Musicians - Kristen Pfaff

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	Musicians - Kristen Pfaff

Kristen Pfaff (May 26, 1967 - June 16, 1994) was a bass guitarist from Buffalo, New York, best known for her work with Hole.

Early life

Kristen Pfaff was born and raised in New York, attending Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart. She spent a short time in Europe before attending college (briefly) at Boston College before ultimately finishing at The University of Minnesota. She studied classical piano.

Musical Career

While living in Minneapolis, Minnesota following her graduation, Pfaff taught herself to play bass guitar. She, along with guitarist/vocalist Joachim Breuer and drummer Matt Entsminger formed the band Janitor Joe. They released their debut album Big Metal Birds in 1993. The band never made it to the big time, but became popular locally, and had begun to tour nightclubs as far away as California.

It was on one such tour in California that Pfaff was scouted by Eric Erlandson and Courtney Love of Hole, who were at the time looking for a new bassist. Love invited Pfaff to play with Hole, and Pfaff accepted after a few days of consideration.

Pfaff moved from her Minneapolis home to Seattle, Washington to be closer to the rest of Hole. They recorded "Live Through This", the bands first album with a major record label. Pfaff's bass skills received much of the credit for Live Through This's success. Pfaff reportedly got along well socially with Courtney Love's husband Kurt Cobain and the rest of Hole, with the exception of Love. After learning of Pfaff's plans to leave the band, Love allegedly told Pfaff that she would "fade into oblivion" and that she didn't "deserve the chance I'm giving you because you don't appreciate it." Love also reportedly told another member of Hole that the "little bitch is going to ruin everything... she's doing this on purpose."

Drugs and death

Since moving to Seattle, Kristen Pfaff had reportedly become deeply involved in the local heroin scene. By winter of 1994, she had entered and successfully completed drug rehab, and was thought to be completely clean by close friends.

Pfaff's close relationship with Cobain meant that she took his April 1994 death quite hard. Shortly following Cobain's death, Pfaff decided to leave Hole and return to Minneapolis. This decision was motivated in part by a need to "find herself" following her friend's suicide, and a desire to escape the readily available drugs in Seattle. She spent the spring of 1994 touring with her old band, Janitor Joe.

Pfaff returned to Seattle to pack up the rest of her belongings and head to Minnesota. On June 16, 1994, the morning she was supposed to leave, she was found dead in her bathtub by the friend who was supposed to go with her. Nearby was a cosmetic bag containing syringes and drug paraphernalia. Sometime overnight, Pfaff had died from what appeared to be an accidental heroin overdose.

Kristen Pfaff was buried in Section 6, Lot 45 of Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York. A local Minneapolis radio station, University of Minnesota's KUOM, had started a yearly $1,000 Memorial Scholarship in her name. The award is earmarked for "individuals active in the arts in the pursuit of their educational goals."

Conspiracy theories

In much the same vein as the theories surrounding Kurt Cobain's death, a number of theories surrounding Pfaff's overdose circulate to this day. The most prevalent of these rumors involve Courtney Love in some way. Some speculate that Love's anger with Pfaff over leaving the band led Love to murder Pfaff, or to order her murder. Regardless, authorities came to the conclusion that Pfaff died of a self-inflicted heroin overdose.

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