The Riot Grrrl Who Named Nirvana’s Biggest Song Tells All
Kathleen Hanna has never been one to mince words, so why would she start now?
The punk-rock trailblazer’s memoir, Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk, arrives on Tuesday and finds Hanna writing both searingly about men who abused her, and humorously about everything from clueless record execs to her friend Kurt Cobain. Along the way, she traces her life from her difficult childhood growing up with a sadistic and alcoholic father, to her ’90s notoriety as the front woman of Bikini Kill, the punk outfit that spearheaded the third-wave feminist movement known as Riot grrrl. The 55-year-old artist also gives rare insight into her diagnosis of late-stage Lyme disease that sidelined her for years, as well as her marriage to a Beastie Boy.
Below, read about some of the book’s best bits, from the stories of how she coined the phrases “girl power” and “smells like Teen Spirit” to that infamous confrontation with Courtney Love.