name, Hole". According to the blog post, Melissa Auf der Maur would once again be bassist, with Micko Larkin replacing Eric Erlandson, and a drummer was not mentioned. There was also mention of "tours next year". However, days later, Melissa Auf der Maur, interviewed in Toronto where she was appearing at the North by Northeast music festival, said she had "no clue" about the band's reported reunion and denied the ''NME'' claim she had, or was asked to, contribute vocals to the album or had been asked to tour with the purportedly reunited band saying, "I actually don't know [about the reunion]...I arrived at [the music festival in Toronto] and I heard that Hole were getting back together from people sending me links," she said. Auf der Maur did, however, state that she had been asked by Love to do harmonies on the album, but nothing else.

Eric Erlandson stated in a ''Spin'' magazine that contractually no reunion can take place without his involvement, therefore ''Nobody's Daughter'' would remain Love's solo record, as opposed to a "Hole" record. Love then responded to Erlandson's comments in a Twitter post, claiming that "he's out of his [i]mind, Hole is [i]my band, [i]my name, and [i]my Trademark". Shortly after this quarrel Love began posting new Hole logos, stage ideas, and guitar pick ideas on her Facebook page, implying, though not confirming, that Hole had reformed.

In December 2009, three upcoming shows were announced in New York, Milan and Amsterdam, at The Standard Hotel's Boom Boom Room, the Magazzini Generali and Paradiso respectively, though flyers from the New York show credit the performer solely as Courtney Love. The official Paradiso website issued a press release the same month stating Melissa Auf der Maur would partake in the show, but when asked by a fan on her official Facebook fan page, Auf der Maur claimed that "[this] mysterious press release is news to me [...] putting my detective hat on now [...] more on this soon." The Paradiso's website claimed in January 2010 that "many quarrels are settled."

Auf der Maur stated in an interview with ''New York Magazine'' in April, 2010: "Even in rock and roll, I believe there's a right and wrong. I'm still close friends with Eric, and he's the only one who can do anything on his end about it. He's a peaceful man who has made great efforts in his own life to find peace. I feel protective of the legacy of Hole and my memories in it. It wasn't even so much about doing a reunion. I told Courtney, 'I support the retrospective of everything done in that time. If and when you're ready to look at that, I'll support it.' What's so funny is that she can come out and say that I asked her to do a reunion. That's not exactly what was said. What I said was that I think a retrospective would be incredibly valuable right now and that's obviously not where she's at. I've always wished the best for her. I want her to be happy. I want her to be musical. I care about her well-being. When she gets an idea in her mind, that's what she stays with regardless of what other people think or feel."

Hole launched a new website, and an official Facebook page on January 1, 2010. The band played its first performance since the reunion on February 12, 2010 on ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' playing "Samantha". On February 17, 2010 they played a full set at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, with support from Little Fish. Further shows were performed at 02 Academy Brixton and SPIN's annual SXSW music festival, with further dates being added for the United States and United Kingdom in April and May 2010. Television appearances, in efforts to promote the upcoming album, include performing on ''Late Show with David Letterman'' on April 27, ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' on April 29 and on ''Later with Jools Holland'' on the 4th of May. On March 16, the first Hole single in ten years, and first from ''Nobody's Daughter'' was released, titled "Skinny Little Bitch". It was the most added song on alternative radio and the second most added song on active rock in early March in the United States, debuting at #32 on Billboard's Alternative Singles Chart.

''Nobody's Daughter'' was released on April 26 and 27, 2010 worldwide through Mercury Records, and was received by music critics with moderately positive acclaim. ''Rolling Stone'' gave the album three out of five stars, but noted "[while Love] was an absolute monster vocalist in the nineties, the greatest era ever for rock singers... She doesn't have that power in her lungs anymore — barely a trace. But at least she remembers, and that means something in itself." The magazine also referred to the album as "not a true success", but a "noble effort". Love's voice, which had been noticeably raspier (likely due to years of scream-singing, drug abuse, and smoking) was compared to the likes of Bob Dylan.

''NME'', however, gave the album a 6/10 rating, and Robert Christgau rated it an "A-", saying, "Thing is, I can use some new punk rage in my life, and unless you're a fan of Goldman Sachs and BP Petroleum, so can you. What's more, better it come from a 45-year-old woman who knows how to throw her weight around than from the zitty newbies and tattooed road dogs who churn most of it out these days. I know--for her, BP Petroleum is just something else to pretend about. But the emotion fueling her pretense is cathartic nevertheless."

