Bikini Kill at The Wiltern

Bikini Kill was created in Olympia, Washington in October 1990 by Kathleen Hanna (vocals), Billy Karren (guitar), Kathi Wilcox (bass), and Tobi Vail (drums). Hanna, Vail, and Wilcox met while enrolled at The Evergreen State College in Washington. In 1991, Hanna released a magazine titled Bikini Kill in conjunction with their debut tour. Together, the band wrote songs and encouraged women to approach the front of the stage with lyric sheets, all in an effort to create a female-centric environment during their concerts. Hanna herself would also leap into the throng to eject male hecklers herself. When the tickets were still inexpensive and accessible, the band would regularly be harassed by these male concertgoers both physically and verbally during their performances.

The hecklers didn't stop Bikini Kill from following their dream, though. They actually served as motivation for the band to continue playing their songs and going forward.

Bikini Kill released the Bikini Kill EP under the independent label Kill Rock Stars after releasing Revolution Girl Style Now, an independent demo tape. The record, which began to grow the band's fan base, was produced by Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi. Pussy Whipped, the band's debut album, was released in September 1993.

Following the release of the split album Our Troubled Youth / Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah and a UK tour, Bikini Kill started performing with Huggy Bear in London, England. It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill in the U.K. by Lucy Thane was a tour-related documentary film. After the group returned to the States, they worked with Joan Jett of the Runaways, whose music Hanna described as an
A year after that partnership, Riot Grrrl was dominating the media, and Bikini Kill was increasingly being referred to as movement pioneers. As Hanna recalls, "[Bikini Kill was] very vilified during the '90s by so many people, and hated by so many people, and I think that's been kind of written out of the history. People were throwing chains at our heads – people hated us – and it was really, really hard to be in that band." Hanna also called for a "media blackout" among Riot Grrrls, believing the media was misrepresenting the band and the movement. Despite this, the band's pioneer reputation endures.
The band's final album, Reject All American, came out in 1996. Bikini Kill split up in 1997. During 2017, they started reuniting for performances.