Happy Mother's Day! In honor of all of the awesome moms being celebrated today, here are seven moms who just so happen to be amazing alt-rock musicians as well.
1. Patti Smith
Though Patti Smith's most famous relationship was with photographer Robert Maplethrope from 1967 to 1974 (detailed in the book Just Kids), the two never married or had children together. In fact, Smith already had a daughter by the time she met Maplethorpe, but had put her up for adoption after she was born in 1967. Smith eventually had two more children with her husband, MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith. Her son Jackson would go on to marry Meg White of the White Stripes in 2009.
2. Bilinda Butcher
Bilinda Butcher rose to fame in 1987 when she joined shoegaze pioneers My Bloody Valentine as a guitarist and vocalist, and came to define the band's sound with her dreamy vocal delivery. Before joining the band, she had a son named Toby, and would later have two more sons, Davy and Billy.
3. Courtney Love
Though most people know Courtney Love for her abrasive personality and outspoken nature, we wouldn't have any idea who she was if she wasn't an incredible musician as well. Love was famously married to Kurt Cobain in the early '90s and had one child with him, Frances Bean Cobain. Frances' godparents are Drew Barrymore and R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe.
4. Kate Bush
Kate Bush is one of the most acclaimed artists of her generation, and is the first female artist to reach the top of the UK charts with a self-written song, 1978's "Wuthering Heights." She's married to guitarist Danny McIntosh and has one son, Albert, who had a guest vocal spot on his mother's great 2011 album 50 Words for Snow.
5. Liz Phair
Liz Phair may have squandered her good will with the indie community over the last ten years, but during the '90s, she was the reigning queen of indie rock with her classic 1993 debut Exile in Guyville. In 1996, Phair became a mother when she gave birth to her son James Staskauskas.
6. Kim Gordon
There are plenty of incredibly cool women from the American alt-rock scene of the '80s and '90s: Kathleen Hanna, Kim Deal, all of Sleater-Kinney, but the original is Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon. Gordon married bandmate Thurston Moore in 1984 and gave birth to their only daughter Coco in 1994, though Gordon and Moore unfortunately split in 2011.
7. Tina Weymouth
Now that Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore are no longer married, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads and the Tom Tom Club are the reigning power couple of New York post-punk. Weymouth and Frantz now live in Connecticut with their two sons, Robin and Egan.
