4 Non Blondes: Whatever Happened to the Remarkable Group?

4 Non Blondes didn’t fit in with any of the popular music scenes at the time but their 1992 record, Bigger, Better, Faster, More! went platinum, selling over a million copies in America and produced one of the biggest hit songs of the 90’s.

Linda Perry: Frontwoman and Principal Songwriter

Frontwoman and principal songwriter, the half-brazilian, half-portuguese Linda Perry spent her formative years in San Diego. Within the first two years of her life, she had failing kidneys and was told by doctors that she would not make a full recovery, but she rebounded.

Her teenage years proved to be turbulent and she questioned her own sexuality. At one point, Perry almost took her own life, overdosing on her mother’s pills from the bathroom. It was after this close call that she brushed aside any reservations she had about who she was and decided to embrace life.

After her parents divorced she was thrown into poverty. Perry opted to live on the street rather than with her mother and she got introduced to drugs. She admits to doing everything but heroin, but when she fell off a building and broke her collarbone, she finally got sober.

Perry’s brother John, who was a well versed guitarist, introduced her to music. She was fired from her first several bands she played in because according to her, her bandmates didn’t like her singing style.

“Suddenly this big voice came out of me, as if by magic.” – Linda Perry

Perry moved to San Francisco in 1986, at 21 years old. The move seemed to reignite her passion for music and gave her more confidence. She told the LA Times, “Suddenly this big voice came out of me, as if by magic. I was saner then so I thought to myself, ‘Why not do something with this voice?’ At the time I felt like I had lived 40 years. It was time to grow up and get a career.”

Roommates Christa Hillhouse and Shaunna Hall Meet Wanda Day

Bassist Christa Hillhouse and guitarist Shaunna Hall were roommates in San Francisco and met drummer Wanda Day when they joined a band she was playing in. Eventually the 3 musicians broke off and started their own band.

It wasn’t too long after this that Hall and Hillhouse came across Linda Perry at the club Nightbreak.

“Linda held a force over the crowd that was obvious, and I could only imagine how powerful it would be to blend strong instrumentation with such a stunning personality.” – Christa Hillhouse

Hillhouse described the fateful night that changed her career, revealing on her website, “One night Shaunna and I wandered into the Nightbreak and caught Linda playing a solo set. We were blown away by her raw power and emotion. She was singing a song called ‘Down On Your Face’, an over-the-top anthem born of rip-out-your-heart honesty, brutal and raw in it’s confession. Linda held a force over the crowd that was obvious, and I could only imagine how powerful it would be to blend strong instrumentation with such a stunning personality.”

4 Non Blondes is Formed

After witnessing Perry’s performance, the pair asked her to join the band she agreed.

While Shauna Hall was the early driving force of the band, that soon changed as Linda Perry took a more prominent role in the songwriting and the spotlight. The band were soon playing sold out gigs at the local hotspot, Nightbreak and they soon landed themselves an opening spot for Bob Mould at the Warfield Theater.

By late 1990 and early 1991, the momentum kept building around the band and they were being featured prominently in the local press, including the San Francisco Chronicle.

The band had their sights set on nabbing a major recording contract for the distribution and it would give them the opportunity to quit their day jobs but they were also conflicted. The members were all gay, but some members were more comfortable being open about it than others.

The band was also worried that signing to a major label would turn off some of their original fans. Linda Perry would admit years later that some of their gay fanbase were angered when the group started playing straight clubs and developing a straight following.

According to Christa Hillhouse, Linda Perry and Shauna Hall tried to dress more feminine in an effort to get the attention of major recording labels, thinking that once they got a deal they could go back to being themselves. It was this attitude that created tension between the band members.

The Best Unsigned Act in the City

By February of 1991, publications around the city hailed 4 Non Blondes as the best unsigned act in the city.

By May of 1991, 4 Non Blondes finally found their home at Interscope. The foreshadowing of the band’s eventual demise happened pretty early on during negotiations with the label.

“I think they would have signed Linda to her own contract right then and there had she been willing.” – Christa Hillhouse

Hillhouse wrote on her website, “The A&R guy from Interscope Records, and his assistant Leslie Gerard were at the show and we were to all have lunch afterwards with our lawyer and our manager in tow. As we prepared to leave for the restaurant, Shaunna and I noticed Linda being whisked away in a limo. Linda being singled out in this way made us both take pause… I think they would have signed Linda to her own contract right then and there had she been willing.”

