Courtney Michelle Love (néeHarrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress whose career has spanned four decades. She has had a significant impact on female-fronted alternative acts and performers, withNME naming her one of the most influential singers inalternative culture between 1990 and 2020.
Love had an itinerant childhood, but was primarily raised inPortland, Oregon, where she played in a series of short-lived bands and was active in the local punk scene. Following a brief stay in ajuvenile hall, she spent a year living inDublin andLiverpool before returning to the United States and pursuing an acting career. She appeared in supporting roles in theAlex Cox filmsSid and Nancy (1986) andStraight to Hell (1987). In 1989, Love formed the alternative rock bandHole with guitaristEric Erlandson. She was its lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. She was becoming a rising figure in thealternative andgrunge scenes of the 1990s. However, her highly publicized relationship with, and 1992 marriage to,Nirvana frontmanKurt Cobain followed by his death in 1994 temporarily overshadowed her music career.
Love and Hole soon rose to prominence due to her uninhibited live performances and confrontational lyrics. The group received critical acclaim from underground rock press for their 1991 debut albumPretty on the Inside, produced byKim Gordon, while their second release,Live Through This (1994), was met with critical accolades andmulti-platinum sales. In 1995, Love returned to acting, earning aGolden Globe Award nomination for her performance asAlthea Leasure inMiloš Forman'sThe People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), which established her as a mainstream actress. Hole's third album,Celebrity Skin (1998), was nominated for threeGrammy Awards.
Love continued to work as an actress into the early 2000s, appearing in big-budget pictures such asMan on the Moon (1999) andTrapped (2002), before releasing her first solo album,America's Sweetheart, in 2004. The subsequent several years were marred with publicity surrounding Love's legal troubles and drug relapse, which resulted in a mandatory lockdownrehabilitation sentence in 2005 while she was writing a second solo album. That project becameNobody's Daughter, released in 2010 as a Hole album but without the former Hole lineup. Between 2014 and 2015, Love released two solosingles and returned to acting in the network seriesSons of Anarchy andEmpire. She has also been active as a writer; she co-created and co-wrote three volumes of amanga,Princess Ai, between 2004 and 2006, and wrote a memoir,Dirty Blonde (2006).
Courtney Michelle Harrison was born July 9, 1964, atSaint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco,[2] the first child of psychotherapistLinda Carroll (née Risi)[i] and Hank Harrison,[4] a publisher and road manager for theGrateful Dead.[5][6] Her parents met at a party held forDizzy Gillespie in 1963, and the two married inReno, Nevada after Carroll discovered she was pregnant.[7][8] Carroll, who was adopted at birth,[9] is the biological daughter of novelistPaula Fox.[10][11][12] The identity of Love's maternal biological grandfather is unknown.[10] Her matrilineal great-grandparents were screenwriters Elsie Fox (née de Sola), aCuban immigrant,[13] andPaul Hervey Fox.[14][15]Phil Lesh, the founding bassist of the Grateful Dead, was Love's godfather.[16][17][18] According to Love, she was named after Courtney Farrell, the protagonist ofPamela Moore's 1956 novelChocolates for Breakfast.[19] Love is of mixed Cuban, English, Welsh, Irish, Ashkenazi Jewish, and German ancestry.[13][20] She was baptized aRoman Catholic.[21] Through her mother's subsequent marriages, she has two younger half-sisters, three younger half-brothers (one of whom died in infancy), and one adopted brother.[22][23]
In 1970, Love's parents divorced after her mother and one of her father's girlfriends testified that Hank dosed her withLSD when she was a toddler.[12][24][25] Carroll also alleged that Hank threatened to abduct his daughter and flee with her to a foreign country.[7] Though Hank denied these allegations, his custody was revoked.[7] Carroll relocated with Love to Oregon, residing inMarcola while completing a psychology degree at theUniversity of Oregon.[1] There, Carroll married schoolteacher Frank Rodríguez, who legally adopted Love.[23] Love attended aMontessori school inEugene, where she struggled academically and socially.[26][27] She has said that she began seeing psychiatrists at "like, [age] three. Observational therapy.TM for tots. You name it, I've been there."[28] At age nine, a psychologist noted that she exhibited signs ofautism, among themtactile defensiveness andnonverbal behavior.[29][30][31][32]
