Melissa Auf der Maur (born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian rock musician, who is currently based in New York City. "Maur" is pronounced to rhyme with power, and is a derived from the German word for wall (mauer), so her surname means "On the Wall".
She was born in Montreal, Quebec to famous journalist and politician Nick Auf der Maur and literary translator Linda Gaboriau. She once observed that she had been known her whole life primarily as Nick's daughter, until she became the bassist for Hole, whereupon he became known primarily as Melissa's father.
Her primary language throughout childhood was English; she later learned French.
Auf der Maur first became friends with Billy Corgan after apologizing for a friend who threw a beer bottle at the band during one of The Smashing Pumpkins' first Canadian concert dates. In 1994, when Hole was in need of a new bassist following the death of Kristen Pfaff, Corgan recommended Auf der Maur to Courtney Love. Auf der Maur won the gig, staying with the band until 1999.
In that year, she joined Smashing Pumpkins after the departure of D'Arcy Wretzky, and remained with that band until they disbanded in 2000.
She also collaborated with the French group Indochine on the song "Le grand secret", jointly singing vocals and appearing in the video with Nicola Sirkis, and toured with Ric Ocasek of The Cars in 1997.
After Smashing Pumpkins' breakup, Auf der Maur fronted a short-lived Black Sabbath cover band called Hand of Doom in order to practice being a lead singer.
In 2004, her band Auf der Maur released its self titled debut album, garnering significant airplay on modern rock radio stations for the singles "Followed the Waves" and "Taste You". The same year, she appeared on the CBC television program The Greatest Canadian, as David Suzuki's celebrity advocate. Auf der Maur was part of the November 2004 Love Metal tour also featuring HIM. She was also the opening act for Matthew Good's Put Out Your Lights Tour in 2004.