On March 28, 2011, Love, Erlandson, Patty Schemel and Auf der Maur appeared at the New York screening of Schemel's documentary ''Hit So Hard: The Life & Near Death Story of Patty Schemel'' at the Museum of Modern Art. The appearance was first time in thirteen years that all four members appeared together in public. Schemel has expressed a desire to record with Love, Erlandson and Auf der Maur stating "nothing has been discussed, but I have a feeling." After the screening, the four took part in a Q&A; session where Courtney Love stated: "For me, as much as I love playing with Patty — and I would play with her in five seconds again, and everyone onstage — if it's not moving forward, I don't wanna do it. That's just my thing. There's rumblings; there's always bloody rumblings. But if it's not miserable and it's going forward and I'm happy with it… that's all I have to say about that question."

In May 2011, a video for "Samantha" was shot. It was the first promotional video for ''Nobody's Daughter'', over a year after its release, and Hole's first official music video in eleven years, after "Be a Man" in 2000.

Members

Current lineup

Courtney Love – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1989–2002, 2009–present)

Micko Larkin – lead guitar (2009–present)

Shawn Dailey – bass (2009–present)

Stu Fisher – drums, percussion (2009–present)

Former members

Eric Erlandson – lead guitar (1989–2002)

Samantha Maloney – drums, percussion (1998–2000)

Melissa Auf der Maur – bass, backing vocals (1994–1999)

Patty Schemel – drums, percussion (1993–1997)

Kristen Pfaff – bass, backing vocals, piano (1993–1994)

Leslie Hardy – bass, backing vocals (1992)

Jill Emery – bass (1991–1992)

Caroline Rue – drums, percussion (1989–1992)

Lisa Roberts – bass (1989–1990)

Errol Stewart – guitar (1989 1990)

Mike Geisbrecht – guitar (1989)

Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums

''Pretty on the Inside'' (1991)

''Live Through This'' (1994)

''Celebrity Skin'' (1998)

''Nobody's Daughter'' (2010)

;EPs

''Ask for It'' (1995)

''The First Session'' (1997)

;Compilation albums

''My Body, the Hand Grenade'' (1997)

''Icon'' (2011)

Chart positions

US & Canada Billboard Album Chart peak positions

!Year	!Album	!Chart	!Peak position
1994	"Live Through This"	US Billboard 200	52
1995	"Ask For It"	US Billboard 200	172
1998	"Celebrity Skin"	US Billboard 200	9
1998	"Celebrity Skin"		3
2010	"Nobody's Daughter"	US Billboard 200	15
2010	"Nobody's Daughter"		11
2010	"Nobody's Daughter"	Alternative Albums	2
2010	"Nobody's Daughter"	Rock Albums	6
2010	"Nobody's Daughter"	Digital Albums	8

US & Canada Billboard Singles Chart peak positions

!Year	!Single	!Chart	!Peak position
1994	"Doll Parts"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	4
1994	"Miss World"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	13
1995		US Billboard Alternative Songs	29
1995	"Softer, Softest"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	32
1995	"Asking For It"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	36
1995	"Doll Parts"	US Billboard Hot 100	58
1996	"Gold Dust Woman" (cover)	US Billboard Alternative Songs	31
1998		US Billboard Hot 100	81
1998	"Celebrity Skin"	US Billboard Hot 100	85
1998	"Celebrity Skin"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	1
1998		US Billboard Alternative Songs	3
1998	"Awful"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	13
1999		US Billboard Adult Pop Songs	37
2010	"Skinny Little Bitch"	US Billboard Rock Songs	29
2010	"Skinny Little Bitch"	US Billboard Alternative Songs	19

Awards and nominations

Grammy Award

|- | || Celebrity Skin || Best Rock Album || |- | || Celebrity Skin || Best Rock Song || |- | || Celebrity Skin || Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group || |- | || Malibu || Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group || |-

MTV Video Music Awards

|- | || Doll Parts || Best Alternative Video || |- | || Malibu || Best Cinematography in a Video ||

See also

Alternative rock

Grunge

Noise rock

The Pagan Babies

Babes in Toyland

List of female rock singers

All-female band

Riot grrrl

''Pretty on the Inside''

''Live Through This''

''Celebrity Skin''

''Nobody's Daughter''