Wanda Day is Replaced By Dawn Richardson

It wasn’t too long after signing with Interscope that the group’s drummer, Wanda, was fired. The band concluded that her playing wasn’t suited to performing ballads so she was let go and replaced with Dawn Richardson who came as a recommendation from a friend of the band.

Recording the group’s debut album exposed more fractures in the band. Shaunna Hall’s playing wasn’t up to par according to her bandmates and she would be fired and a session player would be brought in as their first male member, Louis Metoyer.

“Linda had a dream and she wasn’t going to let anything get in the way, even if it meant writing off your guitar player.” – Shaunna Hall

Hall would give her recollection of events, telling the San Francisco Chronicle in 1993, “I had a choice. I was asked to let a session guy come in. I probably could have stayed with the group but I couldn’t do that. I was a very young musician with little studio experience. Recording was a hardship for me but I don’t feel like I got any support from my friends. It came down to big money and an ego trip. Linda had a dream and she wasn’t going to let anything get in the way, even if it meant writing off your guitar player.”

The group session guitarist opted not to tour with the band and they once again had to search for a guitarist before they hit the road. They would find Roger Rocha, who worked at one of their manager’s offices.

Their debut record Bigger, Better, Faster, More! was released in October of 1992. The band hit the road the same year to support the album and the first single was “Dear Mr. President”. One Texas radio station refused to play the song because they deemed it as an attack on then sitting president, George Bush Sr.

“It’s a song about looking around and seeing problems and feeling like there’s someone in charge who is responsible.” – Christa Hillhouse

Christa Hillhouse told songfacts, “George Sr. was president at the time, and we were having a hard time getting airplay in certain places. It’s kind of funny because it wasn’t about the President in Office. It was about the hierarchy of power in government. It wasn’t specifically pointed at him. I remember being really surprised when it happened. It’s a song about looking around and seeing problems and feeling like there’s someone in charge who is responsible.”

The band would first break out in Europe with their single, “What’s Up”, topping song charts across the continent and peaking at No. 14 in the States. The song has amassed over a billion views on youtube.

“What’s Up” was written by Linda Perry before 4 Non Blondes formed. During their recording of the group’s first album, the band wasn’t happy with the version they recorded with producer David Tickle with new lyrics. Interscope head, Jimmy Iovine agreed.

Perry took over the producer’s role for the song and was upset that Tickle received a producing credit on the track, telling Tape Op magazine, “The producer, David Tickle had no sense of what the song was. I went to the label and said, ‘This song sucks. This is not the song I wrote.’

I grabbed the band during a break and we went to The Record Plant. I started moving things around. I was in the middle of vocals when David Tickle showed up. I was annoyed. We were already done with the frigging song. We comped the vocals and mixed it that night. That is the version that blew up all over the world. I’ve told the story enough that people know that David Tickle did not produce that song. It was me.”

4 Non Blondes Appear on the Arsenio Hall Show

By the spring of 1993, the band made their first major television appearance performing on the Arsenio Hall Show and by the summer of that year, the band opened for Neil Young and Pearl Jam, followed by an opening slot for Aerosmith across North America and Europe once again.

By early 1994, the band was still riding high off the success of their debut album, but another lineup change happened within the group. They fired guitarist Roger Rocha who, according to Hillhouse, was overwhelmed at the responsibility of being in the band and whose live performances sometimes were not up to par.

Linda Perry Leaves the Group to Pursue a Solo Career

By late 1994, the band had rented a mansion in Los Angeles to begin work on their second album. Song ideas were flowing and the band was already working in the studio but during the recording of their sophomore record, Linda Perry let it be known to her bandmates that she was done with the group. She wanted to become a solo artist and had reservations about the style of music the band was playing.

4 Non Blondes Calls it Quits

The band had some commitments in early 1995 that they fulfilled and eventually called it quits.

Following the dissolution of the group, Christa Hillhouse would play in several bands while attending college. Drummer Dawn Richardson would continue to play with other groups as well while also becoming a music teacher and penning several books on percussion.

By August of 1996, Perry would release her debut solo album, In Flight and it was a huge flop selling only 11,000 copies in its first 4 months of release. Linda Perry and Christa Hillhouse would reunite in support of Perry’s second album where she opened for Bryan Adams.

By 2000, Perry soon turned her attention to producing and songwriting for other artists including Pink, Christinia Agulera, James Blunt, Enrique Igleaseas and Miley Cyrus.

In May 2014, 4 Non Blondes would reunite for a benefit show called “An Evening For Women. Celebrating Arts, Music and Equality.’ in Los Angeles. It marked the first time the band had performed together in nearly 20 years.

Perry was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.

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