Born in Montreal on March 17, 1972, Melissa began her musical career in 1993 after forming the rock band Tinker while she was attending college in her hometown. Just one year later, she joined Courtney Love as the bassist for Hole.

VH1 placed her at #68 in their list of the “100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll”.

She left Hole in 1999 to replace Smashing Pumpkins bassist D'arcy Wretzky. While she wasn’t a part of the recording sessions for any Pumpkins albums, she was the sole bassist on one of the largest world tours the Pumpkins ever had, lasting about a year and stopping at just about every major city on the globe.

After the grueling tour, she began her solo career. To date, she’s released two solo studio albums, Auf Der Maur in 2004 and Out of Our Minds in 2010. Both albums were well received from a majority of critics.

She is also the owner and creative director of the Basilca Hudson, a well known performing arts operation located in Hudson, New York.