Kim Gordon

Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, where her father was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. After graduating from Los Angeles's Otis College of Art and Design, she moved to New York City to begin an art career. There, she formed Sonic Youth with Thurston Moore in 1981. At the time of her birth, Gordon's father, a native of Kansas, Her mother, a descendant of American pioneers of the West Coast, learned to sew during her upbringing in the Great Depression, and worked as a seamstress throughout Gordon's childhood. She was described by Gordon as "reserved and usually anxious" and "an unfulfilled artist." where he later became the Dean of Faculty. After graduating high school, she attended Santa Monica College for two years before transferring to York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Gordon soon grew homesick and chose to drop out of York at the end of the school year and return to Los Angeles. "I was less and less happy as the bleak Toronto winter moved in," she recalled. "Without the benefit of California sunshine, my hair grew darker and darker, and I had no idea how to dress for the cold." She decided to enroll at the Otis College of Art and Design, which she said "changed my life." Gordon lived in Culver City and Venice, Los Angeles, and worked at an Indian restaurant to pay her tuition. She also briefly worked for art dealer Larry Gagosian as a side-job. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1977.

While she was a student at Otis, Gordon's older brother Keller suffered a psychotic episode on the day of his graduation from the University of California, Berkeley, where he had earned a master's degree in classics. He was subsequently diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and for a time lived in halfway houses before becoming a ward of the state of California. with Christine Hahn and Stanton Miranda, and met her future Sonic Youth bandmates Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore through Miranda. At the time, Gordon, then 27 years old, had never played an instrument. Gordon began dating Moore and, together with Ranaldo, the couple then formed Sonic Youth in 1981. In October 1988, the band released Daydream Nation through Enigma Records.

In 1989, Sonic Youth signed onto DGC Records, a subsidiary of Geffen, and released Goo (1990), which became the group's first commercial hit. Also in 1989, Gordon, Sadie May, and Lydia Lunch formed Harry Crews, and released the album Naked in Garden Hills. To promote Goo, Gordon toured with Sonic Youth extensively between 1990 and 1991, and a documentary titled 1991: The Year Punk Broke documented the band's tour with Nirvana, Babes in Toyland, Dinosaur Jr., Gumball and Mudhoney. In early 1991, Courtney Love, who had been influenced by Sonic Youth and the no-wave scene, sent Gordon a letter asking her to produce her band Hole's debut record, Pretty on the Inside. Gordon, along with assistance from Don Fleming, produced the album in March 1991, which received critical acclaim and later achieved cult status. Gordon commented on the recording sessions that Love "was either charming and nice or screaming at her band" but that she was "a really good singer and entertainer and front person." In 1992, Gordon released a single, "Electric Pen," with Mirror/Dash, a short-lived project she formed with Moore.

Beginning in 1993, Gordon co-owned, with Daisy von Furth, a women's streetwear clothing company in Los Angeles, called X-Girl. The company was a spin-off of X-Large, a men's streetwear company co-founded by Michael Diamond of the Beastie Boys. The first X-Girl store was opened in Los Angeles in 1994. Actress Chloë Sevigny served as a model for several pieces in the clothing line. Also in 1993, Gordon formed the musical project Free Kitten with Julia Cafritz. On July 1, 1994, Gordon gave birth to her only child, daughter Coco Hayley Moore, with Thurston Moore.

1995–2008: Music, art, and acting Free Kitten released their debut studio album, Nice Ass, in 1995, followed by Sentimental Education (1997), both on the independent label Kill Rock Stars. In 1993, Gordon co-directed The Breeders' "Cannonball" music video with Spike Jonze, and was also involved in an exhibition entitled Baby Generation at Parco gallery in Tokyo. Gordon's exhibition Kim's Bedroom was shown at MU in the Netherlands, and included drawing and paintings alongside live music and special guests.

As a part of Sonic Youth, Gordon released several albums in the mid–late 1990s, including Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star (1994), Washing Machine (1995), and A Thousand Leaves (1998), all on DGC Records. They subsequently released NYC Ghosts & Flowers in 2000, and Murray Street in 2002. In 1999, after selling her share of X-Girl, Around 2002, Gordon became involved with The Supreme Indifference, a musical collaboration that involved Gordon, Jim O'Rourke and Alan Licht. The band appeared on the 2002 compilation Fields and Streams, though their contribution was deemed "annoying" and the project "self-indulgent" by critic Adrian Begrand of PopMatters. The following year, Kim Gordon Chronicles Vol. 2 was released and featured her drawings, collages, and paintings.