References

External links

Category:Alternative rock groups from California Category:Musical groups established in 1989 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2009 Category:Sympathy for the Record Industry artists Category:Musical groups from Los Angeles, California Category:Musical quartets Category:Grunge musical groups Category:Riot grrrl

ca:Hole cs:Hole (skupina) da:Hole (band) de:Hole (Band) es:Hole fr:Hole gl:Hole id:Hole it:Hole (gruppo musicale) he:הול nl:Hole (band) ja:ホール (バンド) pl:Hole pt:Hole (banda) ro:Hole (formație) ru:Hole sk:Hole (hudobná skupina) sr:Hole fi:Hole sv:Hole tr:Hole zh:洞穴乐队

name	Jools Holland
background	solo_singer
birth name	Julian Miles Holland
birth date	January 24, 1958
birth place	Blackheath, London, England
instrument	Piano, keyboard, guitar
genre	Boogie-woogie, jazz, blues, R&B;
occupation	Musician, composer, television presenter, bandleader
years active	1974–present
associated acts	Squeeze Rhythm & Blues Orchestra
website	Official site }}

Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze (1974-1980 & 1985-1990) and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour, Magazine and Bono.

Holland is a published author and appears on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B; music. He currently hosts ''Later... with Jools Holland'', a music-based show aired on BBC2, on which his annual show the Hootenanny, is based.

Life and career

His great grandfather came from Ireland.

Holland played as a session musician before finding fame, and his first studio session was with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs in 1976 on their track "F*ck Off."

Holland was a founding member of the British pop band Squeeze, formed in March 1974, in which he played keyboards until 1981 and helped the band to achieve millions of record sales, before pursuing his solo career.

Holland began issuing solo records in 1978, his first EP being ''Boogie Woogie '78''. He continued his solo career through the early 1980s, releasing an album and several singles between 1981 and 1984. He branched out into TV, co-presenting the Newcastle-based TV music show ''The Tube'' with Paula Yates. Holland achieved notoriety by inadvertently using the phrase "groovy fuckers" in a live, early evening TV trailer for the show, causing it to be suspended for six weeks. He referred to this in his sitcom "The Groovy Fellers" with Rowland Rivron.

thumb|right|Holland at the Tsunami Relief concert in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, 22 January 2005In 1983 Holland played an extended piano solo on The The's re-recording of "Uncertain Smile" for the album ''Soul Mining''. In 1985, Squeeze (which had continued in Holland's absence through to 1982) unexpectedly regrouped including Jools Holland as their keyboard player. Holland remained in the band until 1990, at which point, he again departed Squeeze on amicable terms to resume his solo career as a musician and a TV host.

In 1987, Holland formed The ''Jools Holland Big Band'' which consisted of himself and Gilson Lavis from Squeeze. This gradually became his 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.

Between 1988 and 1990 he performed and co-hosted along with David Sanborn during the two seasons of the music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television. Since 1992 he has presented the eclectic music program ''Later... with Jools Holland'', plus an annual New Year's Eve "Hootenanny".

In 1996 Holland signed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records and his records are now marketed through Rhino Records.

Holland has a touring band, The Rhythm And Blues Orchestra, which often includes singers Sam Brown and Ruby Turner. In January 2005 Holland and his band performed with Eric Clapton as the headline act of the Tsunami Relief Cardiff. He also headlined the Skegness SO Festival in July 2010.

Personal

Holland lives in the Westcombe Park area of Blackheath in southeast London, where he had his studio, Helicon Mountain, built to his design, heavily inspired by Portmeirion, the setting for the 1960s TV series ''The Prisoner''. Holland owns costumes and props from the series and occasionally appears wearing the trademark brown-with-white-pipe blazer featured in the series. In 1987, Holland demonstrated his love of the series and starred in a spoof documentary, ''The Laughing Prisoner'', with Stephen Fry, Terence Alexander and Hugh Laurie. Much of it was shot on location in Portmeirion, with archive footage of Patrick McGoohan, and featuring musical numbers from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magnum and XTC. Holland performed a number towards the end of the program. Holland is also a Millwall FC fan. His younger brother Christopher also plays organ in the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra as well as being a successful singer/songwriter in his own right.

Holland was an interviewer for The Beatles Anthology TV project, and appeared in the 1997 film ''Spiceworld'' as a musical director.

He received an OBE in 2003 in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for services to the British music industry as a television presenter and musician. In September 2006 Holland was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent. He is also known for his charity work: in June 2006 he performed in Southend for HIV/AIDS charity Mildmay, and in early 2007 he performed at Wells and Rochester Cathedrals to raise money for maintaining cathedral buildings. He is also patron of the Drake Music Project and has raised many thousands of pounds for the charity.

Jools Holland was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University at a ceremony held at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 January 2009.

