Veruca Salt

Veruca Salt
Louise Post (left) and Nicole Fiorentino (right) in 2006 with Veruca Salt
Background information
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Alternative rock,grunge
Years active	1992–2012, 2013–present
Labels	Minty Fresh, DGC, Beyond Music, MGM, Embryo, Sympathy for the Record Industry, El Camino
Associated acts	American Hi-Fi, The Smashing Pumpkins
Members	Nina Gordon Louise Post Jim Shapiro Steve Lack
Past members	Stacy Jones Stephen Fitzpatrick Jimmy Madla Suzanne Sokol Gina Crosley Kellii Scott Nicole Fiorentino

Veruca Salt is an American alternative rock band founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in 1992 by vocalist-guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post, drummer Jim Shapiro and bassist Steve Lack.

Named after Veruca Salt, the spoiled rich girl from the children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl and its 1971 film adaptation Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory directed by Mel Stuart, Veruca Salt was formed in Chicago by Louise Post (guitar/vocals) and Nina Gordon (guitar/vocals). Post and Gordon were introduced through mutual friend Lili Taylor, and began playing music together. They wrote songs for a year and a half before being joined by Gordon's brother, Jim Shapiro, on drums and Steve Lack on bass. Songwriting was shared between Gordon and Post, though the two seldom collaborated. Rather, each would typically submit a complete song to the group and sing the lead vocal on that song, while the other would record backing vocals.

The band had performed a handful of shows when Jim Powers of Minty Fresh Records asked them to sign to the independent label. The band's first release was the single "Seether"/"All Hail Me" on Minty Fresh Records, in 1994. The single was a success and Veruca Salt accompanied Hole on a tour, before releasing their first full-length album, American Thighs. The album, which included "Seether" and "All Hail Me", eventually reached Gold status. In a 2014 retrospective, music magazine Paste listed "All Hail Me" as #39 on their list of the 50 greatest grunge songs of all time.