Following her departure from Hole in 1999, Auf der Maur briefly joined The Smashing Pumpkins as a touring member for its 2000 tour and began her solo career; her debut studio album Auf der Maur was released in 2004 on Capitol Records and Out of Our Minds, her second studio album, was released in 2010 on her own independent record label, PHI–MAdM Music.

VH1 placed Auf der Maur at number 68 on its list of 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll in 2007[4] and her solo albums have received favorable reviews.

Reflecting on the encounter, Auf der Maur said "[my father] realised my mother Linda was the love of his life because she'd offered the gift of this child without any demands.

[8] A portion of Auf der Maur's childhood was spent living in "a circus caravan in Wales, a red post-office box truck in Morocco, and a hut in Kenya" with her mother.

At FACE, she was a member of the classical choir and at MIND, she was "part of the small English elite", where she formed friendships with Leonard Cohen's daughter Lorca and Rufus Wainwright.

At Concordia at age 19, Auf der Maur began working part-time as a DJ at Bifteck, a well-known rock club, where she met several musicians including Steve Durand.

[9] During her time as a DJ at Bifteck, Auf der Maur met fellow Concordia University student Steve Durand, with whom she formed Tinker in November 1993.

[9] At a Smashing Pumpkins performance at Les Foufounes Électriques in 1991, Auf der Maur had become friends with vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan.

Following months of no contact, Auf der Maur sent a letter to Corgan requesting that Tinker open for The Smashing Pumpkins during their next tour date in Montreal.

Corgan accepted her request and Tinker performed the largest show of their career, to 2,500 people, opening for The Smashing Pumpkins at Métropolis on November 30, 1993.

[13][14] The group continued to release music until 1996,[citation needed] when Auf der Maur accepted Courtney Love's invitation to become the bassist for the alternative rock band Hole, a job she initially declined: Billy called me and said, 'I'm coming through town on [1994's] Lollapalooza next week.

The duo began a side project, Constant Comment, and released a split 7-inch single with Red Aunts on Sympathy for the Record Industry featuring the song "Firecrasher".

[21] Auf der Maur was featured on various Hole releases, including the 1996 non-album single "Gold Dust Woman" and on various live tracks on My Body, the Hand Grenade (1997).

[23][24] Following the tour in support of its release, Auf der Maur left Hole in October 1999 as her five-year contract with the band ended and she wished "to grow in many different directions".

Love claimed that Auf der Maur was rejoining as bassist to record on her upcoming album Nobody's Daughter—which was being rebranded as a Hole album—and performing on the supporting tour.

[27] Despite several legal issues, Nobody's Daughter was released as Hole's fourth studio album in April 2010 with Shawn Dailey replacing Auf der Maur as bassist.

Hole reunited again—with the Celebrity Skin line-up of Love, Erlandson, Auf der Maur and Schemel—for a one-off performance at Public Assembly in Brooklyn, New York on April 12, 2012 at an after-party for Schemel's film Hit So Hard (2011).

[29][30] In April 2016, Auf der Maur stated in an interview that she no longer had time or energy for a full-fledged reunion, but would be interested in wrapping up the Hole legacy with a retrospective disc and small set of tour dates.

[33] The tour covered North America, Japan, Europe and South Africa and was described by Auf der Maur as "very ambitious".

[35] In response, Auf der Maur said in a separate interview that "as long as Billy has Jimmy, he can make the essential Pumpkins record, I'm sure" and when asked of her involvement said she was not planning on participating in the reunion but noted that her "services are always there to play [her] favorite songs.

[36] Despite her earlier interest and Wretzky's absence, The Globe and Mail reported in April 2007 that Auf der Maur confirmed she would not be rejoining The Smashing Pumpkins.

[37] In 2002, Auf der Maur formed a brief project with former Hole drummer Samantha Maloney, Peaches, Paz Lenchantin and Radio Sloan.

Adopting the title The Chelsea—named after the Chelsea Hotel in New York where Auf der Maur had lived for a number of years—the band performed one show at Spaceland in Los Angeles, California in February that included original songs and cover versions.

[38] Courtney Love subsequently named her backing band The Chelsea, also hiring Maloney and Sloan in the process, while touring for her debut studio album, America's Sweetheart (2004).

[39] Later the same year, Auf der Maur formed Hand of Doom, a Black Sabbath cover band in which she performed lead vocals.

The band included bassist Molly Stern, drummer Pedro Yanowitz, turntablist Joey Garfield and guitarist Guy Stevens.

In late 2001, upon discovering old demo recordings in her home, Auf der Maur decided to pursue a solo career after she had "realized [she] had an entire album's worth of material that had been sitting there for years".

Auf der Maur also signed an international distribution deal with Roadrunner Records, who issued the releases outside of North America.

[55] Auf der Maur briefly toured with former The Cars frontman Ric Ocasek in 1997, after contributing bass and background vocals to his 1997 solo album Troublizing.

Auf der Maur has contributed bass and backing vocals to childhood friend Rufus Wainwright's album Poses and appears in his 1998 video for "April Fools".