Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna announces her memoir “Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk.”

Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna has announced details of her new memoir, titled Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk.

The book, which will go on sale in May next year through HarperCollins’ Ecco imprint, will address the rise of the feminist punk movement in the 1990s and detail the artist’s life and relationships.

It also explores how Hanna became one of the founders of the Riot Grrrl movement and inspired the likes of Kurt Cobain and Sonic Youth with her attitude and work as a musician, as well as her fight against Lyme disease. Reserve the book here.

“In Rebel Girl, Hanna’s stark and insightful memoir takes us from her turbulent childhood at home to her formative college years in Olympia, Washington, and her early years on the road, fighting hard for gigs and her band music”, reads the description. . “As Hanna makes clear, it was neither easy nor safe to be in a girl band, especially a punk girl band, in those years. Male violence and attendants threatened at every turn, and he was a lightning rod that lasted as a singer. The controversy required unlimited amounts of decision-making.”

But she was inspired by the relationships she developed during those years – including her colleagues, Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox and Johanna Fateman; his friendship with Kurt Cobain and Ian MacKaye; and his introduction to Joan Jett – a testament to how the punk world could nurture and care for itself,” he continues.

“Hanna tells us how she fell in love with Ad-Rock, the Beastie Boys, and their debilitating battle with Lyme disease, and goes behind the scenes of their musical growth in their groups, Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin. in awe of the Riot Grrrl movement, lovingly documenting its country roots but later criticizing its exclusivity.”

News of Hanna’s memoir comes on the heels of Bikini Kill’s recent North American tour, which wrapped up this spring.

The tour dates were originally scheduled for the summer of last year, but were pushed back and rescheduled after a crew member tested positive for COVID-19.

The band reformed just before the pandemic, and his other band, Le Tigre, announced a series of opening acts in April for their first UK and European tour in 18 years.

In other news, last year Bikini Kill guitarist Erica Dawn Lyle and drum-tech Vice Cooler announced a charity compilation featuring features from The Linda Lindas and Kim Gordon. For this, Hanna took part in the first single from the album, “Mirrorball”.