Black History

Introducing Tina Bell: The Forgotten Lead Singer Who Created Grunge

How the Queen of grunge inspired future grunge bands

Disclaimer: This article is written for educational purposes to the best of my knowledge and may contain errors and omissions. I am not a qualified historian or a teacher and this blog may change focus at any time please read this at your own risk.

When you think of Grunge music, who do you think of? Is it Nirvana or Hole? Immediately, my brain thinks of these 2 bands because they are probably 2 of the most famous bands in Grunge(I don’t listen to grunge so these are the 2 bands I am more familiar with in grunge music).

Even though there are black artists that are in rock bands such as Skin the lead singer from Skunk Anansie and Kele Okereke the lead singer and guitarrist from Bloc Party.

Grunge tend to be associated with white men and ignores black artists who don’t fit into the representation of the white male image of rock music.

There is a history of black artists who innovated genres that are not credited with the art that they created in the past. And Bam Bam is one of the many artists who became erased from the history of grunge which affected Ms Bell emotionally.

Did you know that Tina Bell was a black singer-songwriter who was in a punk band? Tina Bell was in Bam Bam who combined heavy metal and punk in the early 1980s and formed in 1983.

An AI illustration of a black woman with a black mohawk singing designed in Canva by Afro Lit Stories.

Background of the Bam Bam

Bam Bam was a grunge rock band created in 1983 in Seattle and included the original members which are Tina Bell, the lead singer and songwriter, Tommy Martin her husband who was the lead guitarrist, Scotty “Buttocks” Ledgerwood, long-time friend and bass guitarist and the drummer is Matt Cameron who left the group in 1984.

He was replaced by Tom Hendrickson and she was known for her powerful vocals and stage presence that captivated the audience.

Who is Tina Bell?

Tina Bell was born on the 5th February 1957 in Seattle and was the oldest daughter of 10 children and sang in Mount Zion Baptist church. She attended Washington State University and studied drama and then joined the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute.

She was preparing to sing the French rendition of the song C’est Si Bon and needed help singing the song in French. She answered a newspaper ad by Tommy Martin and ended up falling in love, getting married and having a child called TJ.

Bam Bam grew a large fan base in Seattle and perfomed at different live events and gigs in Seattle. They released 1 EP called Villains (Also Wear White), 2 songs called Show What You Know amd Ground Zero. They also released 2 albums called Free Fall From Space and Bam Bam House Demo.

What happened to Tina Bell?

According to the Culture Rock Griot interview, Mr Ledgerwood explained that they didn’t get the recognition from the record label companies, because racism and sexism contributed to the erasure of Bam Bam.

Mr. Ledgerwood continued revealing how black women are portrayed in the music industry as a “hiphop, R&B or a soul diva”. Tina Bell didn’t fit in with the image that the record labels have for black women and that they weren’t going to invest in the band.

In the 1980s Bam Bam moved to Europe with the aim that living in Europe would give them more opportunitities for the band. However, things didn’t go to plan because by the time they left USA; grunge music started to become more well-known.

Once they returned to the USA, Ms. Bell left the band in 1990 and she divorced Mr Martin in 1996, she became depressed and turned to spirituality and astrology.

As the writer Jen B. Larson wrote in the article by the Stranger and she explains that “audiences were not prepared to see a black woman” in a grunge band.

The lack of acknowledgement affected Bam Bam specifically Tina Bell since she helped this genre thrive and influenced many bands to create bands with likeminded individuals.

When did Tina Bell pass away?

Tina Bell passed away on the 10th October 2012 due to cirrhosis and she struggled with depression and alcoholism. According to her son TJ, her belongings were thrown out without notifying her family.

Final Thoughts

I can’t imagine how Tina Bell must have felt leaving the band, how frustrated she must have felt with not getting signed to a major label let alone being taken seriously by the record labels.

The good news is that she is receiving her flowers and the recognition, thanks to her long-time friend Scotty Ledgerwood who has been archiving the journey of Bam Bam on his website.

Also for social media for highlighting Bam Bam and letting people know how grunge started in the beginning.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article about the Bam Bam and if you enjoy reading this article, don’t forget to comment and clap and let me know what you think of the article. And share this article with black women who are interested in reading about black history and black women artists in rock bands.