Courtney Love has sparked speculation about a possible Hole reunion after sharing a cryptic social media post featuring the band’s former bassist Melissa Auf der Maur.
The grunge icon posted a series of videos of Auf der Maur on Instagram, soundtracked by Hole’s 1998 hit “Celebrity Skin”, leading fans to wonder if the influential 1990s rock band could be preparing a comeback.
Alongside the clips, Love hinted at a possible tour, writing: “So do we tell the kids about the tour?”
Auf der Maur, who played bass in Hole from 1994 to 1999, appeared to fuel the speculation by replying in the comments: “it starts with eternal love ….”
Voir cette publication sur Instagram
Shortly after the initial post, Love also shared a vintage photograph of herself with Auf der Maur and guitarist Eric Erlandson, taken at Los Angeles’ Chateau Marmont just months before the release of the band’s landmark 1998 album Celebrity Skin.
Formed in 1989 by Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson, Hole became one of the defining bands of the 1990s alternative rock and grunge scene. The group broke into the mainstream with 1994’s Live Through This, an album widely regarded as one of the era’s most influential rock records.
Following the overdose death of bassist Kristen Pfaff in 1994, Auf der Maur joined the band and later performed on 1998’s Celebrity Skin. The album became the band’s biggest commercial success, producing the hit title track and reaching No. 9 on the Billboard 200.
Voir cette publication sur Instagram
Hole released their final studio album, Nobody’s Daughter, in 2010. However, the record was largely seen as a Courtney Love solo project, as it featured an entirely new backing band rather than the classic Hole line-up.
Despite years of speculation about a reunion, Love has repeatedly given mixed signals about the possibility of bringing the band back together. In 2021, she told Vogue that a reunion was “just not gonna happen”, but in 2024 she appeared to hint at a change of heart while performing in London with Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong’s cover band The Coverups, telling the crowd: “Later, I’ll be back in Hole.”
The two musicians have continued to collaborate in recent years. Auf der Maur revealed in a recent interview that she spent five days in London last year recording vocals for Love’s upcoming album, suggesting the pair have remained creatively connected.
“I wanted her voice,” Love explained. “Because it’s robustly an octave over mine. It’s surprisingly, to me, more robust and embodied now than it was in ’98 … Silver, tinkling, all the things I can’t do. We’re perfect together.”
The pair have also reunited on stage before. In 2018, Love and Auf der Maur performed several Hole songs together during a tribute event honouring Courtney Love at Basilica Hudson in New York.
Both artists also have new projects on the way. Love recently premiered her upcoming documentary Antiheroine at the Sundance Film Festival, while Auf der Maur is preparing to release her 1990s rock memoir Even the Good Girls Will Cry on 17 March.
For now, no official reunion or tour has been confirmed, and Hole co-founder Eric Erlandson and longtime drummer Patty Schemel have not commented publicly on Love’s posts.
The last time all four members of Hole’s classic line-up performed together was in 2012, during a surprise after-party performance connected to Schemel’s documentary Hit So Hard.
@consequence Courtney Love discusses why she chose Hole as a band name. #courtneylove #hole #livethroughthis ♬ original sound - consequence
