Celebrity Skin (song)

"Celebrity Skin"
Song
B-side	"Best Sunday Dress, Dying"

"Celebrity Skin" is the tenth single by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 1, 1998 on CD by Geffen Records. The debut single from their third studio album Celebrity Skin, the song is Hole's most commercially successful single, being the only one to reach #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Lyrics

The lyrics contain references to Dante Gabriel Rossetti's poem "A Superscription", and Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice," as well as the song sharing the name of an American pornographic magazine.

Uses

It was used in the film American Pie, but did not appear on the soundtrack.

Covers

Ashlee Simpson did a short cover of this song on her Autobiography Tour 2005. The song received two Grammy nominations: Best Rock Song, losing to "Uninvited" by Alanis Morissette and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, losing to "Pink" by Aerosmith.

Video

The video, directed by Nancy Bardawil, features the band miming the song on a stage with women wearing purple gowns falling slowly from the ceiling. They begin to lift their skirts as they amble around the stage. There are also many close-ups of Courtney Love and Melissa Auf der Maur. The video was shot in black and white with the footage colorized in post-production.

Track listing

UK CD single

1. Celebrity Skin (LP Version) (Love, Erlandson, Corgan) - 2:42
2. Best Sunday Dress (Previously Unreleased) (Love, Erlandson, Bjelland) - 3:05
3. Dying (Original Demo) (Love, Erlandson, Corgan) - 3:44

Charts

Year	Single	Chart	Peak Position
1998	"Celebrity Skin"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	4
		Modern Rock Tracks	1
		Billboard Hot 100	85
		UK	19