Babes in Toyland (band)

Babes in Toyland
A promotional shot of the band in 1992. (L-R: Lori Barbero, Kat Bjelland, and Maureen Herman)
Background information
Origin	Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock, punk rock, grunge, noise rock
Years active	1987–2001; 2014–present
Labels	Twin Tone, Southern, Strange Fruit, Reprise, Insipid
Associated acts	Sugar Babydoll, Pagan Babies, Italian Whorenuns, Crunt, Koalas, Katastrophy Wife
Members	Kat Bjelland Lori Barbero Clara Salyer
Past members	Maureen Herman Michelle Leon Chris Holetz Cindy Russell Dana Cochrane Jessie Farmer

Babes in Toyland is an American punk rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1987. The band was formed by Oregon native Kat Bjelland (lead vocals and guitar), with Lori Barbero (drums) and Michelle Leon (bass), who was later replaced by Maureen Herman in 1992.

Between 1989 and 1995, Babes in Toyland released three studio albums; Spanking Machine (1990), the commercially successful Fontanelle (1992), and Nemesisters (1995), before becoming inactive in 1997 and eventually disbanding in 2001. While the band was inspirational to some performers in the riot grrrl movement in the Pacific Northwest, Babes in Toyland never associated themselves with the movement.

In August 2014, Babes In Toyland announced that they would be reuniting.

Babes in Toyland formed in 1987, after frontwoman Kat Bjelland met drummer Lori Barbero at a friend's barbecue. Originally from Woodburn, Oregon and a former resident of San Francisco, Bjelland had moved to Minneapolis to form a band. Over the following months, Bjelland convinced Barbero to play drums and formed Babes in Toyland in winter 1987. In its initial formation in 1987, in addition to Bjelland and Barbero, the band included Kris Holetz on bass and singer Cindy Russell. Following the departures of Holetz and Russell, it was believed that the band briefly recruited Bjelland's friend - and former bandmate of the band Pagan Babies - Courtney Love on bass. However, during a March 2015 interview with Andrea Swensson from The Current, the members of Babes In Toyland confirmed that Love was never in the band, with Barbero stating "She lived in my house, and one time I think when we were rehearsing she came down and probably picked up something and tried to play and we were just like, "get out of here."