Bands like Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Bratmobile, Heavens to Betsy, 7 Year Bitch, Dickless (my favorite of the genre's band names), Team Dresch, and The Third Sex, among many others, formed in the early to mid '90s in the Pacific Northwest. But the progenitor of the genre is widely considered to be Bikini Kill, which formed in late 1990 in Olympia by Kathleen Hanna on vocals, Billy Karren (a man!) on guitar, Kathi Wilcox on bass, and Tobi Vail on drums.
They took the DIY aesthetic of punk and combined it with hardcore feminism, and Hanna would often jump into the crowd at early shows to remove male hecklers. After releasing their debut album, Revolution Girl Style Now, the band attracted the attention of other rockers, including Joan Jett, who wrote the song "Activity Grrrl" about the band. In response, Jett produced the band's song "Rebel Girl," which is considered one of the anthems of the riot grrrl genre. It was recorded in 1993, and there are actually three versions of the song -- a single version that was produced by Jett and featured her on guitars and backing vocals; a version on the 1993 EP Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah; and a version on their 1993 album Pussy Whipped.
The band would break up in 1997 after releasing a couple more albums, and then they (minus Karren) reunited briefly in 2017 and then for a relatively short tour (including a few festivals) in 2019.
Interesting tidbit:
1. Hanna has been married to Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys since 2006.
2. Hanna also inadvertently (or maybe advertently) inspired the title of grunge's signature song, Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." She wrote "Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit" on Kurt Cobain's wall. At the time, Cobain was dating Vail. Hanna was referring to the teen-marketed deodorant Teen Spirit, which Cobain didn't realize. He just thought it sounded like a great slogan and song title.
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