SHE’S the punk/rock heroine whose riotous sound was inspired by Hole frontwoman Courtney Love.
Brody Dalle’s band The Distillers were a breath of fresh air when they exploded onto the scene in 2000 with their self-titled debut.
Dripping with attitude, snarling vocals and fast riffs, the band matched and, in many cases, surpassed their male led contemporaries.
The Distillers were formed when headstrong Dalle, 45, moved from her native Australia to Los Angeles after falling in love with Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong.
However, there was also a darker reason for wanting to flee her homeland.
“I moved to America with money I got from the government of Australia for being sexually abused,” she told the Guardian.
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“I’d gone through a couple of court cases when I was 14, 15 years old, and I’d been compensated for one of them. When I turned 18, I got that money and got the f**k outta there.”
Dalle was just 16 and playing with her band Sourpuss when she met punk legend Armstrong, then 30, at a festival Down Under in 1995.
Two years later they were engaged and a wedding followed months later.
The marriage ended in 2003 amid allegations of controlling behaviour while Dalle said it took her three years to pluck up the courage to finally call it quits.
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It was at this time that The Distillers were at the height of their powers releasing sophomore record Sing Sing Death House and their most commercial record Coral Fang.
However, the intensity of their touring schedule led the band to implode in 2005, with Dalle explaining: “We were sick of each other, uninspired.”
Rock poster girl Dalle’s personal life was blooming even if musically she was at a crossroads.
She married Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme that year, quit drugs, and their first child, daughter Camille, was born in January 2006.
They went on to have sons and two sons Orrin, 12, and Wolf, eight, before their marriage hit the skids too in acrimonious fashion.
Dalle filed for divorce in 2019 citing Homme’s substance abuse as the reason.
Though they managed to co-parent successfully initially, things took a dark turn and a bitter custody battle saw accusations of domestic abuse from both parties and restraining orders filed.
In March 2022, the Los Angeles Family Court awarded Homme sole legal custody of all three children.
A further custody hearing had been scheduled for late last year but no updates have been reported.
Last year Homme told the Sun why he doesn’t speak publicly about the court battle.
He said: “For a guy who will talk s**t there’s some things that I would never engage in.
“Many times, I’ve behaved very feral and made mistakes but certain things that are just sacrosanct. There’s a time to be quiet. I have no presence online.
“There are lines I just won’t cross. You close your eyes and let it wash over you and just be quiet.”
After the Distillers split in 2005, Dalle continued making music.
Her Spinnerette project with QoTSA collaborator Alain Johannes released an album in 2009, while Dalle put out her one solo album, Diploid Love, in 2014.
The Distillers reunited in 2018 but have yet to put out a fourth album.
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Revealing why the band reformed in a 2020 interview with Kerrang, Dalle said: “I don’t know, I think it’s just about magical timing. We were all in the right place in our lives and we all missed it so much.
“For me there wasn’t a day that I didn’t think about The Distillers. We had tried to get back together briefly about eight years ago, but it just didn’t feel right. This time felt immediately right.”