In 1972, Love's mother divorced Rodríguez, remarried to sportswriter David Menely, and moved the family toNelson, New Zealand.[33] Love was enrolled atNelson College for Girls,[34] but soon expelled for misbehavior.[35] In 1973, Carroll sent Love back toPortland, Oregon,[36] where she was raised by her former stepfather and other family friends.[37][38] At age 14, Love was arrested for shoplifting from a Portland department store[39] and remanded atHillcrest Correctional Facility, ajuvenile hall inSalem, Oregon.[27][40] While at Hillcrest, she became acquainted with records byPatti Smith,the Runaways, andthe Pretenders.[41] She was intermittently placed infoster care throughout late 1979 until becoming legallyemancipated in 1980,[25][42] after which she remained staunchly estranged from her mother.[43]
After her emancipation, Love spent two months in Japan working as a topless dancer, but was deported after her passport was confiscated.[44] She returned to Portland, working as a DJ at a gay disco[45] and a dancer atMary's Club,[46][28] adopting the surname Love to conceal her identity; she later adopted Love as her surname.[23] Love said she lacked social skills as a teenager,[47] and learned them while frequenting gay clubs and spending time withdrag queens.[48] During this period, she briefly enrolled atPortland State University, studying English and philosophy.[49][50] She later commented that, had she not found a passion for music, she would have sought a career working with children.[51]
Before Liverpool, my life doesn't count.Ian McCulloch and Julian Cope taught me a great deal. I owe them a lot. Liverpool had been a great school to become a rock star.
In 1981, Love was granted a smalltrust fund that had been left by her maternal grandparents. She used that money to travel to Dublin, Ireland, where her biological father was living,[52] and audited theology courses atTrinity College.[53][54] She later receivedhonorary patronage from Trinity'sUniversity Philosophical Society in 2010.[55] While in Dublin, Love met musicianJulian Cope ofthe Teardrop Explodes at one of the band's concerts.[12] Cope took a liking to Love and eventually allowed her and a friend to stay at his Liverpool home in his absence.[12][56] Cope's roommate, musicianPete de Freitas, was initially hesitant to allow the girls to stay, but acquiesced as they were "alarmingly young and obviously had nowhere else to go".[57] Cope writes of Love frequently in his 1994 autobiography,Head-On, in which he refers to her as "the adolescent".[58]
In July 1982, Love returned to the United States.[12] In late 1982, she attended aFaith No More concert in San Francisco and convinced the members to let her join as a singer.[59][60] The group recorded material with Love as a vocalist, but fired her; according to keyboardistRoddy Bottum, who remained Love's friend in the years after, the band wanted a "male energy".[61]
Love returned to working abroad as an erotic dancer, briefly inTaiwan, and then at ataxi dance hall inHong Kong.[62][63] By Love's account, she first usedheroin while working at the Hong Kong dance hall, having mistaken it forcocaine.[64] While still intoxicated, Love was pursued by a wealthy male client who requested that she return with him to the Philippines, and gave her money to purchase new clothes.[64] She used the money to purchase an airfare back to the United States.[64]
1983–1987: Early music projects and film
At age 19, through her then-boyfriend's mother, film costume designer Bernadene Mann, Love took a job atParamount Studios cleaning out the wardrobe department of vintage pieces that had suffereddry rot or other damage.[65] During this time, Love became interested in vintage fashion.[65][66] She subsequently returned to Portland, where she formed short-lived musical projects with her friends Ursula Wehr and Robin Barbur (namely Sugar Babylon, later known asSugar Babydoll).[ii][68] Love briefly frontedFaith No More for their first TV appearance in 1984: she sang with aSiouxsie Sioux-style vocal.[69] After meetingKat Bjelland at theSatyricon nightclub in 1984, the two formed the group thePagan Babies.[70] Love asked Bjelland to start the band with her as a guitarist, and the two moved to San Francisco in June 1985, where they recruited bassistJennifer Finch and drummerJanis Tanaka.[71] According to Bjelland, "[Courtney] didn't play an instrument at the time" aside from keyboards, so Bjelland would transcribe Love's musical ideas on guitar for her.[27] The group played several house shows and recorded one 4-trackdemo before disbanding in late 1985.[71][72] After Pagan Babies, Love moved to Minneapolis, where Bjelland had formed the groupBabes in Toyland, and briefly worked as a concert promoter before returning to California.[27]