On 29 August 2005 Holland married Christabel McEwen, his girlfriend of 15 years (between 1983 and 1995 she had been married to Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham, but they divorced). The wedding, at St James's Church, Cooling near Rochester, was attended by many celebrities, including Ringo Starr, Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, Noel Gallagher, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

Holland is also a patron for The Milton Rooms, a new Arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire, along with Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Kathy Burke.

Writing

His 2007 biography, ''Barefaced Lies and Boogie Woogie Boasts'' was BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week" in the week beginning 8 October 2007 and was read by Holland. He is the author or joint author of four other books.

Discography

Albums that have charted and gained Certifications

Year	Album	Peak chart positions		!style="width:4em;font-size:75%"
1996	Jazz & Rock & Roll''
1998	''Best Of''				UK">Music recording sales certifications
!style="width:4em;font-size:75%"	!style="width:4em;font-size:75%"
1996	Jazz & Rock & Roll''
1998	''Best Of''				UK: Silver
2000	''Hop The Wag''				* UK: Silver
2001	''Small World Big Band''				* UK: 2× Platinum
2002	''SWBB Volume Two: More Friends''				* UK: Platinum
2003	''Jack O The Green (SWBB Friends 3)''				* UK: Silver
2005	''Swinging the Blues, Dancing the Ska''
2007	''Best of Friends''				* UK: Silver
2011	''Finding The Keys - The Best of''

Releases

1978 "Boogie Woogie '78" (EP)

1981 ''Jools Holland and His Millionaires''

1984 ''Jools Holland Meets Rock 'A' Boogie Billy'' (U.S. release only)

1990 ''World Of His Own''

1991 ''The Full Complement''

1992 "Together Again" (single with Sam Brown)

1992 ''The A-Z Geographer's Guide To The Piano''

1994 ''Solo Piano''

1994 ''Live Performance''

1996 " Jazz & Rock & Roll''

1997 ''Lift The Lid''

1998 ''Best Of''

1999 ''Sunset Over London''

2000 ''Hop The Wag''

2001 ''Small World Big Band''

2002 ''SWBB Volume Two: More Friends''

2003 ''Jack O The Green (SWBB Friends 3)''

2004 ''Tom Jones & Jools Holland''

2005 ''Beatroute''

2005 ''Swinging the Blues, Dancing the Ska''

2006 ''Moving Out To The Country''

2007 ''Best of Friends''

2008 ''The Collection''

2008 ''The Informer (With Ruby Turner)''

2008 ''"The Informer" (single with Ruby Turner)''

2009 ''"I Went By" (single with Louise Marshall)''

2010 ''Rockinghorse''

Film and television

1981 ''Urgh! A Music War''

1982 ''Police: Around the World''

1982 - 1987 ''The Tube'' (Host for 121 editions)

1983 ''Rebellious Jukebox'': Compere

1984 ''The Young Ones'': Punk (Episode entitled "Summer Holiday")

1985 ''Walking To New Orleans'' (Jools Holland in New Orleans)

1987 ''Eat the Rich'': Sun Reporter

1987 ''Filthy Rich & Catflap'': Strip Show Pianist (Episode #1.3)

1987 ''The Laughing Prisoner'': No. 7

1987 ''French and Saunders'' (Episode 1.5)

1988 ''Sunday Night'': Host (unknown episodes)

1989 ''Juke Box Jury'': Host (unknown episodes)

1989 ''The Groovy Fellers'' Himself, 6 episodes

1991 ''Mr Roadrunner'' (Jools Holland in Memphis)

1994 ''There's No Business'': Pianist

1994 - 1995 ''Don't Forget Your Toothbrush''

1995 ''The Beatles Anthology''

1997 ''Spice World'': Musical Director

1997 ''Name That Tune'': Host and Pianist

2003 ''Jool's History of the Piano'' : Presenter

2006 ''Top Gear: Star in a reasonably priced car.

2007 ''Fairport@Forty'': Interview

2009 ''Chop Shop Rover Concept: The Jet 1 Car'' : Customer

Current television programmes

1992–present ''Later... with Jools Holland''

1993–present ''Jools' Annual Hootenanny''

Books

''"Rolling Stones": A Life on the Road'', (with Dora Loewenstein), Viking/Allen Lane (1998), (ISBN 0-670-88051-5)

''Beat Route: Journeys Through Six Counties'', Weidenfeld & Nicholson (1998), (ISBN 0-575-06700-4)

''Ray Charles: Man and Music'', (with Michael Lydon), Payback Press (1999), (ISBN 0-86241-929-8)

''Hand That Changed Its Mind '', International Music Publications (2007), (ISBN 1-84328-645-9)

''Barefaced Lies and Boogie-woogie Boasts '', Michael Joseph Ltd (2007), (ISBN 0-7181-4915-7)

