Former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur reunited with The Smashing Pumpkins on stage at Lollapalooza in Chicago, Illinois, last week. The 54-year-old singer and bassist joined her former band during their 17-song set at Grant Park, 33 years after co-founding her first band, Tinker.
Smashing Pumpkins frontman and mentor Billy Corgan introduced Auf der Maur to the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have one more special guest," Corgan announced. "Our former bandmate, a former member of Hole, Miss Melissa Auf der Maur!"
The Montreal-born musician, who toured with The Smashing Pumpkins from 1999 to 2000, took the stage in a red floral frock for the final song of the set, Heavy Metal Machine. The Daily Mail reached out to representatives for Auf der Maur for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Reflecting on the surprise performance on Monday, Auf der Maur shared her thoughts on Instagram, writing that she felt "floating and grateful." She expressed how much she missed performing, writing, "I miss my bass, I miss you out there, the listeners and receivers.. to say nothing of my fellow misfit poet musicians who have crystallized such inner crevasses of my life."
Corgan, a 59-year-old Grammy winner, originally recommended Auf der Maur to Courtney Love after Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff died from a heroin overdose in 1994. Auf der Maur called the opportunity the "radical gateway to the rest of my music mania life."
After leaving Hole in 1999, Auf der Maur launched a solo career in 2004 and released two studio albums, Auf der Maur and Out of Our Minds.
New Music and Photography Exhibition
On July 20, Auf der Maur announced her first new music release in more than 15 years. Her upcoming project, Bass Womb Room: My '90s 4-Track Demos X Field Recordings, arrives on September 4 on cassette and digital platforms.
The album features seven four-track tape recorder demos written and recorded at her home in the 1990s, alongside eight new interludes. Auf der Maur explained that the songs reflected a period of intense pressure from major record labels to create radio-friendly hits.
"These songs are the sound of my internal experimentation and a way of keeping the Montreal art girl alive inside," Auf der Maur said in a statement. "These sounds are the quiet and private side of the girl who joined the big American major label rock band."
Alongside her musical career, Auf der Maur works as an author, Substack blogger, and photographer. Her upcoming exhibition, My '90s Rock Photographs, runs from September 2 to September 10, accompanied by a 240-page photobook launching on September 8.
Speaking to Bass Magazine in May, Auf der Maur described the exhibition as a sound and visual installation celebrating the bass. She also revealed plans for a cover album featuring electronic, industrial, and new wave styles with electric synth bass and real drums, expected next year.
Before the exhibition opens, Auf der Maur will appear at the Kitchener Public Library in Kitchener, Ontario, on August 27 for a sold-out public conversation with host Tara Slone.
Autobiography and Personal Life
On March 17, publisher Da Capo released Auf der Maur's 432-page autobiography, Even the Good Girls Will Cry: A '90s Rock Memoir. The book details her career as well as her romance with Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl between 1999 and 2001.
"To have a man you love, who also happens to be the best drummer on the planet - as a bass player, that's pretty f***ing cool," the Active Heart singer told Bass Magazine. She added that her time with Grohl was joyous and musically enriching.
Auf der Maur shares a 14-year-old daughter, River, with her husband of 20 years, filmmaker Tony Stone. The couple co-owns Basilica Hudson, a multi-disciplinary art center in New York. She previously dated rocker Andrew W.K. and her Tinker co-founder Steve Durand.
