Formed in Olympia, WA in 1994.
Went on "indefinite hiatus" in 2006.
Reformed in 2014.
These Portland, Oregon-native female punk rockers were in the middle of the Riot Grrrl scene in the 90s, and they were one of the few to survive the inevitable backlash (along with Allison Wolfe and Kathleen Hanna).
Sleater-Kinney (the name) is taken from a local freeway off-ramp. Originally, the band was Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein's side-project. The Australian-born Lora MacFarlane became the band's first permanent drummer in late 1994. In 1997, Janet Weiss became their new drummer.
After a few albums recorded with John Goodmanson in Portland, OR (which had become their home town), they went into an unfamiliar studio with Dave Fridmann in late 2004, to record their first album for Sub Pop. What they came out with divided a lot of opinions, and was the most challenging album for them to record - countless re-takes and tearful sessions were reported at the time.
In the summer of 2006, they announced an "indefinite hiatus", and they played their final U.S. gigs in August.
The statement on their official website offers a glimmer of hope: "As of now, there are no plans for future tours or recordings."
They were in other bands before, during, and after Sleater-Kinney's 11 year run: Corin has been in both Heavens To Betsy and Cadallaca, Carrie was in Excuse 17 and Ninetynine, and Janet is in Quasi.