Beginning in 2005, Gordon began appearing in minor or supporting parts in films, first as a record executive in Gus Van Sant's Last Days. She then had a small role portraying a textile exporter in the 2007 French thriller film Boarding Gate, and in Todd Haynes's I'm Not There (2007), inspired by the life of Bob Dylan. The same year, she played a street troubadour in the season six finale of the television series Gilmore Girls, along with husband Moore and their daughter Coco, performing the song "What a Waste" from the album Rather Ripped.

2009–2011: Dissolution of Sonic Youth; personal struggles

Sonic Youth released their final studio album, The Eternal, in 2009. Rolling Stone journalist Will Hermes wrote of the album: "It's amusing to think that the fiercely freaky Sonic Youth were a major-label act for nearly 20 years. The Eternal marks their literal return to indie rock – and that's no big whoop, since they've always done pretty much what they want anyway. The irony is that The Eternal might be their most concise record ever. It's also a rock & roll ass-kicker." The same year, Gordon, along with the rest of Sonic Youth, made an appearance in the television series Gossip Girl and performed an acoustic version of the song "Starpower".

In 2011, Gordon and Moore separated after 27 years of marriage. The next month, bandmate Ranaldo said Sonic Youth had disbanded, after having been together 30 years. After their divorce was finalized in April 2013, Gordon revealed that she had confronted Moore about a text message from another woman which was then followed by counseling sessions, and the separation occurred because Moore continued his extra-marital relationship. Gordon said her ex-husband was "like a lost soul."

Since 2012: Body/Head and other projects

Following the announcement of Sonic Youth's hiatus, Gordon commenced touring with Ikue Mori, Tokyo-born drummer of late-1970s band DNA—Gordon had performed with Mori previously at events such as the NoFunFest in 2004. The duo completed a European tour in mid-2012 and Gordon explained during a corresponding interview: "You sorta want to get lost and you hope that the audience gets lost with you ... You can feel if they're listening, you can feel if there's some connection." Together with Bill Nace, Gordon and Mori were selected for the June 2013 All Tomorrow's Parties event that was curated by the band Deerhunter. Around 2012, Gordon formed a noise guitar project with Nace, entitled Body/Head, and a single called "The Eyes, The Mouth" was released in 2012 on Belgian label Ultra Eczema. The band's debut album Coming Apart was released on September 10, 2013, on the Matador Records label and the band completed a U.S. tour during the fall of 2013.

quote=I almost feel like I'm making up for lost time. I feel like I owe it to myself. Because my whole life I wanted to be a visual artist. I really got sidetracked into music. — Gordon on her artistic aspirations being precluded by her career as a musician, 2018 In January 2014, she appeared in the season three premiere of the series Girls as Mindy, a recovering drug addict in a rehab support group. She then appeared as herself in a March 2014 episode of Portlandia. The memoir explores her childhood, life in art and Sonic Youth, and marriage to and divorce from Thurston Moore. Its title, Girl in a Band, stems from a lyric in "Sacred Trickster" from Sonic Youth's final album, The Eternal (2009). The lyric goes, "What's it like to be a girl in a band?/ I don't quite understand." The same year, Gordon appeared in The Nightmare (2015), a German horror film in which she portrayed a schoolteacher, which was released at the Locarno International Film Festival. She also contributed to its soundtrack. In November that year, Gordon relocated from the Massachusetts home she had shared with Moore and their daughter to her hometown of Los Angeles, purchasing a home in the Franklin Hills neighborhood.

Also in 2015, Gordon formed the experimental musical group Glitterbust with guitarist Alex Knost, releasing a self-titled debut album in March 2016. Gordon then appeared in Tony Oursler's film Imponderable, which screened at the Museum of Modern Art in June 2016. On September 12, 2016, Gordon released her first solo single, "Murdered Out", followed on August 20, 2019, by a second solo single, "Sketch Artist". A third track, "Air BnB", was released on September 11. All tracks appear on her first solo record on Matador Records, No Home Record, which was released on October 13, 2019.

In 2017, Gordon had a small role on the HBO series Animals, followed by a supporting role in Gus Van Sant's comedy-drama film Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot. Her album No Home Record was rated number 8 of Paste Magazine's "20 Best Punk Albums of 2019".

