Interview with Kim Gordon, the rock icon who never wanted to be one

Interview by Violaine Schütz.

Published on 15 January 2026. Updated on 11 March 2026.

Nearly five years after her first solo album, No Home Record (2019), rock legend Kim Gordon released The Collective (2024), a second, equally inspiring and experimental opus. The record blends noise, trap, and electro and addresses the absurdity of a world subjected to technology.

Later that year, in October, a deluxe edition of the hip-hop and electronic-infused album came out, and the singer delivered an electrifying performance at the Les Femmes s’en mêlent festival in Paris on October 23rd, 2024. The artist also made an appearance in Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, in 2025.

The rock icon is making a comeback

She is already back with a new single, Not Today (2026), and a new album, Play Me, scheduled for March 13th, 2026. A perfect moment to revisit our encounter with an artist who, even though she rejects the label of icon, checks every box.

Kim Gordon, 72, is one of those stars whose aura never fades… The former Sonic Youth bassist is now winning over a whole new generation of music lovers on TikTok thanks to her track Bye Bye (2024). On that track, she recites a list of items, shopping and suitcase essentials, with a blasé, sensual tone. The objects chosen are both unexpected and evocative (black dress, vibrator, Eckhaus Latta, sleeping pills), while the dissonant beats perfectly echo the contradictions of our modern societies. Punk once, punk forever…

Interview with singer Kim Gordon

Numéro: Why did you choose to title your latest album The Collective, which is also the name of one of your paintings?

Kim Gordon: The themes of the album and the painting are largely connected. On the album cover, you see hands holding a phone. And on the canvas I painted, there are holes shaped like cell phones. The album and the lyrics are, in a way, a reflection of what’s happening in the world, of the madness around us. About what people are feeling and what I’m feeling too. I’m addicted to my phone, but on Instagram, there are so many images I don’t even want to see when I scroll. We don’t know where the truth lies anymore… Technology has become our religion. But it doesn’t necessarily mean progress.

Your father was a sociology professor. Do you think that influenced your interest in social commentary?

Yes, I think so. I’ve always been drawn to social commentary. And I spend a lot of time observing what’s around me. When I’m driving in Los Angeles, where I live now, I look at the billboards and the people on the streets. And that inspires me… Just like Airbnb ads inspired my track of the same name.

“I never learned how to play an instrument.” — Kim Gordon

One of the songs on your new album is called I’m a Man. What is it about?

It’s a response to some of the complaints from the American far right about how feminism supposedly ruined men. It also refers to the history of masculinity in America. It’s actually quite sociological. In the 1950s and 1960s, men were expected to be protectors and providers. All of that changed in the decades that followed, and men lost that sense of purpose. So they became consumers, like women, targeted by marketing. There are also references to Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy Reagan, in the song.

You published a book called Girl in a Band. How is creating solo different from working in a band?

It really depends on the personalities of the musicians I’m working with. With Sonic Youth, each one of us brought something different to the music. We created it together, through our different sensibilities. That was a big part of it. With my project Body/Head with guitarist Bill Nace, we create songs through a lot of improvisation. We know each other so well that it works. And then, on my new solo album, I worked with producer Justin Raisen (Charli xcx), and he’s the reason the record is beat-driven. We would start with hip-hop-like rhythms, then I would bring in guitars and vocals. I don’t want to work the same way I did for so long with Sonic Youth. It does no longer interest me.

Some of your songs are featured in Catherine Breillat’s 2023 film Last Summer…

Yes, you can hear Dirty Boots by Sonic Youth and Tripping by Body/Head. The music supervisor reached out to me, and I sent over some new Body/Head tracks. Catherine Breillat really liked one of them and ended up using it twice in the film. It was great meeting her in person and trying to have a conversation. My French is very limited, even though I study it as a hobby, and she doesn’t really speak English, so communicating wasn’t always easy (laughs).