References

External links

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:Boogie-woogie pianists Category:English rock pianists Category:English television presenters Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Bandleaders Category:Squeeze (band) members Category:I.R.S. Records artists Category:People from Blackheath, London Category:BBC Radio 2 presenters Category:Deputy Lieutenants of Kent Category:British people of Irish descent Category:English people of Irish descent

cy:Jools Holland de:Jools Holland es:Jools Holland fr:Jools Holland nl:Jools Holland pl:Jools Holland pt:Jools Holland fi:Jools Holland

name	Keira Knightley
birth name	Keira Christina Knightley
birth date	March 26, 1985
birth place	Teddington, London, England
occupation	Actress, model
years active	1993–present
parents	Will KnightleySharman MacDonald }}

Keira Christina Knightley (; born 26 March 1985) is an English actress and model. She began acting as a child and came to international notice in 2002 after co-starring in the film ''Bend It Like Beckham''. From 2003 her appearances in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series took her to much greater prominence.

Knightley has appeared in several Hollywood films and earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in Joe Wright's 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen's novel ''Pride and Prejudice''. Two years later she again was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, as well as the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in ''Atonement''.

In 2008, ''Forbes'' claimed Knightley to be the second highest paid actress in Hollywood, having reportedly earned $32 million in 2007, making her the only non-American on the list of highest paid actresses.

Early life

Knightley was born in Teddington, London, England, the daughter of Sharman MacDonald, an award-winning playwright, and Will Knightley, a theatre and television actor. Her father is English and her Scottish mother is of half Welsh ancestry. She has an elder brother, Caleb. Knightley, born Kiera, switched her name to Keira to make it easier for international audiences to pronounce.

Knightley lived in Richmond, attending Stanley Junior School, Teddington School and Esher College. She was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of six, but nevertheless was successful in school and was thus permitted to acquire a talent agent and pursue an acting career. She requested an agent as early as the age of three and got one when she turned six, from her mother as a reward for studying hard. Knightley has noted that she was "single-minded about acting" during her childhood. She performed in a number of local amateur productions, including ''After Juliet'' (written by her mother) and ''United States'' (written by her then drama teacher, Ian McShane, no relation to the actor). She focused on art, history, and English literature while at Esher, but left after a year to focus on her acting and she also turned down her spot at the London Academy of Music and Drama.

Career

Film and television work

After getting an agent at 6, she did work mostly on commercials and small TV roles. Her first role was "Little Girl" in ''Royal Celebration'', a 1993 TV movie. A year later, she had a small role in the movie ''A Village Affair''. She later starred in 1995's ''Innocent Lies'' and 1998's ''Coming Home''. She was a princess in the 1996 movie ''The Treasure Seekers''. Later in 1999, she appeared as Rose in ''Oliver Twist''.

Keira Knightley appeared in several television films in the mid to late 1990s—as well as ITV1's ''The Bill''—before being cast as Sabé, Padmé Amidala's decoy, in the 1999 science fiction blockbuster ''Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace''. Sabé's dialogue was dubbed over with Natalie Portman's voice. This was to hide the fact that the handmaiden Padmé (played by Natalie Portman) was actually disclosed as the real Queen Amidala at the end of the film. Knightley was cast in the role due to her close resemblance to Portman; even the two actresses' mothers had difficulty telling their daughters apart when the girls were in full makeup. Knightley's first starring role followed in 2001, when she played the daughter of Robin Hood in the made-for-television Walt Disney Productions feature, ''Princess of Thieves''. She trained for several weeks in archery, sword fighting, and horse riding. During this time, Knightley also appeared in ''The Hole'', a thriller that received a direct-to-video release in the United States. She appeared in a miniseries adaptation of ''Doctor Zhivago'' that first aired in 2002 to mixed reviews but high ratings. In the same year, she also was in the movie ''Pure'', in which she portrays a pregnant teenager who is a heroin addict and had a child taken by social services.

Knightley's breakthrough role was in the football-themed film, ''Bend It Like Beckham'', which was a success in its August 2002 UK release, grossing $18 million, and in its March 2003 U.S. release, grossing $32 million. After ''Bend It Like Beckham'''s UK release raised her profile, she was cast in the big budget action film, ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'' (along with Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp) which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and opened in July 2003 to positive reviews and high box office grosses, becoming one of the biggest hits of summer 2003 and cementing Knightley as the new "It" girl.

