Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group originally consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail.
Kathleen Hanna is an American singer, musician and pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. She is the lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill and fronted the electropunk band Le Tigre in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since 2010, she has recorded as the Julie Ruin.
Tobi Celeste Vail is an American independent musician, music critic and feminist activist from Olympia, Washington. She was a central figure in the riot grrl scene—she coined the spelling of "grrl"—and she started the zine Jigsaw. A drummer, guitarist and singer, she was a founding member of the band Bikini Kill. Vail has collaborated in several other bands figuring in the Olympia music scene. Vail writes for eMusic.
Le Tigre is an American art punk and riot grrrl band formed by Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. They mixed punk's directness and politics with playful samples, eclectic pop, and lo-fi electronics. Like with many bands in and from the riot grrrl movement, many of the lyrics addressed feminist themes and ideas. The group also added multimedia and performance art elements to their live shows, which often featured support from like-minded acts such as the Need.
Johanna Rachel Fateman is an American writer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. She is a member of the electropunk band Le Tigre and founded the band MEN with Le Tigre bandmate JD Samson.
Tammy Rae Carland, is an American photographer, video artist, zine editor, current provost at California College of the Arts (CCA), and former co-owner of the independent lesbian music label Mr. Lady Records and Videos. Her work has been published, screened, and exhibited around the world in galleries and museums in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin, and Sydney.
The Singles is a compilation album of three singles by punk rock band Bikini Kill. The album was released in 1998 by Kill Rock Stars. Joan Jett produces, plays guitar and sings on the first three tracks. In 2018, Bikini Kill reissued the album on CD and 12" vinyl.
Le Tigre is the debut studio album of American music trio Le Tigre. It was released October 25, 1999, on Mr. Lady Records. The album combined pop music with the band's feminist political lyrics. It received positive reviews from music critics.
This Island is the third and most recent album by American dance-punk band Le Tigre. It was released by Universal Records on October 19, 2004. The album was the band's only one for a major label and reached number 130 on the Billboard 200. As of 2008, the album had sold 90,000 copies.
Pussy Whipped is the debut studio album by American punk rock band Bikini Kill. It was released on Kill Rock Stars on October 26, 1993.
Kathi Lynn Wilcox is an American musician. She is the bass player in Bikini Kill and guitar player in the Casual Dots. She was also a member of the Julie Ruin and the Frumpies.
William Francis Karren is an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the punk/riot grrrl band Bikini Kill, formed by Kathleen Hanna, with Karren, Tobi Vail and Kathi Wilcox. He was also active in many other music projects, including the Go Team, the Frumpies, Corrections, and Spray Painted Love. He did not participate in Bikini Kill's 2019 reunion; his replacement was Erica Dawn Lyle.
Lucy Thane is a British documentary filmmaker, event producer and performer, living in Folkestone. Her films include It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill in the UK (1993) and She's Real (1997).
Pure and Simple is the ninth studio album by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, released in 1994. The album includes several tracks co-written with Kathleen Hanna, including "Go Home", a response to the murder of Mia Zapata.
Radical Act is a feature-length documentary by Tex Clark. Shot in 1995, Radical Act documents the contributions of female artists to the 1990s indie rock scene. Participants include Kathleen Hanna, Toshi Reagon, Gretchen Phillips, Melissa York, Kim Coletta, Shirlé Hale, Sharon Topper, journalist Evelyn McDonnell, author Victoria "Vicky" Starr and Dr. Kay Turner.
Sini Anderson is an American film director, producer, performance artist, choreographer, dancer and poet, from Chicago, Illinois. Anderson is widely known for directing The Punk Singer (2013), a documentary about riot grrrl musician Kathleen Hanna's legacy and experience with late-stage Lyme disease.
"Rebel Girl" is a song by American punk rock band Bikini Kill. The song was released in three different recorded versions in 1993 – on an EP, an LP, and a 7-inch single. The single version was produced by Joan Jett and features her on guitar and background vocals. Widely considered a classic example of punk music, the song remains emblematic of the riot grrrl movement of the 1990s. In 2021, "Rebel Girl" was listed at number 296 on the updated list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The Julie Ruin is an American band formed in 2010 in New York City. The band rehearses in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and records at Oscilloscope and Figure 8 Recording in Brooklyn. Band members include lead vocalist Kathleen Hanna, bassist Kathi Wilcox, keyboardist Kenny Mellman, drummer Carmine Covelli and guitarist Sara Landeau. Hanna and Wilcox also perform together as part of Bikini Kill. The band's name was previously used as the title of Hanna's debut solo album.
Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement that combines feminism, punk music, and politics, it is often associated with third-wave feminism, which is sometimes seen as having grown out of the riot grrrl movement and has recently been seen in fourth-wave feminist punk music that rose in the 2010s. The genre has also been described as coming out of indie rock, with the punk scene serving as an inspiration for a movement in which women could express anger, rage, and frustration, emotions considered socially acceptable for male songwriters but less commonly for women.
The Punk Singer is a 2013 documentary film about feminist singer Kathleen Hanna who fronted the bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, and who was a central figure in the riot grrrl movement. Directed by filmmaker Sini Anderson and produced by Anderson and Tamra Davis, the film's title is taken from the Julie Ruin song "The Punk Singer", from Hanna's 1998 solo effort.