Deciding to shift her focus to acting, Love enrolled at theSan Francisco Art Institute[73] and studied film under experimental directorGeorge Kuchar,[74][75] featuring in one of his short films,Club Vatican.[76][77][78] She also took experimental theater courses inOakland taught byWhoopi Goldberg.[79] Love has stated that she underwent arhinoplasty at age 20, and that she felt the procedure helped advance her career.[80]
Displeased by the "celebutante" fame she had attained, Love abandoned her acting career in 1988 and resumed work as a stripper in Oregon, where she was recognized by customers at a bar in the small town ofMcMinnville.[93] This prompted Love to go into isolation and relocate toAnchorage, Alaska, where she lived for three months to "gather her thoughts", supporting herself by working at a strip club frequented by local fishermen.[94] "I decided to move to Alaska because I needed to get my shit together and learn how to work", she said in retrospect. "So I went on this sort ofvision quest. I got rid of all my earthly possessions. I had my bad little strip clothes and some big sweaters, and I moved into a trailer with a bunch of other strippers."[95]
She was the mostgung-ho person I've ever met ... She gave 180%. I've worked with some people that you've had to coax the performance out of them. With Courtney, there was no attitude.
–Don Fleming, who co-produced Hole's debut album withKim Gordon, on Love[96]
Love performing with Hole, 1989
In late 1988, Love taught herself to play guitar and relocated to Los Angeles,[97] where she placed an ad in a local music zine: "I want to start a band. My influences areBig Black,Sonic Youth, andFleetwood Mac."[98] By 1989, Love had recruited guitaristEric Erlandson; bassist Lisa Roberts, her neighbor; and drummer Caroline Rue, whom she met at aGwar concert.[99] Love named the bandHole after a line fromEuripides'Medea[100] ("There is a hole that pierces right through me")[101] and a conversation in which her mother told her that she could not live her life "with a hole running through her".[102] On July 23, 1989, Love marriedLeaving Trains vocalist James Moreland in Las Vegas;[103] the marriage wasannulled the same year.[104] She later said that Moreland was atransvestite and that they had married "as a joke".[105] After forming Hole, Love and Erlandson had a romantic relationship that lasted over a year.[106]
Withno wave,noise rock, andgrindcore bands being major influences on Love,[99] Hole's first studio album,Pretty on the Inside, captured an abrasive sound and contained disturbing, graphic lyrics,[111][112] described byQ as "confrontational [and] genuinely uninhibited".[113] The record was released in September 1991 onCaroline Records, produced byKim Gordon of Sonic Youth with assistant production fromGumball's Don Fleming; Love and Gordon had met when Hole opened for Sonic Youth during their promotional tour forGoo at theWhisky a Go Go in November 1990.[114] In early 1991, Love sent Gordon a personal letter asking her to produce the record for the band, to which she agreed.[112][115]
Pretty on the Inside received generally positive critical reception from indie and punk rock critics[116] and was named one of the 20 best albums of the year bySpin.[117] It gained a following in the United Kingdom, charting at 59 on theUK Albums Chart,[118] and its lead single, "Teenage Whore", entered theUK Indie Chart at number one.[119] The album's feminist slant led many to tag the band as part of theriot grrrl movement,[120] a movement with which Love did not associate.[121][122] The band toured in support of the record, headlining withMudhoney in Europe; in the United States, they opened for theSmashing Pumpkins,[123] and performed atCBGB in New York City.[124]
During the tour, Love briefly dated Smashing Pumpkins frontmanBilly Corgan[125] and then theNirvana frontmanKurt Cobain.[126] The journalistMichael Azerrad states that Love and Cobain met in 1989 at theSatyricon nightclub in Portland, Oregon. However, the Cobain biographerCharles Cross gives the date as February 12, 1990; Cross said that Cobain playfully wrestled Love to the floor after she said that he looked likeDave Pirner ofSoul Asylum.[127] According to Love, she met Cobain at aDharma Bums show in Portland,[128][129] while Love's bandmate Eric Erlandson said that he and Love were introduced to Cobain in a parking lot after a concert at theHollywood Palladium on May 17, 1991.[106] In late 1991, Love and Cobain became re-acquainted throughJennifer Finch, one of Love's friends and former bandmates.[130][131] Love and Cobain were a couple by 1992.[132][133]
1992–1995: Marriage to Kurt Cobain,Live Through This and breakthrough
Just marrying [him] created a mythology around me that I didn't expect for myself, because I had a very controlled, five-year plan about how I was going to be successful in the rock industry. Marrying Kurt, it all kind of went sideways in a way that I could not control and I became seen in a certain light–a vilified light that made Yoko Ono look likePollyanna–and I couldn't stop it.
