Kathleen Hanna announces memoir ‘Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk’ coming 2024
The original rebel girl details everything from the grassroots Riot Grrrl movement to falling in love with Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys.
Bikini Kill and Le Tigre singer Kathleen Hanna announced her memoir Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk, out May 14th. The new book follows Hanna’s life from her tumultuous childhood home to her formative college years in Olympia, Washington, and on to her first years on tour. Hanna details the difficulties of both finding gigs and surviving as a musician who became a lightning rods for controversy, facing male violence, and antagonism as they fought against the patriarchal punk movement.
The announcement also highlights other aspects of the memoir, including the long-lasting friendships and relationships she made while engrossed in the music scene. Connections with bandmates Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, and Johanna Fateman; her friendships with Kurt Cobain and Ian MacKaye; and her introduction to Joan Jett are all discussed as testaments to the punk world’s beautiful ability to nurture and care for its own.
In recent years, Hanna has performed at reunion concerts with Bikini Kill and Le Tigre as well as starting a new band, The Julie Ruin, releasing two studio albums with 2013’s Run Fast and 2016’s Hit Reset. A documentary about her life, The Punk Singer, was also released in 2013.
Preorder Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk here and check out music from each of Hanna’s projects below.