I read that you see yourself more as a visual artist than a musician. And yet, you have influenced so many people in music…

Like a lot of people, I fell into post-punk and punk music without knowing much about it at first. I never learned how to play an instrument. Ever since I was little, I just wanted to be a visual artist. That’s why I moved from California, where I grew up, to New York in the early 1980s. So I feel like I approach music more as a visual artist. I’m not a conventional musician, and I have no interest in becoming one or in making conventional music. I like things that break the mold. I admire people who’ve studied music. But a big part of my guitar vocabulary comes from not knowing how to read music. I think in terms other than melody and chords. I’m more interested in contrast, dissonance, and noise.

“As you get older, you look at what’s hanging in your closet and think: ‘Why do I have this?’” — Kim Gordon

You’ve found success both in the worlds of art and music. If you had to pick one medium only, which one would it be?

That’s a tough question. I think I’d always find a way to combine both somehow.

In the 1980s, you worked as an assistant in a Larry Gagosian gallery…

Yes, I worked in a private gallery he ran with art dealer Annina Nosei. I already knew him when I was in Los Angeles, when he was selling posters. When I moved to New York, he said, “If you want a job as a receptionist, I could make it work.” But I felt like I was too close to the business side of art, when what I always wanted was to be an artist. It was pulling me away from the art world as an artist, so I rapidly quit.

“The idea of being perceived as a rock or a feminist icon is making me a little skeptical.” — Kim Gordon

In August 2023, you held a yard sale in Los Angeles where you sold part of your wardrobe, and a lot of people lined up to buy your clothes… The money went to a support center for homeless women in L.A.

I have way too many clothes. You know, as you get older, you look at what’s hanging in your closet and think: “Why do I even have this?” I had already cleared out my closets a bit when I moved from Northampton, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles. I gave a lot of clothes to my nieces, my daughter, and other people. It’s funny because I see them wearing those pieces all the time. And it feels good to know that some of these clothes have a second life. I think I’ll do another clear-out next year. It feels good to let go of some things.

Your daughter, Coco Gordon-Moore, didn’t give you a hard time about selling off parts of your wardrobe…

She loves my shoes, but we’re not the same size. Actually, in high school, she wore a lot of X-girl clothes (the fashion label founded by Kim Gordon in the 1990s, ed.), including some pants we used to find too tight and super nerdy, borderline lame. But she was in high school, so it was cool.

You modeled for different fashion campaigns, including Saint Laurent or Marc Jacobs, and attended many runway shows. Are you still passionate about clothing?

I’m always curious about what’s going on. I liked the latest Prada and Celine collections. I love looking at the ads (laughs). It’s always interesting. But I can’t afford that stuff… I like clothes. For me, it’s more of a visual thing. I wouldn’t say I’m totally into fashion. I think clothes should be more about style than price.

You are a music and fashion icon. Yet, you released a book published by Rizzoli titled No Icon…

The idea of being perceived as a rock or a feminist icon is making me a little skeptical. I’m wary of those labels, and I don’t like how feminism is now used as branding or as a way to sell things. I’d rather not be too self-aware about my image.

You co-produced Pretty on the Inside, the debut album by Courtney Love’s band Hole, released in 1991. But I believe you are not particularly fond of her anymore…

She’s very charismatic. She wrote some good songs, and liked to say provocative things. But I don’t really want to talk about her. I think she has mental health issues. I haven’t been on good terms with her since she punched Kathleen Hanna from Bikini Kill in the face at Lollapalooza, while we were standing next to the stage.

Adam Horovitz from the Beastie Boys once said about you: “Wherever Kim ends up, she is the coolest person in the room. But I know her, and I know she’d rather be at home grilling hot dogs.”

I get what he means (laughs). He is very insightful. I think there’s a bit of him in that too. He’s like that as well. Maybe that’s why he said it…

The Collective (Deluxe Edition) (2024) by Kim Gordon, available now. Play Me by Kim Gordon, coming out on March 13th, 2026.