–Love on her public image after marrying Kurt Cobain[134]
Shortly after completing the tour forPretty on the Inside, Love married Cobain onWaikiki Beach on February 24, 1992.[135] She wore a satin and lace dress once owned by the actressFrances Farmer, and Cobain wore plaid pajamas.[136] During Love's pregnancy, Hole recorded a cover of "Over the Edge" for aWipers tribute album,[137] and recorded their fourth single, "Beautiful Son", which was released in April 1993. On August 18, 1992, the couple's only child, a daughter,Frances Bean Cobain, was born in Los Angeles.[135] They relocated toCarnation, Washington, and then Seattle.[138][139]
Love's first major media exposure came in a September 1992 profile with Cobain forVanity Fair byLynn Hirschberg, entitled "Strange Love".[140] Cobain had become a major public figure following the surprise success of Nirvana's albumNevermind.[141] Love was urged by her manager to participate in the cover story.[142] During the prior year, Love and Cobain had developed a heroin addiction; the profile portrayed them in an unflattering light, and suggested that Love had been addicted to heroin during her pregnancy.[143] TheLos Angeles Department of Children and Family Services investigated, and custody of Frances was temporarily awarded to Love's sister Jaimee.[144] Love said she was misquoted by Hirschberg, and that she had immediately quit heroin during herfirst trimester once she discovered she was pregnant.[142][145][146] Love later said the article had serious implications for her marriage and Cobain's mental state,[147][148][149] suggesting it was a factor inhis suicide two years later.[142][150]
On September 8, 1993, Love and Cobain made their only public performance together at the Rock Against Rape benefit in Hollywood, performing twoacoustic duets of "Pennyroyal Tea" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night".[151] Love also performed electric versions of two new Hole songs, "Doll Parts" and "Miss World", both written for their upcoming second album.[151] In October 1993, Hole recorded their second album,Live Through This, in Atlanta. The album featured a new lineup with bassistKristen Pfaff and drummerPatty Schemel.[152]
In April 1994,Cobain committed suicide in the Seattle home he shared with Love, who was in rehab in Los Angeles at the time.[152] In the following months, Love was rarely seen in public, staying at her home with friends and family.[153] Cobain's remains werecremated and his ashes divided into portions by Love, who kept some in a teddy bear and some in an urn.[153] In June, she traveled to theNamgyal Buddhist Monastery inIthaca, New York and had Cobain's ashes ceremonially blessed by Buddhist monks. Another portion was mixed into clay and made into memorial sculptures.[153]
Live Through This was released one week after Cobain's death, onGeffen's subsidiary labelDGC.[152] On June 16, Pfaff died of a heroin overdose in Seattle.[154] For Hole's impending tour, Love recruited the Canadian bassistMelissa Auf der Maur.[155] Hole's performance on August 26, 1994, at theReading Festival—Love's first public performance following Cobain's death[156][157]—was described byMTV as "by turns macabre, frightening and inspirational".[158]John Peel wrote inThe Guardian that Love's disheveled appearance "would have drawn whistles of astonishment inBedlam", and that her performance "verged on the heroic ... Love steered her band through a set which dared you to pity either her recent history or that of the band ... The band teetered on the edge of chaos, generating a tension which I cannot remember having felt before from any stage."[159]
Live Through This wascertified platinum in April 1995 and received numerous accolades.[91] The success combined with Cobain's suicide produced publicity for Love, and she was featured onBarbara Walters'10 Most Fascinating People in 1995.[160] Her erratic onstage behavior and various legal troubles during Hole's tour compounded the media coverage of her.[161] Hole performed a series of riotous concerts over the following year, with Love frequently appearing hysterical onstage, flashing crowds,stage diving, and getting into fights with audience members.[156][162] One journalist reported that at the band's show in Boston in December 1994: "Love interrupted the music and talked about her deceased husband Kurt Cobain, and also broke out intoTourette syndrome-like rants. The music was great, but the raving was vulgar and offensive, and prompted some of the audience to shout back at her."[163]
