Kristin Pfaff dead?
Siubhan
dead in a bathtub. There was about 5" of water and a bunch of syringes.
That's all they said. They didn't even mention her name - just called
her "the bassist for Courtney Love's band Hole". Pissed me off.
Anyhow, it was a reliable station. Anybody else hear anything? Guess I
should return the Hole tickets I've been holding onto in case the tour
was rescheduled. This is so fucking depressing. I really liked Kristin
Pfaff.
-Siubhan
--
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la...@world.std.com "Disobedience was woman's original virtue"
David J Cohen
: I just heard on the radio that Kristin Pfaff, bassist for Hole, was found
: That's all they said. They didn't even mention her name - just called
: her "the bassist for Courtney Love's band Hole". Pissed me off.
: Anyhow, it was a reliable station. Anybody else hear anything? Guess I
: should return the Hole tickets I've been holding onto in case the tour
: was rescheduled. This is so fucking depressing. I really liked Kristin
: Pfaff.
looks like this is the case as there was a blurb about it
on the clari world news/AP wire group--no further info
other then being found dead in a tub.
does this mean another round of newsweek articles??
--d
Adam Glover
I heard a bit of discussion on CFNY about "poor Courtney Love, first her
husband, now her close friend and band mate". I didn't know it was Kristin
though, I thought it might be Erlandson.
> does this mean another round of newsweek articles??
I'm afraid that Kristin doesn't qualify as a "voice of a lost generation".
--
Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand for our national anthem.
"Our country reeks of trees, our yaks are really large ......"
Adam Glover, kool...@io.org or g3gl...@cdf.toronto.edu.
Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada.
Rick Chinn
: David J Cohen <djc...@mail.sas.upenn.edu> wrote:
: >Siubhan (la...@world.std.com) wrote:
: >: I just heard on the radio that Kristin Pfaff, bassist for Hole, was found
I live in the Seattle area. I don't usually frequent this newsgroup. but
the Saturday paper was sitting on my steps and I remembered seeing this
article about Kristin.
If I can find the Thursday paper in the recycling bin, I'll post the
article, if I can find it. If not, you should be able to find the
Seattle Times at your local publc library. Also look for the
Seattle Post Intelligencer. This sort of thing is perfectly
suited to their brand of yellow journalism.
------------------------Quoted Article-----------------
From the Seattle Times, June 18, 1994
By Linda Keene, Seattle Times Staff Reporter.
Copyright 1994, Seattle Times
SEATTLE MUSIC SCENE'S LATEST DEATH UNLIKELY TO AFFECT HEROIN FIGHT
Seattle police say they will not step up enforcement efforts against
heroin, despite another death app0arently linked to the drug in the city's
rock-music scene.
Kristen Pfaff, the 27-7ear-old bass player for the band Hole, was found
dead Thursday morning in a bathtub in a Capitol Hill apartment. A syringe
and apparent drug paraphernalia were found in a cosmetic bag next to the
tub. She had been hospitalized in the past for heroin addiction.
An autopsy yesterday failed to establish a cause of death, and lab and
toxicology tests were ordered.
Pfaff's death followed that of Kurt Cobain, lead singer for Nirvana, who
comimitted suicide in early April. A heroin "shooting kit" was found next
to this body in the Lake Washington home where he lived with his wife,
Courtney Love. Love is Hole's lead singer.
A growing number of heroin-related casualties has occurred among rock
musicians in Seattle in recent years. Stefanie Sargent, guitarist for 7
Year Bitch, died of a heroin overdose in 1992. Andrew Wood, lead singer
for Mother Love Bone, overdosed in 1990.
The circumstances of Pfaff's death bring renewed speculation about the
availability of heroin in Seatle, but police say thaey are not seeing an
increase in the drug.
"I don't think heroin is any more accessible in Seattle than any other
city," said Capt. Dan Bryant of the Seattle Police Department's narcotics
section. "Heroin is not a Seattle problem; it's a national problem."
Bryant said Pfaff's case is not being investigated by the narcotics
division because it doesn't review drug overdoses, which is how Seattle
police have categorized the case.
Most investigatations focus on known drug dealers, he said, although
police will not try to determine who sold Pfaff the heroin, if in fact she
bought it in Seattle. Pfaff had been traveling in europe for five weeks,
and returned to Seattle last weekend.
"Unless we had someone who knew her and was willing to testify and work
with us, we really have nowhere to go," he said, noting the difficulty in
deveilping drug cases.
"We won't treat this case differently than any other case just because
it's someone with notoriety," Bryant added.
"We did attempt to locate the source of drugs in the Cobain case, but we
were unable to come up with any meaningful evidence. That may well be true
in this case, too."
Cobain is belived to have purchased heroin from dealers in Capitol Hill
apartment buildings not far from the apartment where Pfaff died.
Bryant acknowledged that Capitol Hill is a major source of heroin in
Seattle, but police do not plan to increase enforcement there.
"If we doubled or tripled our enforcement efforts, it's not going to make
heroin unavailable," he said. "It will only be unavailable when the
dealers find no profit in it."
Some health officials agree, saying law enforcement may have reached it's
"Practical limit" in combating drubs, said Steve Freng, systems chief for
the King County Division of Alcolholism and Substance Abuse Services.
"The need is more in treatment and services," he said.
"In general, we're only able to meet 10 to 25 percent of the need. There
are significant waiting lists for treatment."
