Portrait of a Rebel: Kristen Pfaff
NOTE: This a two-part post.
Part II Update
(By Elizabeth Tuico | October 27, 2022) This blog on Kristen Pfaff is my most popular by far. I wanted to update this entry, specifically to find out more about Kristen’s life after Boston College. I contacted her brother Jason who put me in touch with Guy Mankowski in England.
Guy and I had a lively email exchange. He is wrapping up a well-researched book on Kristen Pfaff which has been in the works for several years. With the full support of her family, he used her extensive personal archive and interviewed many friends. Below is Guy’s summary of his upcoming biography on Kristen Pfaff:
As an academic, activist, counsellor and musician Pfaff packed a lot into her years and this book will very much celebrate her life and her time as a key member of cult band Janitor Joe, putting the spotlight onto the years in which less is known about Pfaff. The book will also celebrate Pfaff and others contribution to the masterpiece that was Hole’s ‘Live Through This’.
Guy allowed me to read a draft chapter about Kristen’s time at Boston College. I can’t wait to read the entire book.
Trained as a psychologist at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, Guy is a full-time lecturer at Lincoln University in England. At one time, he was a singer with a signed band called Alba Nova. A prolific writer, Guy has authored several books on music. You can check out all his titles on Goodreads, which include Albion’s Secret History: Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders and Dead Rock Stars.
Guy recently presented a TEDx talk on researching Kristen’s life and how it made him think differently about his own. He spills a few details from the book – like Kristen’s secret marriage in Boston.
Watch Guy Mankowski’s TEDx talk on Kristen Pfaff here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Tjuo-TDCHZI
For Guy, Kristen’s life deserves far more attention than her death. I couldn’t agree more.
I also learned that Kristen’s mother Janet wrote a book about her daughter called Unfinished Rhapsody: The Other Side of Fame. Below is a quote from Janet A. Pfaff:
‘What bothers me so much is the way this has been sensationalized around Kristen. All this happened in the last year of her life. She did have problems in the last year, but what about her other 26 years? The media missed the fact of what an accomplished musician she was, what a good person she was, and all the good things she did. The thing that blows my mind years later is that people are still interested in her life.’
When I first started researching Kristen Pfaff, I could only find conspiracy theories about her death. Although too short, she led a fascinating life.
The last time I saw Kristen was in the spring of 1986. In those six months since we met as freshman at Boston College, she went from preppy to punk. Kristen only had eight years left, but she covered a lot of ground.
If you’re reading this post, you’re probably wondering about her musical journey. How did she transform from a classically trained musician to a punk princess?
You don’t have to wait much longer to learn more about Kristen’s brief but influential life. Guy Mankowski’s biography is in the works. I’ll post another update when the book is available.
It’s really something that we’re still talking about Kristen Pfaff almost 30 years after her untimely death.
Elizabeth Tuico owns Rebel Road Creative, a marketing and content writing firm, based in Washington, DC.
Part I
(By Elizabeth Tuico | June 16, 2022) Many years ago I was at the gym, grinding my way through a Stairmaster workout and reading People magazine. I came across an article about the overdose death of the bass player from Courtney Love’s band. Her high school graduation picture accompanied the article, and this young woman looked vaguely familiar.
Kristen Marie Pfaff accidently died in her Seattle bathtub on June 16, 1994 of acute opiate intoxication, two months after Kurt Cobain’s suicide. I recognized Kristen because she was good friends with my first roommate at Boston College.
Live Through This
After freshman year at BC, Kristen studied in Europe and then transferred to the University of Minnesota. Trained in classical piano and cello, it was an easy transition to bass guitar. In Minneapolis, she formed a band called Janitor Joe with guitarist/vocalist Joachim Breuer and drummer Matt Entsminger in 1992. A year later, the trio had completed their debut album Big Metal Birds. During a tour date in California, Kristen met Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson, the founders of Hole. The pair asked her to join the band. She initially refused and returned to Minneapolis.
Courtney and Eric were persistent. Kristen agreed to join Hole as their latest bassist with the stipulations that she would only record Live Through This and go on one tour with the band. It’s during this time that Kristen flirted with heroin. Her drug use was bad enough to warrant a stint in rehab. By the time of her death in June 1994, Kristen was clean and only in Seattle to collect her belongings. She was moving back to Minneapolis to make music with Janitor Joe, leaving Hole behind. Her last obligation was the band’s summer 1994 tour. A moving truck was parked out front, but she never woke up to drive it out of town.
Power Grunge Couple
A record executive once said that Courtney and Kurt are the 90s much more talented version of Sid and Nancy. Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love had a destructive romance, fueled by drugs and paranoia, that ended with Kurt’s suicide in April 1994. The couple have a daughter named Frances who inherited the rights to her father’s name and image.
Suspicious Minds
Did Courtney have something to do with Kristen’s death? The internet is full of conspiracy theories. Hole recorded Live Through This in Atlanta. It’s documented that Kristen became addicted to heroin during this period. Some say Courtney supplied her with the drugs to control her. Their initial friendly relationship went down hill quickly once they hit the studio.
On top of the musical tension, Courtney allegedly was jealous of Kristen’s relationship with her husband. There is one quote from Courtney to Kristen that is shared often: “You fuck my guitar player, constantly make eyes at my husband and now you’re telling me how to sing. Just don’t fuck with me because you’ll regret it forever.”
Months prior to his suicide, Kurt spent hours on the phone talking to Kristen about art, books and music. There is no evidence of a romantic relationship, but their bond was strong.
Eric Erlandson was the last person to see Kristen alive on June 16, 1994. Kristen stopped using drugs the day Kurt died two months earlier so her family believes the circumstances around her death are suspicious. I could go on, but you can google the rumors.
Portrait of a Rebel
As I sit firmly in the middle age, I’m spending more time with my BC friends. We’re thinking about retirement and analyzing our twenty-something decisions. A move to another state or a casual Friday night date changed the trajectory of many lives.
As a teenager, Kristen had the courage to carve her own path. She educated herself and didn’t succumb to the pressure of securing a formal education with a degree. The Minneapolis music scene became her passion, and she quickly established herself as a force in that community. What she thought would be short stint in an up-and-coming Seattle band ended up being her downfall. After meeting Courtney and Eric, she was dead less than a year later.
Live Through This is Hole’s most celebrated album. Kristen’s fierce performance on bass is what distinguishes their sound on this effort. Twenty-eight years after her death, I hope more people recognize her accomplishments rather than spin conspiracy theories about her relationships with Courtney and Kurt. Although too short, it was a life well-lived.
Disclaimer
My research for this article consisted of Google searches. I didn’t do a deep dive into the circumstances of Kristen’s death. We were orbital friends the first year of college. She transferred out in 1986, and I never spoke to her again. After reading about her death, I wondered how a smart young woman with a bright future could be derailed.
It’s always troubling when a contemporary dies young. Kristen died at 27. There’s something about that age and the music business. The list of rock stars who died at 27 is long – Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, The Stones’ Brian Jones and Kurt Cobain to name a few. It’s so unfortunate that Kristen is part of this list.