In January 1995, Love was arrested in Melbourne for disrupting aQantas flight after getting into an argument with a flight attendant.[164] On July 4, 1995, at theLollapalooza Festival inGeorge, Washington, Love threw a lit cigarette at musicianKathleen Hanna before punching her in the face, alleging that she had made a joke about her daughter.[165] She pleaded guilty to anassault charge and was sentenced toanger management classes.[166][167] In November 1995, two male teenagers sued Love for allegedly punching them during a Hole concert in Orlando, Florida in March 1995. The judge dismissed the case on grounds that the teens "weren't exposed to any greater amount of violence than could reasonably be expected at an alternative rock concert".[168] Love later said she had little memory of 1994 and 1995,[108] as she had been using large quantities of heroin andRohypnol at the time.[108][169]
1996–2002: Acting success andCelebrity Skin
I went for that part so hard because I felt a need for atonement for some cultural damage that had arisen out of me and things that I had done. By doing that role, I felt that, personally and creatively, I could exemplify why this was the most un-glorious, unglamorous, fucked-up thing. And then,bang!, I was done with all that. I could fuck off and do something else.
–Love on her role inThe People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)[170]
After Hole's world tour concluded in 1996, Love made a return to acting, first in small roles in theJean-Michel Basquiat biopicBasquiat and the dramaFeeling Minnesota (1996),[171] and then a starring role asLarry Flynt's wifeAlthea inMiloš Forman's critically acclaimed 1996 filmThe People vs. Larry Flynt. Love went through rehabilitation and quit using heroin at the insistence of Forman; she was ordered to take multiple urine tests under the supervision ofColumbia Pictures while filming, and passed all of them.[172][173] Despite Columbia Pictures' initial reluctance to hire Love due to her troubled past,[172] her performance received acclaim, earning aGolden Globe nomination forBest Actress,[174] and aNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress.[175] CriticRoger Ebert called her work in the film "quite a performance; Love proves she is not a rock star pretending to act, but a true actress."[176] She won several other awards from various film critic associations for the film.[177][178] During this time, Love maintained what the media noted as a more decorous public image,[179] and she appeared in ad campaigns forVersace[180][181][182] and in aVogue Italia spread.[183] Following the release ofThe People vs. Larry Flynt, she dated her co-starEdward Norton, with whom she remained until 1999.[184][185]
In late 1997, Hole released the compilationsMy Body, the Hand Grenade andThe First Session, both of which featured previously recorded material. Love attracted media attention in May 1998 after punching journalist Belissa Cohen at a party; the suit was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.[186] In September 1998, Hole released their third studio album,Celebrity Skin, which featured a starkpower pop sound that contrasted with their earlier punk influences.[187] Love divulged her ambition of making an album where "art meets commerce ... there are no compromises made, it has commercial appeal, and it sticks to [our] original vision."[187] She said she was influenced byNeil Young, Fleetwood Mac, andMy Bloody Valentine when writing the album.[187][188] Smashing Pumpkins frontmanBilly Corgan co-wrote several songs.Celebrity Skin was well received by critics;Rolling Stone called it "accessible, fiery and intimate—often at the same time ... a basic guitar record that's anything but basic."[189]Celebrity Skin went multi-platinum, and topped "Best of Year" lists atSpin andThe Village Voice.[91] It garnered Hole's only number-one single on theModern Rock Tracks chart with "Celebrity Skin".[190] Hole promoted the album through MTV performances and at the 1998Billboard Music Awards,[191] and were nominated for threeGrammy Awards at the41st Grammy Awards ceremony.[192]