At Harborview Medical Center last year, from January to June, 410 people
were treated for heroin overdoses. In the first half of the previous year,
191 people were treated.
The King County medical examiner's office said 93 people died from heroin
last year, compared with 59 in 1992.
As the heroin death toll rises, so does community concern, particularly in
Seattle's music scene.
Kim Warnick, a singer and bass player for the Seattle band Fastbacks, said
the city is being painted as a heroin mecca for musicians even though
"some bands are horrified by the drug and don't use it."
"We're so tired of the reputation," she said. Still, Warnick conceded the
drug is prevalent and "a problem."
"I think it's popular right now," she sid. "I don't think it's as scary as
it used to be. When I was growing up, just the word 'heroin' scared
people. Now it's gotten so casual, like people using pot."
-------------end------------------------------
Rick Chinn
: I just heard on the radio that Kristin Pfaff, bassist for Hole, was found
Here is the article from the Friday afternoon paper:
------------------------Quoted Article---------------------
Seattle Times, 6/17/94
Dave Birkland, Seattle Times staff reporter
Copyright 1994, Seattle Times
BASS PLAYER FOR HOLE FOUND DEAD
Grunge rocker Kristen Pfaff's case may be drug-related
Death, apparently linked to drugs, has claimed another member of
Seattle's well-known grunge-rock scene.
An autopsy is scheduled for today for Kristen Pfaff, a member of
Hole, a rock band led by Courtney Love. Love's husband, Kurt
Cobain, was found dead from suicide in his home in the Denny-Blaine
neighborhood, april 8.
Cobain was the creative force behind his celebrated group0,
Nirvana. His death was linked to heroin, drawing worldwide
attention and a crowd of 7000 mourners to a memorial service at
Seattle Center.
The 24-year-old Pfaff, a bass player and backup singer for Hole,
was found dead yesterday morning in a bathtub in her Capitol Hill
apartment.
Authorities think Pfaff's death may have been drug-related. There
were no signs of injuries or violence, according to the King County
medical examiner, but police discovered syringes and apparent drug
paraphernalia in a cosmetic bag next to the bathtub.
Pfaff had been struggling with drugs, according to Ed Rosenblatt,
president of Geffen and DGC Records, for which Hole recorded.
"We are greatly saddened to learn of Kristen Pfaff's death and
extend our sympathy to her family, friends and other members of
Hole," Rosenblatt said in a statement.
"This is all the more tragic because she had gone through a
drug-rehabilitation program this past winter and was in the process
of moving back to Minneapolis to be with old friends until the Hole
tour resumed."
A friend told police Pfaff had a history of heroin use and had been
hospitalized for it five months ago.
Pfaff's father, Norman Pfaff of Denver, said according to her
friends Kristen had not recently been involved with drugs.
"It's my understanding at the present time my daughter was not
using drugs," he said.
Pfaff said he was told his daughter took a bath about 9 o'clock
Wednesday night and when a friend, Paul Erickson, a member of the
group Hammerhead, checked on her, he thought he heard snoring.
"It was common for her to fall asleep in the bathtub," Pfaff said.
Erickson didn't think anything about it and went to bed. About 9:30
a.m. yesterday, Erkckson forced open the bathroom door, and the
singer was dead, her father said.
He said Eric Erlandson, another member of Hole, also had been at
the apartment Wednesday night. Both said there was nothing in
Kristen Pfaff's mood to indicate any problem, he said.
Norman Pfaff would not speculate whether drugs caused his
daughter's death.
"Let the autopsy speak for itself," he said.
Love's band yesterday issued a statement of mourning.
"We are deeply anguished by the loss of an extremely talented
musician, a beautiful soul and a great friend," the statement said.
"She was an intense player, scholar and passionate as a musician
and about live in every way."
"We are obviously very shaken by the tragedies affecting the band
in the last months but have decided to continue on," said the
statement, released through Hole's publicity firm, P.M.K.
If the autopsy confirms Kristen Pfaff's death was heroin-related,
it may rekindle questions about the availability of heroin in
Seattle, particularly on Capitol Hill.
In the days after Cobain's death, Love publicly denounced the drug
trade there, saying Seattle police were not doing enough to stem
the availability of heroin. She cited drug sales in specific
apartment buildings, not far from the apartment where Pfaff died.
Seattle police pursued some of those leads, but no arrests were
made in Cobain's death. A heroin shooting-kit was found next to his
body.
Ironically, Cobain's heroin-related death forced Hole to abandon
its scheduled tour. Pfaff's death will delay it again.
Hole had signed with a major record label, but Pfaff did not "like
all the trappings," said her father. "She thought it was a little
out of her control."
Pfaff was born and raised in Buffalo and she studied classical
piano from ages 5 to 14. She attended Boston College, spent one
year in Amsterdam as an exchange student, then went to the
University of Minnesota.
It was in Minneapolis that Pfaff began playing bass and eventually
joined the group Janitor Joe, an all female rock band. While she
was playing for that group, a member of Hole approached Pfaff, and
she joined them.
Pfaff made a unique and vital contribution to the creative force of
the band, Rosenblatt said.
While the recent Hole tour was put on hold, Pfaff toured again with
Janitor Joe and had returned to Seattle just two days ago, her
father said.
He described his daughter as "bright, personable, wonderful... very,
very talented, smart, and she always seemed to be in control of her
circumstances. Last night she wasn't," he said.
----------------------------
Seattle Times staff reporter Linda Keene and the Associated Press
contributed to this report.
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