Kim Gordon: Lo-Fi Glamour, Gordon's first North American museum solo-exhibition, opened at The Andy Warhol Museum in 2019. The exhibition features a commissioned score for Andy Warhol’s 1963–64 silent film Kiss in conversation with text paintings, figure drawings and erotic sculpture.

In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked Gordon the 39th greatest bassist of all time.

In December 2021, Gordon recorded a 7" single on Sub Pop Records with J Mascis titled "Abstract Blues" backed with "Slow Boy".

"Bye Bye" was released as a single in January 2024. The track is from Gordon's album The Collective, which was released in March 2024. The song is accompanied by an official video starring her daughter Coco Gordon Moore. In June 2025, Gordon released a remix to "Bye Bye" featuring lyrics critical of the Trump administration.

Artistry Gordon possesses a contralto vocal range. Despite her prolific career in music, Gordon told journalist Evan Smith in a 2015 interview that she never considered herself a musician, explaining that she had been "drawn into the world" of the music scenes happening in the 1980s, and that she "felt like an outsider" once part of it. Gordon's instrumental work as a guitarist has been described as "free-form" and experimental.

Influences Several female musicians influenced Gordon. She stated in 2015: Initially, I was really inspired by The Slits and The Raincoats, and Siouxsie Sioux, Patti Smith. Then, there was The Runaways, Janis Joplin, Tina Turner – who is the ultimate performer – and Billie Holiday. Some journalists have noted her as a public figure who has "never given much away" about herself. Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys commented on Gordon's persona, stating: "Wherever Kim ends up, she is the coolest person in the room. But I know her, and I know she'd rather be at home grilling hot dogs." While observations were made by the media of Gordon being "dauntingly impressive and self-assured" during her tenure with Sonic Youth, she commented in a retrospective interview that she was "pretty insecure about my image and where I fitted in." among them Lana Del Rey: "Naturally, [she]'s just a persona. If she really truly believes it's beautiful when young musicians go out on a hot flame of drugs and depression, why doesn't she just off herself?" Gordon also reflected on working with Courtney Love in 1991, writing: "No one ever questions the disorder behind her tarantula LA glamour – sociopathy, narcissism – because it's good rock and roll, good entertainment! I have a low tolerance for manipulative, egomaniacal behavior, and usually have to remind myself that the person might be mentally ill."

Honors and awards On May 21, 2015, Gordon was honored at The Kitchen's Spring Gala.

On May 5, 2018, she received an Honorary Doctorate from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

Gordon received two nominations at the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards, her album The Collective was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album and her song "BYE BYE" was nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance.

Legacy Gordon and her contributions in Sonic Youth are considered by critics and music scholars to have been key influences in the development of grunge music and riot grrrl, both musical movements which began in the early 1990s. musician Kathleen Hanna, and Irish singer Róisín Murphy. Hanna explained in 2013:

She was a forerunner, musically. Just knowing a woman was in a band trading lead vocals, playing bass, and being a visual artist at the same time made me feel less alone. As a radical feminist singer, I wasn't particularly well liked. I was in a punk underground scene dominated by hardcore dudes who yelled mean shit at me every night, and journalists routinely called my voice shrill, unlistenable. Kim made me feel accepted in a way I hadn't before. Fucking Kim Gordon thought I was on the right track, haters be damned. It made the bullshit easier to take, knowing she was in my corner.

Discography Solo SYR5 (with DJ Olive and Ikue Mori) (2000) Yokokimthurston (with Yoko Ono and Thurston Moore) (2012) No Home Record (2019) At Issue (2022) (with Loren Connors) The Collective (2024) Play Me (2026)

Sonic Youth

Free Kitten Unboxed (1994) Nice Ass (1995) Sentimental Education (1997) Inherit (2008)

Body/Head Body/Head 12" (2013) Coming Apart (2013) No Waves (2016) The Switch (2018)

Glitterbust Glitterbust (2016)

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1989 The Whole World is Watching: Weatherman '69 Bernadine Dohrn 1992 1991: The Year Punk Broke Herself Documentary film 2005 Last Days Record Executive 2007 Boarding Gate Kay 2013 Une Danse Des Bouffons Maria Martins Short film 2014 Girls Mindy Episode: "Females Only" 2015 The Nightmare English poetry teacher German title: "Der Nachtmar" 2016 Imponderable Madame Vesta 2017 Animals Tulip Episode: "Rats"

Publications