Eric Erlandson - Hole and Later Disputes

Hole and Later Disputes

In mid-1989, Erlandson responded to an advertisement placed by Courtney Love in Recycler, a local classified ad paper. Erlandson describes the band's first rehearsal session — which featured original bassist Lisa Roberts — as:

these two girls show up dressed completely crazy, we set up and they said, "okay, just start playing something." I started playing and they started screaming at the top of their lungs for two or three hours. Crazy lyrics and screaming. I said to myself, "most people would just run away from this really fast." But I heard something in Courtney's voice and lyrics.

Love, Erlandson and Roberts were later joined by drummer Caroline Rue and third guitarist Mike Geisbrecht and this line-up performed Hole's first live performances. A new line-up, consisting of new bassist Jill Emery and the departure of Geisbrecht, recorded their debut album, Pretty on the Inside, in 1991. Receiving underground success in the United Kingdom, Rue left the band in April 1992, preceded by Emery who quit in February 1992. Recruiting new members Patty Schemel and Kristen Pfaff, respectively, Hole signed a contract with their new label DGC in 1992 and a year later, began touring and recording for their sophomore and major label debut, Live Through This. The album, ranked by Time magazine as one of the top 100 albums of all time, received unanimous critical acclaim and is Hole's most successful record to date. Erlandson found Pfaff's body after she died of a heroin overdose in 1994 just weeks before the band's appearance at the Reading Festival and Canadian bassist Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited on suggestion of Billy Corgan. After a reported hiatus in 1996, Hole released their third studio album, Celebrity Skin, in 1998. More pop-orientated than their previous albums, the album was a commercial success and was the last material by Hole to feature Erlandson. Auf der Maur left the group in 1999 to pursure other musical projects and on May 22, 2002, Erlandson and Love disbanded Hole through their official website noting that they would "no longer record or tour together."

In 2009, Love announced that her upcoming solo album, Nobody's Daughter, was being released under the name Hole and described the band's reunion, which included Love's guitarist Micko Larkin replacing Erlandson. Auf der Maur was first to respond to the news, describing it as "jeopardis a real Hole reunion" and Erlandson stated that he and Love "have a contract", which was later revealed to be a contract preventing either from reforming Hole without mutual involvement. In a later interview, just days before the expected release of Hole's Nobody's Daughter, Erlandson explained how " management convinced me that it was all hot air and that she would never be able to finish her album. Now I'm left in an uncomfortable position." Neither Love nor Erlandson have commented on the reunion further.

However in April of 2012, Courtney Love joined Erlandson along with bassist Melissa Auf der Maur and drummer Patty Schemel onstage for the first time in 15 years at the after party for the premiere of Schemel's documentary entitled Hit So Hard. The band played two songs that evening, Miss World from the band's hit album Live Through This and a cover of The Wipers song "Over the Edge".