Synopsis

Hole performs "Celebrity Skin" on an ornate stage framed by blue curtains, chandeliers, staircases, and an empty audience. Courtney Love plays a bright pink guitar while women in purple gowns descend from the ceiling and drift across the set. Glitter, dramatic close-ups, and shots of Love and Melissa Auf der Maur lying in coffins give the performance an extravagant, slightly morbid theatricality. The video presents the band as glamorous rock stars while retaining an irreverent, deliberately artificial edge.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was made in 1998 to promote "Celebrity Skin," the first single from Hole's third album.

• Although the finished video appears vividly colored, it was shot in black and white. Cerulean Fx colorized the footage during post-production to create its heightened, hyper-real look.

• Patty Schemel did not appear as the drummer in the video. Samantha Maloney was used in her place, with her face intentionally obscured in several shots. Schemel reportedly learned that the video had been made only after filming was complete.

• The staging trades Hole's earlier grunge imagery for old Hollywood spectacle: chandeliers, theatrical curtains, formal gowns, glitter, and synchronized movement turn the performance into a glossy show-business fantasy.

• The descending dancers and glamorous production design have been compared with the visual style of the Marilyn Monroe musical comedy "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."