Before the release ofCelebrity Skin, Love andFender designed a low-pricedSquier brand guitar, theVista Venus.[193] The instrument featured a shape inspired by Mercury, a little-known independent guitar manufacturer,[194]Stratocaster, andRickenbacker'ssolid body guitars. It had a single-coil and ahumbucker pickup and was available in 6-string and 12-string versions.[194] In an early 1999 interview, Love said about the Venus: "I wanted a guitar that sounded really warm and pop, but which required just one box to go dirty ... And something that could also be your first band guitar. I didn't want it all teched out. I wanted it real simple, with just onepickup switch."[193]
Hole toured withMarilyn Manson on theBeautiful Monsters Tour in 1999, but dropped out after nine performances; Love and Manson disagreed over production costs, and Hole was forced to open for Manson under an agreement withInterscope Records.[195] Hole resumed touring withImperial Teen.[196][197] Love later said Hole also abandoned the tour due to Manson andKorn's (whom they also toured with in Australia) sexualized treatment of teenage female audience members.[198] Love told interviewers at99X.FM in Atlanta: "What I really don't like—there are certain girls that like us, or like me, who are really messed up ... they're very young, and they do not need to be taken and raped, or filmed having enema contests ... [they were] going out into the audience and picking up fourteen and fifteen-year-old girls who obviously cut themselves, and then [I had] to see them in the morning ... it's just uncool."[195]
In the interim, Hole had become dormant.[207] In March 2001, Love began a "punk rock femmesupergroup", Bastard, enlisting Schemel,Veruca Salt co-frontwomanLouise Post, and bassist Gina Crosley.[208] Post recalled: "[Love] was like, 'Listen, you guys: I've been in my Malibu, manicure, movie-star world for two years, alright? I wanna make a record. And let's leave all that grunge shit behind us, eh? We were being so improvisational, and singing together, and with a trust developing between us. It was the shit."[209] The group recorded a demo tape, but by September 2001, Post and Crosley had left, with Post citing "unhealthy and unprofessional working conditions".[210][211] In May 2002, Hole announced their breakup amid continuing litigation withUniversal Music Group over their record contract.[212]
In 1997, Love and former Nirvana membersKrist Novoselic andDave Grohl formed alimited liability company, Nirvana LLC, to manage Nirvana's business dealings.[213] In June 2001, Love filed a lawsuit to dissolve it, blocking the release of unreleased Nirvana material and delaying the release of the Nirvana compilationWith the Lights Out. Grohl and Novoselic sued Love, calling her "irrational, mercurial, self-centered, unmanageable, inconsistent and unpredictable".[214] She responded with a letter stating that "Kurt Cobain was Nirvana" and that she and his family were the "rightful heirs" to the Nirvana legacy.[215]
2003–2008: Solo work and legal troubles
In February 2003, Love was arrested atHeathrow Airport for disrupting a flight and was banned fromVirgin Airlines.[216] In October, she was arrested in Los Angeles after breaking several windows of her producer and then-boyfriend James Barber's home and was charged with being under the influence of a controlled substance;[217] the ordeal resulted in her temporarily losing custody of her daughter.[218]
After the breakup of Hole, Love began composing material with songwriterLinda Perry, and in July 2003 signed a contract withVirgin Records.[219] She began recording her debut solo album,America's Sweetheart, in France shortly after.[220] Virgin Records releasedAmerica's Sweetheart in February 2004; it received mixed reviews.[221] Charles Aaron ofSpin called it a "jaw-dropping act of artistic will and a fiery, proper follow-up to 1994'sLive Through This" and awarded it eight out of ten,[222] while Amy Phillips ofThe Village Voice wrote: "[Love is] willing to act out the dream of every teenage brat who ever wanted to have a glamorous, high-profile hissyfit, and she turns those egocentric nervous breakdowns into art. Sure, the art becomes less compelling when you've been pulling the same stunts for a decade. But, honestly, is there anybody out there who fucks up better?"[223] The album sold fewer than 100,000 copies.[91] Love later expressed regret over the record,[224] blaming her drug problems at the time.[225] Shortly after it was released, she toldKurt Loder onTRL: "I cannot exist as a solo artist. It's a joke."[226]
