The Linda Perry-led 4 Non Blondes reunited this year for their first proper shows since 1994, and the fun won’t end just yet. The group will perform Dec. 15 at the Roxy in Los Angeles and Dec. 17 at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco (get tickets here), and also has plans to release a new album next year.
“4 Non Blondes have been having a great time playing all of these incredible festivals, but honestly, we are excited to get back to the clubs,” Perry tells SPIN. “It’s where every band starts. You figure out what songs people like, learn about your mistakes [and] how to read the audience, [and] most of all, the audience gets a better understanding of who you are in this more intimate setting.”
Perry, bassist Christa Hillhouse and former touring members Dawn Richardson and Roger Rocha reassembled for four festival gigs this year, the band’s first since a one-off 2014 set at a Los Angeles LGBT benefit. At the recent shows, 4 Non Blondes focused on a batch of new songs such as “”Don’t Wanna,” “Drop the Bomb” and “Monomorphic,” intended for the follow-up to their 1992 debut, Bigger, Better, Faster, More!
“They’re all phenomenal players and now they get a chance to show that,” Perry says. “I couldn’t ask for a better band to play these songs.”
4 Non Blondes are best known for the grunge-era song “What’s Up?,” which hit No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 1 on the singles charts in multiple European countries and has more than 1.18 billion streams on Spotify to date. Perry went on to become a hugely successful producer, songwriter and label owner who has worked with Christina Aguilera, Pink, Gwen Stefani and Alicia Keys.
“Playing some songs with 4 Non Blondes just seemed like a fun thing to do, in a way it hadn’t before now,” she says. “I’ve been behind the scenes for far too long. I want to step out to be the artist I am. I’m just open to all the possibilities that I’ve created around me. I manifest things all the time.”
