Kristen Pfaff

Kristen Pfaff

Born - May 26, 1967

Died - June 15, 1994

Kristen Pfaff was born in New York in 1967 and grew up there, and went on to study abroad in Europe for a short time before relocating to Minnesota to attend college. After she finished school, she formed the band Janitor Joe with herself on bass and vocals along with guitarist/vocalist Joachim Breuer and drummer Matt Entsminger. They released their debut album "Big Metal Birds" in 1993. That same year Kristen was recruited by Courtney Love to join the band Hole, which was a second-rate imitation of the band Love's husband played in. Kristen gave Hole a very talented musician and songwriting and it was her superb bass playing that was the main reason Hole's 1994 album "Live Through This" sounded so good, and following Kristen's departure from the band they would never come close to duplicating the success of this record. Following the murder of Love's husband Kurt Cobain in April 1994, Kristen decided Seattle maybe wasn't the best place for her to be, so she decided to move back to Minneapolis. After touring with her old band Janitor Joe in the late spring 1994, Kristen 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. Sometime overnight Kristen had died from what appeared to be an "accidental" heroin overdose. No matter what really happened that June night, the fact is and will always remain that one of the most beautiful and brightest musicians of the early 90's is gone forever and we will never know the what her talents could have given us had she been allowed to survive. Kristen was good, in music and in life.