On March 17, 2004, Love appeared on theLate Show with David Letterman to promoteAmerica's Sweetheart.[227] Her appearance drew media coverage when she lifted her shirt multiple times,[228]flashed Letterman, and stood on his desk.[227] TheNew York Times wrote: "The episode was not altogether surprising for Ms. Love, 39, whose most public moments have veered from extreme pathos—like the time she read the suicide note of her famous husband, Kurt Cobain, on MTV—to angry feminism to catfights to incoherent ranting."[229] Hours later, in the early morning of March 18, Love was arrested in Manhattan for allegedly striking a fan with a microphone stand during a small concert in theEast Village.[229] She was released within hours and performed a scheduled concert the following evening at theBowery Ballroom.[229] Four days later, she called in multiple times toThe Howard Stern Show, claiming in broadcast conversations with Stern that the incident had not occurred, and that actressNatasha Lyonne, who was at the concert, was told by the alleged victim that he had been paid $10,000 to file a false claim leading to Love's arrest.[230][231]
On July 9, 2004, her 40th birthday, Love was arrested for failing to make a court appearance for the March 2004 charges, and taken toBellevue Hospital, allegedly incoherent, where she was placed on a 72-hour watch.[232] According to police, she was believed to be a potential danger to herself, but deemed mentally sound and released to a rehab facility two days later.[233][234] Amidst public criticism and press coverage, comedianMargaret Cho published an opinion piece, "Courtney Deserves Better from Feminists", arguing that negative associations of Love with her drug and personal problems (including from feminists) overshadowed her music and wellbeing.[235] Love pleaded guilty in October 2004 todisorderly conduct over the incident in East Village.[236]
Love performing in London, 2007
Love's appearance as aroaster on theComedy Central Roast ofPamela Anderson in August 2005, in which she appeared intoxicated and disheveled, attracted further media attention.[237] One review said that Love "acted as if she belonged in an institution".[237] Six days after the broadcast, Love was sentenced to a 28-day lockdown rehab program for being under the influence of a controlled substance, violating herprobation.[238] To avoid jail time, she accepted an additional 180-day rehab sentence in September 2005.[239] In November 2005, after completing the program, Love was discharged from the rehab center under the provision that she complete furtheroutpatient rehab.[240] In subsequent interviews, Love said she had been addicted to substances including prescription drugs,cocaine, andcrack cocaine.[241][242] She said she had been sober since completing rehabilitation in 2007, and cited herSoka Gakkai Buddhist practice (which she began in 1988)[243][244] as integral to her sobriety.[245][246]
In the midst of her legal troubles, Love had endeavors in writing and publishing. She co-wrote a semi-autobiographicalmanga,Princess Ai (Japanese: プリンセス·アイ物語), with Stu Levy, illustrated by Misaho Kujiradou andAi Yazawa; it was released in three volumes in the United States and Japan between 2004 and 2006.[247][248] In 2006, Love published a memoir,Dirty Blonde, and began recording her second solo album,How Dirty Girls Get Clean,[249] collaborating again with Perry and Billy Corgan. Love had written several songs, including an anti-cocaine song titled "Loser Dust", during her time in rehab in 2005.[250] She toldBillboard: "My hand-eye coordination was so bad [after the drug use], I didn't even know chords anymore. It was like my fingers were frozen. And I wasn't allowed to make noise [in rehab] ... I never thought I would work again."[251] Tracks and demos for the album leaked online in 2006, and a documentary,The Return of Courtney Love, detailing the making of the album, aired on the British television networkMore4 in the fall of that year. A rough acoustic version of "Never Go Hungry Again", recorded during an interview forThe Times in November, was also released. Incomplete audio clips of the song "Samantha", originating from an interview withNPR, were distributed on the internet in 2007.[252]
