Melora Creager (born March 25, 1966) is an American cellist, singer-songwriter, performing artist and founder of the cello rock group Rasputina.
Born and raised in Emporia, Kansas, Creager started studying music at the age of 5, and at age 9 began playing the cello. Though she briefly quit playing in her teen years, after Creager moved to the east coast to attend Philadelphia College of Art and Parsons School of Design, she was convinced by friends to take it up again. In the late 1980s she played with the New York indie rock band Ultra Vivid Scene. In 1991, Creager founded alternative cello ensemble Rasputina by writing a manifesto and placing a want-ad in the Village Voice stating "electric cellists wanted". Cellist/composer Julia Kent was the first respondent. Rasputina performed regularly at NYC venues such as CBGB's Gallery, Brownie's and Fez before being signed to Columbia Records in 1996, for whom they subsequently made two albums. With varying members, Creager has made five more albums as Rasputina, and multiple shorter releases.
Creager also played cello for Nirvana on the European leg of the In Utero world tour (including the band's final show in Munich).
Creager designed all the Rasputina album covers, except for Lost & Found which was designed by artist Ryan Obermeyer and included in the 44th Annual Society of Illustrators Exhibition in New York, 2002. From 1988 to 1996, Creager was employed as a jewelry designer for Erickson Beamon, creating costume jewelry for Anna Sui, Donna Karan, Barney's New York, and Vogue magazine. She continues her relationship with Anna Sui, occasionally designing fashion show invitations and T-shirts.
Creager also has a short list of acting credits. In 1989 she briefly appeared as a member of the fictional Finger Lakes Trio in the film Longtime Companion. In 2003, Creager starred in the short film "On My Knees", by filmmaker Kim Wood, as Hannah Cullwick, whose diaries the film is based on. Creager also wrote music for the film, which appears on the compilation album Great American Gingerbread. Creager also contributed additional voices to the 2018 pilot of the Adult Swim animated series Tigtone.
Through more than seven albums and frequent touring, Creager through Rasputina has been an originator of and influence on such movements as freak folk and steampunk.
Creager makes unique use of historical events and figures in her lyrics and themes. Inspirations include the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911, Howard Hughes, Rose Kennedy, victims of Josef Mengele, Emily Dickinson, Pitcairn Island, Columbia County, New York. Combining history and humor in song-form and spoken-word pieces, Creager is also unique in exploring women's history through pop music.
Creager has two daughters, Hollis and Ivy.