• 1989-1994, 2025-

  Linda PerryVocals, guitar

  Christa HillhouseBass

  Shaunna HallGuitar1989-1992

  Wanda DayDrums1989-1991

  Dawn RichardsonDrums1991-1994, 2025-

  Roger RochaGuitar1992-1994, 2025-
• 4 Non Blondes had one of the most memorable hits of the '90s: "What's Up" in 1992, the song where lead singer Linda Perry screams from the top of her lungs, "What's going on?" It ended up being their only hit, but Perry became a very successful songwriter, writing "Beautiful" for Christina Aguilera and "Get The Party Started" by Pink.
• Their original lineup, the one that recorded the Bigger, Better, Faster, More album, were all openly gay women, which was unusual in 1992 when "What's Up" was a hit. Even k.d. lang and Melissa Etheridge didn't come out until the following year.
• They formed in San Francisco in 1989 and had their first rehearsal set for October 17, but an earthquake at 5 p.m. local time forced them to reschedule. The San Francisco Giants were playing a home game in the World Series that night that also had to be rescheduled.
• "What's Up" found many new fans a generation later and became one of the top streaming songs from the '90s - it was just the fifth song from that decade to rack up more than a billion views on YouTube.
  
  In 2025, it got another boost when a mashup of the song with "Beez In The Trap" by Nicki Minaj took off on TikTok.
• 4 Non Blondes broke up in 1994 while they were working on their second album, which was shelved. Those sessions were with Alice In Chains producer Dave Jerden, and they were going well, but there was interference from above. "You've got the label coming in and poking around and listening to what you're doing, going, 'Where's the 'What's Up, Version 2,'" Christa Hillhouse told Songfacts.
  
  The band played a reunion show in 2014, and in 2025 after their TikTok resurgence they got back together for a tour with the four members of their 1992 lineup.
• They covered the Van Halen song "I'm The One" for the 1994 movie Airheads, one of the lesser-known Adam Sandler movies. In the film, Sandler, Brendan Fraser and Steve Buscemi play band members who commandeer a radio station to get their demo played.
• In 1999 Linda Perry, joined by her 4 Non Blondes bandmate Christa Hillhouse on acoustic guitar, toured with Bryan Adams as his opening act. The crowd filing in had no idea who they were, so Hillhouse had some fun with it.
  
  "I would tell them we were the Indigo Girls and we just got out of rehab," she said in a Songfacts interview. "Eventually, Linda would start playing those three chords to 'What's Up' and they'd be like, 'Oh, I didn't know that was an Indigo Girls song.'"

Comments

More Songfacts:

Seven Nation ArmyThe White Stripes

Jack White titled "Seven Nation Army" after how he would mispronounce "Salvation Army" when he was little.

Birds Of A FeatherBillie Eilish

Listen carefully and you'll hear the sound of birds in "Birds Of A Feather" by Billie Eilish. Her brother/producer Finneas couldn't resist putting them in, but he kept them real quiet in the mix.

When I'm With YouSheriff

Sheriff had been disbanded for years when "When I'm With You" hit #1 in America thanks to rediscovery by radio stations. The group never re-formed and never made a video for the song.

Won't Get Fooled AgainThe Who

"Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who is about a revolution, but it doesn't have a happy ending, since in the end the new regime becomes just like the old one. Pete Townshend thought that whoever was in power was destined to become corrupt.

Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)Katy Perry

When "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" climbed to #1 on the Hot 100, Katy Perry became the first woman to send five songs from one album to the top of the charts. The four previous chart-toppers from her Teenage Dream set were "California Gurls," "Teenage Dream," "Firework" and "E.T."

Goodbye Yellow Brick RoadElton John

"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is one of the few Bernie Taupin lyrics that is more about him than Elton John. The song is about giving up glitz for the simple life - not exactly Elton's M.O.

Editor's Picks

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul StationSongwriter Interviews

Paul Stanley on his soul music project, the Kiss songs with the biggest soul influence, and the non-make-up era of the band.

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Which Songs are About Drugs?Fact or Fiction

"25 or 6 to 4" to "Semi-Charmed Life" - see if you can spot the songs that are really about drugs.

Michael BoltonSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

The PoliceFact or Fiction

Do their first three albums have French titles? Is "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" really meaningless? See if you can tell in this Fact or Fiction.