Knightley had a role in the British romantic comedy ''Love Actually'', which opened in November 2003, which co-starred her childhood idol Emma Thompson. Her next film, ''King Arthur'', opened in July 2004 to negative reviews, however in preparation for the role she took boxing, fighting, archery, and horseback-riding lessons for four days a week for three months. In the same month, Knightley was voted by readers of ''Hello!'' magazine as the film industry's most promising teen star. Additionally, ''TIME'' magazine noted in a 2004 feature that Knightley seemed dedicated to developing herself as a serious actress rather than a film star.

thumb|left|200px|Knightley at a London ''Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'' premiere in July 2006 She appeared in three films in 2005, the first of which was ''The Jacket'', alongside Adrien Brody. She next appeared in Tony Scott's ''Domino'', an action film based on the life of bounty hunter Domino Harvey. The film has been Knightley's greatest critical flop to date. Knightley's critics often suggested she was nothing more than a pretty face, which led the young starlet to comment to ''Elle'' magazine, "I always feel like I’m the one with everything to prove."

''Pride & Prejudice'' rounded out 2005. Knightley loved the book since she was seven, and she with her first acting paycheck she bought a dollhouse of the hero's mansion. She said of her character, "The beauty of Elizabeth is that every woman who ever reads the book seems to recognize herself, with all her faults and imperfections. If you give an actress who is even remotely good the chance to play a fantastic character like that, they are going to revel in it." ''Variety'' wrote about her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet: "Looking every bit a star, Knightley, who's shown more spirit than acting smarts so far in her career, really steps up to the plate here, holding her own against the more classically trained Matthew Macfadyen, as well as vets like Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland, Penelope Wilton, and Judi Dench with a luminous strength that recalls a young Audrey Hepburn. More than the older Jennifer Ehle in the TV series, she catches Elizabeth's essential skittishness and youthful braggadocio, making her final conversion all the more moving." The film grossed more than $100 million worldwide, and Knightley earned a Golden Globe nomination and an Oscar nomination (the Oscar ultimately went to Reese Witherspoon). The Academy Award nomination made her the third-youngest performer ever nominated. BAFTA's decision not to nominate her drew criticism from ''Pride & Prejudice'' producer Tim Bevan.

In 2006, Knightley was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her biggest financial hit thus far, ''Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'', was released in July.

Knightley starred in three major films in 2007: ''Silk'', an adaptation of the novel by Alessandro Baricco, ''Atonement'', a feature film adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel of the same name (co-starring James McAvoy, Vanessa Redgrave, and Brenda Blethyn), and ''Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'', which was released in May 2007. For her performance in ''Atonement'', Knightley was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the Best Dramatic Actress category for the role, as well as a BAFTA Award. Critic Richard Roeper was puzzled by both Knightley's and McAvoy's Academy Award snubs, stating "I thought McAvoy and Knightley were superb."

In the late spring of 2007, Knightley shot ''The Edge of Love'' with Cillian Murphy as her husband, Matthew Rhys as her childhood sweetheart, Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, and Sienna Miller as Thomas' wife Caitlin Macnamara. She received positive reviews for her role. The 2008 release was penned by Knightley's mother, Sharman Macdonald, and directed by John Maybury. She then filmed ''The Duchess'', based on the best-selling biography, ''Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire'' by Amanda Foreman, in which she played Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire; the film was released in cinemas on 5 September 2008 in the U.K.

Knightley appears in the drama ''Last Night'', in which she co-starred with Eva Mendes, Sam Worthington, and Guillaume Canet; it was directed by Massy Tadjedin. In April 2009, Knightley began work on an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's dystopian novel, ''Never Let Me Go'' with Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan. Filming took place in Norfolk and Clevedon in Somerset.

Theatre

Knightley made her West End debut in Martin Crimp's version of Molière's comedy, ''The Misanthrope'', at the Comedy Theatre in London alongside Damian Lewis, Tara FitzGerald, and Dominic Rowan. in December 2009. Reviews for her portrayal of Jennifer in the play were generally positive. ''The Daily Telegraph'' described her performance as revealing "both power and poignancy" and ''The Independent'' called her performance "not only strikingly convincing but, at times, rather thrilling in its satiric aplomb" ''The Guardian,'' however, noted that due to the nature of the role "one could say that she is not unduly stretched" and ''The Daily Mail'' described her as "little better than adequate" and "dull" and the ''Daily Express'' stated that "Her lack of stage experience is sometimes painfully evident."

Knightley has been nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award as Best Supporting Actress as Jennifer in ''The Misanthrope'', recognising her theatre debut. Knightley also received an Evening Standard Award nomination for the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress.

