"Celebrity Skin" | ||||
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Single by Hole | ||||
from the album Celebrity Skin | ||||
B-side |
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Released | August 31, 1998 | |||
Recorded | 1997 | |||
Studio | Conway Recording, Record Plant West (Los Angeles) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:42 | |||
Label | Geffen | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Michael Beinhorn | |||
Hole singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Celebrity Skin" on YouTube |
"Celebrity Skin" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, released on August 31, 1998 as the first single from their third studio album of the same name. It is their most commercially successful single, being the only one to reach the top place on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. In October 2011, NME ranked it the 126th best track of the past 15 years.
The song was written and recorded in 1997, after Hole's reported hiatus the previous year due to frontwoman Courtney Love's burgeoning film career. Love and Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson co-wrote the song with Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, whom Love later said provided the main guitar riff. [2]
The lyrics, written by Love, [3] contain several literary references; the line "Oh, look at my face / My name is might-have-been" is directly lifted from the opening verse of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's poem, "A Superscription," (and also quoted in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night ) [4] while the phrase "pound of flesh" originates from William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice . [4]
Commenting on the theme of celebrity, Love said: "Once you've stood onstage bleating your schoolgirl poetry, are you going to stay there, when you have the power and ability to give yourself a platform? I mean, here's the celebrity, and we all know it's stupid and ephemeral, but why not foster it? Why not feed it? Because all that it will do is give the thing that has substance – the art – more power." [5] The song's title shares the name of an independent pornographic magazine of the same name showing celebrity nudity, as well as a short-lived punk rock group from Los Angeles that featured ex-Germs drummer Don Bolles. Love joked on Later... with Jools Holland in 1995 that the song was entitled "Celebrity Skin" "'cause [she] touched a lot of it." [6]
Journalist Carrie Bell of Billboard noted in 1998 that the song dissects "the problem of maintaining an image and living in the public eye." [7] Guitarist Eric Erlandson responded to this statement: "Courtney writes what she feels, and this is obviously one of her observations of Hollywood. We used this great hollow city as inspiration for the album." [7]
"Celebrity Skin" was released as the debut single of its eponymous album, Celebrity Skin, on August 31, 1998, [8] reaching the top 10 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. [9] It spent a total of 26 weeks on the chart, peaking at number one on October 10, 1998. [10]
NME referred to the track's musical elements as featuring a "balls-in-the-air guitar riff the size of Australia, and a production sheen that was the sonic equivalent of looking directly at the sun." [11] In 2011, the same publication ranked the song number 126 on a list of the "150 Best Tracks of the Last 15 Years." [11] James Hunter of Rolling Stone wrote of the song: "Hole are immediately in your face with the cheese-metal riffs and cuddly dissolves," deeming it "a track full of cloudless energy that seems to explode the malaise that has surrounded Love.". [12] The song received two Grammy nominations for Best Rock Song, losing to "Uninvited" by Alanis Morissette and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, losing to "Pink" by Aerosmith.
The music video for "Celebrity Skin" was directed by Nancy Bardawil. [13] [14] The video features the band performing the song on a stage, women wearing pink-purple ball gowns hanging from the ceiling and the women later lifting up their skirts as they amble around the stage. The video design bears resemblance to a key sequence in the Marilyn Monroe film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). [15] As well as performance footage, there are also a number of close-ups of Courtney Love and Melissa Auf der Maur lying in coffins. Patty Schemel, although still a member of the band at the time of shooting, does not appear in the video. Schemel was replaced by a lookalike (Samantha Maloney using red hair to emulate Schemel) and only informed a music video was planned after it was shot. [16] The video was shot in black and white and the footage was colorized by Cerulean Fx in post-production.
All songs were written by Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, and Billy Corgan except where noted.
UK CD single(GFSTD 22345)
UK 7-inch single(GFS 22345)
US promotional CD(PRO-CD-1194)
| EU limited edition CD(GED22368)
Japanese CD single(MVCF-12012)
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Hole
Guest musicians
Production
Weekly chartsHole version
Doja Cat version
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom (BPI) [36] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
The song was used in the film American Pie , but did not appear on the soundtrack, as well as being featured in the intro of the video game NHL Rock The Rink , as well as the video games Rock Band and Sing Star as a playable track and downloadable content
It also appeared in the 2011 family film Hop . In 2012, the song was performed by Heather Morris and Chord Overstreet in the Glee episode "Makeover".
A line from the song inspired the alternative rock group Garbage to name their third album Beautiful Garbage . [37]
The song was used in the "lip sync for your life" segment on the third episode of the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race , where Love was a guest judge. [38]
In 2018, Love performed the song with Rockin'1000 in Florence being backed by 1500 musicians.
The song plays during the end credits of the 2019 film Captain Marvel . [39]
An edited version of the song is also used in the trailer of the 2020 Netflix film Enola Holmes [40] It also appeared in the fifth episode of The Flight Attendant .
On February 11, 2022, rapper and singer Doja Cat released a cover of "Celebrity Skin" as a part of her Super Bowl LVI commercial for Taco Bell.
The song was played in the first episode of the American superhero television series 'Gen V'.
Hole was an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1989. It was founded by singer and guitarist Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson. It had several different bassists and drummers, the most prolific being drummer Patty Schemel, and bassists Kristen Pfaff and Melissa Auf der Maur. Hole released a total of four studio albums between two incarnations spanning the 1990s and early-2010s and became one of the most commercially successful rock bands in history fronted by a woman.
Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur is a Canadian musician.
Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before their dissolution in 2002. Hole intended for the record to diverge significantly from their previous noise and grunge-influenced sound as featured on Pretty on the Inside (1991) and Live Through This (1994). The band hired producer Michael Beinhorn to record Celebrity Skin over a nine-month period that included sessions in Los Angeles, New York City, and London. It was the band's only studio release to feature bassist Melissa Auf der Maur. Drummer Patty Schemel played on the demos for the album but was replaced by session drummer Deen Castronovo at the suggestion of Beinhorn. This issue created a rift between Schemel and the band, resulting in her dropping out of the tour and parting ways with the group, though she was still credited.
Live Through This is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 12, 1994, by DGC Records. Recorded in late 1993, it departed from the band's unpolished hardcore aesthetics to more refined melodies and song structure. Frontwoman Courtney Love said that she wanted the record to be "shocking to the people who think that we don't have a soft edge", but maintain a harsh sensibility. The album was produced by Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie and mixed by Scott Litt and J Mascis. The lyrics and packaging reflect Love's thematic preoccupations with beauty, and motifs of milk, motherhood, anti-elitism, and violence against women, while Love derived the album title from a quote in Gone with the Wind (1939).
America's Sweetheart is the debut studio album by American alternative rock musician Courtney Love, released worldwide on February 10, 2004 by Virgin Records. Her first official release after her former band Hole's break-up, the album's sound diverged significantly in musical and lyrical content to Hole's three previous studio albums: Pretty on the Inside (1991), Live Through This (1994) and Celebrity Skin (1998). The recording process of the album began in summer 2001 in Los Angeles, California, however, was affected drastically by a number of personal and legal issues by Love; including her drug problems, the disbandment of Hole, the controversy surrounding Nirvana's upcoming box set, and legal problems with various record labels. In spring 2003, Love traveled to southern France to re-record the album, however, according to Love, she "just wanted to be in a château for six months and do drugs." The album had three main producers, one of whom, James Barber, was Love's partner at the time.
Pretty on the Inside is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 17, 1991, in the United States on Caroline Records. Produced by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, and Gumball frontman Don Fleming, the album was Hole's first major label release after the band's formation in 1989 by vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson.
Patricia Theresa Schemel is an American drummer and musician who rose to prominence as the drummer of alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998. Born in Los Angeles, Schemel was raised in rural Marysville, Washington, where she developed an interest in punk rock music as a teenager. She began drumming at age eleven, and while in high school, formed several bands with her brother, Larry.
Eric Theodore Erlandson is an American musician, guitarist, and writer, primarily known as founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole from 1989 to 2002. He has also had several musical side projects, including Rodney & the Tube Tops, which he formed with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and RRIICCEE with Vincent Gallo.
"Be a Man" is the thirteenth and last single by alternative rock band Hole before their breakup in 2002.
"Beautiful Son" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, co-written by frontwoman Courtney Love, lead guitarist Eric Erlandson, and drummer Patty Schemel. The song was released as the band's fourth single in April 1993 on the European label City Slang. To coincide with the song's lyrics, Love used a photograph of her husband, Kurt Cobain, at age 7 as the single's artwork.
My Body, the Hand Grenade is the first and only compilation album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on October 28, 1997, through the band's European label, City Slang Records. It was also imported for sale in the United States, where it was released on December 10, 1997. The album was compiled with the intent of tracking the band's progression from their noise rock beginnings to the more melodic songwriting that appeared on their second album, Live Through This (1994).
"Doll Parts" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love. The song was released as the band's sixth single and second from their second studio album, Live Through This, in November 1994 to accompany the band's North American tour. It was also the first single to be released following the death of bassist Kristen Pfaff in June 1994.
"Malibu" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole. It is the fourth track and second single from the band's third studio album, Celebrity Skin, and was released in December 1998, on DGC Records. The song was written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, lead guitarist Eric Erlandson and Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, who contributed to four other songs on Celebrity Skin.
"Violet" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by vocalist and guitarist Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was written in mid-1991, and was performed live between 1991 and 1992 during Hole's earlier tours, eventually appearing as the opening track on the band's second studio album Live Through This (1994). The song was released as the group's seventh single and the third from that album in early 1995.
"Miss World" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by frontwoman Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released as the band's fifth single and the first from their second studio album, Live Through This, in March 1994.
"Softer, Softest" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by frontwoman Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released as the band's eighth song and fourth and final single from their second studio album, Live Through This, in December 1995. The single was released just as the band finished their extensive touring in 1995.
"Awful" is a single by American alternative rock band Hole from the band's third studio album, Celebrity Skin. Released in April 1999 by Geffen Records as a CD single, the song's lyrics explore how the media and modern pop culture corrupt young girls and how they should rebel against this. The line "swing low, sweet cherry" in the song is an allusion to the African American spiritual hymn, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".
The discography of Hole, a Los Angeles–based American alternative rock band, consists of four studio albums, one compilation album, three extended plays, and 16 singles.
This is a comprehensive listing of official releases by Courtney Love, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band Hole. Aside from her numerous releases with Hole, Love has released one solo studio album, five singles, and appeared in several musical collaborations.
Hit So Hard is a 2011 American documentary film directed by P. David Ebersole. The film details the life and near death story of Patty Schemel, drummer of the seminal '90s alternative rock band Hole, and charts her early life, music career, and spiral into crack cocaine addiction. The film weaves together Hi8 video footage Schemel recorded while on Hole's 1994-95 world tour with contemporary interviews with her, bandmates Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, and Melissa Auf der Maur, as well as her family members. The film also features interviews with other female drummers and musicians, including Nina Gordon, Kate Schellenbach, Gina Schock, Debbi Peterson, and Phranc.
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