Featuring many of their best-known songs, including "Blister in the Sun", "Kiss Off", "Add It Up" and "Gone Daddy Gone", Violent Femmes became the band's biggest-selling album and was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA.

[10] After releasing two more albums, Hallowed Ground (1984) and The Blind Leading the Naked (1986), the band's future was uncertain and they split up in 1987 when Gano and Ritchie went solo.

In 1993, founding member Victor DeLorenzo (percussion, snare drum) left Violent Femmes and was replaced by Guy Hoffman, who debuted on the band's sixth album New Times (1994).

Some controversy over the licensing of the band's songs for commercial use led to an official break-up in 2009, though they re-formed in 2013 (shortly before DeLorenzo left Violent Femmes again), and have since released two more studio albums of new material: We Can Do Anything (2016) and Hotel Last Resort (2019).

Violent Femmes were founded by bassist Brian Ritchie and percussionist Victor DeLorenzo in 1981, joined shortly thereafter by lead vocalist and guitarist Gordon Gano.

After their debut album Violent Femmes, the band released Hallowed Ground, which moved the group toward a country music sound and introduced Christian themes.

Mark Van Hecke produced the band's first two efforts,[13] but their third album, The Blind Leading the Naked, saw a change in the studio.

[14] In 1985, Van Hecke ended his collaboration with the group and became a composer and producer in the rapidly growing video game industry.

[13] The Femmes briefly disbanded, with Gano releasing an album in 1987, the result of a gospel side project Mercy Seat.

Guy Hoffman, formerly of the Oil Tasters and BoDeans, was brought in to tour what was to become one of the Violent Femmes' biggest-selling records, the Add It Up (1981–1993) collection.

The first full studio album with Hoffman on drums, New Times (Elektra Records), was released in 1994, and the band scored another minor hit with the song "Breakin' Up".

After touring in promotion of Freak Magnet, primary songwriter Gano decided that the band would no longer make new music, but would continue to play shows when booked.

Therefore when you see dubious or in this case disgusting uses of our music you can thank the greed, insensitivity, and poor taste of Gordon Gano, it is his karma that he lost his songwriting ability many years ago, probably due to his own lack of self-respect as his willingness to prostitute our songs demonstrates.

I can't endorse them because I disagree with corporate food on culinary, political, health, economic, and environmental grounds.

"[15] Ritchie filed a lawsuit against Gano in August 2007, seeking half ownership of Violent Femmes' music and access to royalty accounting.

[32] In July 2019, the band returned to the East Side neighborhood of Milwaukee, in and around the street art destination Black Cat Alley, to film the music video for the single "I'm Nothing".

[33] The Violent Femmes are featured on the song "Gotta Get to Peekskill" by Dropkick Murphys that appears on the band's 2023 album Okemah Rising.

Instrumentation varies widely and includes saxophones, trumpets, trombones, sousaphone, flute, clarinet, antique hunting horn, kazoo, and percussion.

Longtime band associates and employees who have played with the Horns include soundman Caleb Alexander and manager Darren Brown.