Upcoming roles

Knightley is filming under the direction of David Cronenberg in the feature film ''A Dangerous Method'', where she plays the role of Sabina Spielrein, the real-life psychoanalyst who worked with Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender and Vincent Cassel will be co-starring. She is slated to appear in ''The Emperor's Children'' with Eric Bana and Richard Gere. The film, a dark comedy, will be directed by Noah Baumbach. Knightley will star in ''London Boulevard'' with Colin Farrell, written by William Monahan, who will also make his directing debut.

Media attention

As a result of her rapid rise to fame, Knightley has been the focus of significant media attention. She has been described by press reports as "famously open with media," although Knightley herself has stated "I don't talk about my private life."

Knightley's look has often been described in publications as gamine.

Knightley has appeared many times in FHMs ''100 Sexiest Women in the World'' list. Ranked No.79 in 2004 she climbed to No.18 in 2005, and was named "the sexiest woman in the world in 2006." In 2007 she was 12th, 10th in 2008 and came 36th in 2009. The US edition ranked her No.54 in 2004, No.11 in 2005, and No.5 in 2006. In May 2006, she was No.9 on ''Maxim'''s 2006 Hot 100. She was also named "the number one beauty icon of 2007" by a poll of 2500 people conducted by British high street chain Superdrug. Knightley appeared nude, along with Scarlett Johansson, on the cover of ''Vanity Fair'' magazine's March 2006 "Hollywood" issue.

Knightley was the celebrity face for the luxury goods brand Asprey, Shiatzy Chen as well as Lux haircare products in Japanese television commercials. In April 2006, she was confirmed as the new celebrity face of Chanel's perfume Coco Mademoiselle, though the first photo from the campaign was not released until May 2007.

Knightley's Valentino gown at the 2006 Golden Globe Awards won her much acclaim and even landed her the top spot on Steven Cojocaru's "Best Dressed List" on ''Entertainment Tonight'', while the dress she wore to the 2006 Academy Awards was donated to the charity Oxfam, where it raised £4,300.

Knightley has warned children who dream of the celebrity life that it's not all what it seems to be. "It frightens me when kids go, 'I want to be famous.'" In a 2007 interview with the BBC Knightley said that she feels "de-humanised." She also said that when a person becomes a celebrity, the public doesn't care that the person's life is constantly watched.

While she has no current plans to leave the world of film, Knightley has said that she could not imagine subjecting a child to the media. She is quoted as saying, "I'm not planning to have children at the moment... everyone changes, and I'm sure there will be a time I will want to do something different. I could completely see myself moving away [from acting]."

She has expressed concern in the past about unsolicited attention from stalkers, and a 41-year-old man was charged with harassment in February 2010 after trying to contact the actress on several occasions outside the Comedy Theatre in London, where she appeared in the play ''The Misanthrope''. The subsequent trial folded after the actress was unavailable to testify in court.

Charity work

Knightley is the face of an Amnesty International campaign to support human rights, marking the 60th anniversary of the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As part of the campaign, the star also made a short film. Knightley stated she wanted to help raise awareness of the UDHR and human rights abuses. She said "The UDHR is something that everyone should be aware of and be proud of as a statement of our common humanity."

She posed for photos for WaterAid in 2005 and also for the American Library Association's "Read" campaign (A promotional poster of ''Pride and Prejudice'').

Knightley contributed her voice to a 2007 ''Robbie the Reindeer'' animation, all profits of which will be donated to Comic Relief. In 2004, she travelled to Ethiopia with a group that included Richard Curtis, who had directed her in ''Love, Actually'', on behalf of that charity.

In April 2009, Knightley appeared in a video to raise awareness of domestic abuse entitled ''Cut''. The video was directed by Joe Wright, who directed Knightley in ''Pride and Prejudice'' and ''Atonement'', and shot for "Women's Aid," a British women and children aid group. The video has created controversy, with some sources calling it too graphic, while other groups support the video for showing a realistic depiction of domestic violence.

In November 2010, Knightley became patron of The SMA Trust, a British charity that funds medical research into the children's disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

In March 2011, she appeared briefly in the ''Smithy'' sketch for Red Nose Day 2011, alongside Sir Paul McCartney, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Davina McCall, Justin Bieber and JLS, amongst others.

Personal life

Knightley, who lives in London, had a relationship with her ''Pride & Prejudice'' co-star Rupert Friend from 2005 until the couple split in December 2010. She has reportedly been dating James Righton since late February 2011.

Knightley has denied rumours she is anorexic, although she did say—after her appearance at the ''Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'' premiere led to media speculation that her extremely slender figure was due to an eating disorder—that her family has a history of anorexia. Knightley sued the ''Daily Mail'' after they claimed she lied about having anorexia; the article said that a teenage girl died from anorexia, indicating that Knightley's physical appearance may have influenced her in some way. She was awarded a settlement.

