LimeWire Music Blog

Uh oh. Recently, we heard about Courtney Love reuniting Hole and trashing hotel rooms, ’90s style. And now it looks like even the former situation is causing its share of trouble. It seems that Eric Erlandson, former Hole guitarist and co-founder, isn’t happy that he wasn’t invited to the party. “There is no Hole without me,” Erlandson said in an interview with Spin. “If [Courtney] has a solo album together, I think that’s great. I think she should finish it and put it out and do that. But as for the real Hole? I’m open to discussions.” As the NME notes, bassist Melissa Auf der Maur, who is said to have signed on to the project, had previously criticized Love’s seemingly whimsical decision to reopen the book on Hole.

Of course, Love has already tweeted her response: “Uh I just hear that a former guitar player is saying I can’t use my name for MY band, he’s out of his MIND,” she wrote. “He may want to check the trademark and his amex ‘Disease Model Tour’ Bills, and umm, let’s see his 99 usage of that amex and his 01 usage of wow 298K?198,000 DOLLARS? Hole is MY Band, MY name and MY Tradmark.”

My take? Yes, Eric Erlandson was a huge part of the band throughout its existence. I’m sure he played no small part in the songwriting. (But then so did Billy Corgan, who is collaborating on this project.) It sucks that, for whatever reason, Love didn’t invite him to rejoin the band. And the legality is, well, whatever it is — only Love’s and Erlandson’s lawyers know for sure. But regardless of all that, Hole is synonymous with Courtney Love. For better or for worse, it is the showcase for her battered psyche. And Erlandson should know that by now.