Bassist Melissa Auf der Maur was briefly a member of two
of the biggest alt-rock groups of the '90s, Hole and the
Smashing Pumpkins, before launching a solo career during
the early 21st century. Born on March 17, 1972, in
Montreal, Canada (her mother, Linda Gaboriau, was one of
Montreal's first female rock radio DJs), Auf der Maur
started her music career by playing bass in local outfits,
including Tinker. But the course of her musical career was
inadvertently changed due to a thrown bottle. Auf der Maur
and some friends went to see the Smashing Pumpkins on one
of their first Canadian tours, and when one of her friends
in the audience threw a bottle on-stage, Auf der Maur made
it a point to apologize to Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan
for the incident. Soon the two got to talking, and a
friendship was born.

By 1994, when Corgan heard that friend Courtney Love was
in sudden need of a bass player (due to the drug-related
death of Kristen Pfaff), the head Pumpkin recommended Auf
der Maur to Love as a replacement. Soon after, Auf der
Maur landed the gig and bid adieu to Tinker (who managed a
brief recording career with other members). After Hole's
world tour wrapped up in support of their breakthrough
release, Live Through This, Corgan helped land Auf der
Maur a spot on the 1997 solo release by ex-Cars leader Ric
Ocasek, Troublizing (which Corgan produced as well). After
a brief U.S. tour wrapped up (which saw Auf der Maur take
Ben Orr's spot to sing \\\"Drive\\\" each night), the bassist
returned to Hole, who finished up work on their third
full-length overall, 1998's Celebrity Skin, on which
Corgan served as a \\\"consultant.\\\" Once the album's tour
wound down, Corgan came a-callin' once more, this time
inviting Auf der Maur to join the Smashing Pumpkins (who
had dismissed co-founding bassist D'Arcy under mysterious
circumstances). But the Auf der Maur era of the band
didn't last long -- after a pair of albums, 2000's
MACHINA/The Machines of God and Friends and Enemies of
Modern Music (the latter of which was never formally
released by the group's record company), the Pumpkins
split up.

In the wake of the Pumpkins' split, Auf der Maur kept
herself busy with a few projects, including a Black
Sabbath tribute band called Hand of Doom (for whom she
handled lead vocals), as well as an all-star side project,
the Virgins, with former Pumpkins bandmate James Iha
which was rumored to also include Ryan Adams and Evan
Dando, among others). In summer 2004, the bassist's solo
debut, Auf der Maur, was released. Produced by Chris Goss,
the album featured appearances by a variety of renowned
guests, including Blinker the Star's Jordon Zadorozny,
Tinker's Steve Durand, Tomahawk's John Stanier, James Iha,
Hole's Eric Erlandson, Rocket from the Crypt's Atom
Willard, Fu Manchu's Brant Bjork, and Queens of the Stone
Age main men Nick Oliveri and Josh Homme.