In July 2006, Knightley said she has become a workaholic, detailing that "the last five years have blended into one. I can't tell you what was last year and what was the year before" and specifying that she was "working too much" and was "quite frightened that if I continue at this rate I will start to hate what I love," suggesting that she would take a one-year break from acting to travel and focus on her personal life.

Filmography

; Feature films

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1995	''Innocent Lies''	Young Celia
1999	''Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace''
2001		Jogger
2001	''Princess of Thieves''	Gwyn
2001	''''	Frances 'Frankie' Almond Smith
2002	''Thunderpants''	Music school student	Uncredited
2002		Louise
2002	''Bend It Like Beckham''	Juliette "Jules" Paxton
2002	''New Year's Eve''	Leah
2002	''''	Helena
2003	''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl''	Elizabeth Swann	|Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Liplock |Nominated – Empire Award for Best British Actress|Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress|Nominated – Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Breakout Performance on Screen|Nominated – Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male or Female Actor in an Effects Film|Nominated – Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award|Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Female Performance|Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Breakout Movie Star - Female}}
2003	''Love Actually''	Juliet
2004		Guinevere
2005	''''	Jackie
2005		Domino Harvey
2005		Elizabeth Bennet
2006	''Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest''	Elizabeth Swann	|Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Liplock |Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Scream|Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Hissy Fit|Nominated – Empire Awards for Best Actress|Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Performace|Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress Drama/Action Adventure}}
2007	''Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End''	Elizabeth Swann
2007		Hélène Joncour
2007		Cecilia Tallis
2008	''''	Vera Phillips
2008	''''
2009	''The Continuing and Lamentable Saga of the Suicide Brothers''
2010	''London Boulevard''	Charlotte
2010		Ruth
2010		Joanna Reed
2010		Woman
2011	''''	Sabina Spielrein	post-production
2012	''Seeking A Friend for the End of the World''	Penny	filming
2012		Anna Karenina	pre-production

; Television appearances

! Year	! Title	! Role
1993	''Screen One''	Little Girl
1995	''''	Natasha Jordan
1995	''''	Sheena Rose
1996	''''	The Princess
1998		Young Judith Dunbar
1999		Rose Fleming
2001	''Princess of Thieves''	Gwyn (daughter of Robin Hood)
2002		Lara Antipova
2003		Kate
2007		Em

Theatre appearances

! Year	! Production	! Theatre	! Role	! Awards
2009/2010	''The Misanthrope''	Comedy Theatre, London	Jennifer (Celimene)
2011		Comedy Theatre, London	Karen Wright

References

External links

Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:English child actors Category:English film actors Category:English people of Scottish descent Category:English people of Welsh descent Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:English voice actors Category:People from London Category:People from Teddington Category:English female models

als:Keira Knightley ar:كيرا نايتلي az:Kira Naytli bn:কিরা নাইটলি zh-min-nan:Keira Knightley be-x-old:Кіра Найтлі bs:Keira Knightley bg:Кийра Найтли ca:Keira Knightley cs:Keira Knightley cy:Keira Knightley da:Keira Knightley de:Keira Knightley et:Keira Knightley el:Κίρα Νάιτλι es:Keira Knightley eo:Keira Knightley eu:Keira Knightley fa:کیرا نایتلی fr:Keira Knightley ga:Keira Knightley gl:Keira Knightley ko:키이라 나이틀리 hi:केइरा नाइटली hr:Keira Knightley id:Keira Knightley it:Keira Knightley he:קירה נייטלי jv:Keira Knightley kn:ಕೀರಾ ನೈಟ್ಲಿ ka:კირა ნაიტლი la:Keira Knightley lv:Kīra Naitlija lb:Keira Knightley hu:Keira Knightley mk:Кира Најтли nah:Keira Knightley nl:Keira Knightley ja:キーラ・ナイトレイ no:Keira Knightley oc:Keira Knightley pl:Keira Knightley pt:Keira Knightley ro:Keira Knightley ru:Найтли, Кира sq:Keira Knightley simple:Keira Knightley sk:Keira Knightleyová sl:Keira Knightley sr:Кира Најтли fi:Keira Knightley sv:Keira Knightley tl:Keira Knightley ta:கீரா நைட்லி te:కైరా నైట్లీ th:คีร์รา ไนท์ลีย์ tr:Keira Knightley uk:Кіра Найтлі vi:Keira Knightley zh:姬拉·麗莉