In March 2009, fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir brought alibel suit against Love concerning a defamatory post Love made on herTwitter account,[253] which was eventually settled for $450,000.[254] Several months later, in June 2009,NME published an article detailing Love's plan to reunite Hole and release a new album,Nobody's Daughter.[255] In response, former Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson stated inSpin magazine that contractually no reunion could take place without his involvement; thereforeNobody's Daughter would remain Love's solo record, as opposed to a "Hole" record.[256] Love responded to Erlandson's comments in aTwitter post, claiming "he's out of his mind, Hole is my band, my name, and my Trademark".[257]Nobody's Daughter was released worldwide as a Hole album on April 27, 2010. For the new line-up, Love recruited guitaristMicko Larkin, Shawn Dailey (bass guitar), and Stu Fisher (drums, percussion).Nobody's Daughter featured material written and recorded for Love's unfinished solo album,How Dirty Girls Get Clean, including "Pacific Coast Highway", "Letter to God", "Samantha", and "Never Go Hungry", although they were re-produced in the studio with Larkin and engineerMichael Beinhorn.[258] The album's subject matter was largely centered on Love's tumultuous life between 2003 and 2007, and featured a polishedfolk rock sound, and more acoustic guitar work than previous Hole albums.[259]
The first single fromNobody's Daughter was "Skinny Little Bitch", released to promote the album in March 2010.[260] The album received mixed reviews.[261] Robert Sheffield ofRolling Stone gave the album three out of five, saying Love "worked hard on these songs, instead of just babbling a bunch of druggy bullshit and assuming people would buy it, the way she did on her 2004 flop,America's Sweetheart".[262] Sal Cinquemani ofSlant Magazine also gave the album three out of five: "It'sMarianne Faithfull's substance-ravaged voice that comes to mind most often while listening to songs like 'Honey' and 'For Once in Your Life'. The latter track is, in fact, one of Love's most raw and vulnerable vocal performances to date ... the song offers a rare glimpse into the mind of a woman who, for the last 15 years, has been as famous for being a rock star as she's been for being a victim."[263] Love and the band toured internationally from 2010 into late 2012 promoting the record, with their pre-release shows in London and atSouth by Southwest receiving critical acclaim.[224] In 2011, Love participated inHit So Hard, a documentary chronicling bandmate Schemel's time in Hole.[264]
In May 2012, Love debuted an art collection at Fred Torres Collaborations in New York titled "And She's Not Even Pretty",[265] which contained over 40 drawings and paintings by Love composed in ink, colored pencil, pastels, and watercolors.[266][267] Later in the year, she collaborated withMichael Stipe on the track "Rio Grande" forJohnny Depp's sea shanty albumSon of Rogues Gallery,[268] and in 2013, co-wrote and contributed vocals on "Rat A Tat" fromFall Out Boy's albumSave Rock and Roll, also appearing in the song's music video.[269]
2013–2015: Return to acting; libel lawsuits
After dropping the Hole name and performing as a solo artist[270] in late 2012,[271] Love appeared in spring 2013 advertisements forYves Saint Laurent alongsideKim Gordon andAriel Pink.[272] Love completed a solo tour of North America in mid-2013,[273][274] which was purported to be in promotion of an upcoming solo album; however, it was ultimately dubbed a "greatest hits" tour, and featured songs from Love's and Hole's back catalogue.[275] Love toldBillboard at the time that she had recorded eight songs in the studio.[276]
Love was subject of a second landmarklibel lawsuit brought against her in January 2014 by her former attorney Rhonda Holmes, who accused Love of online defamation, seeking $8 million in damages.[277] It was the first case of alleged Twitter-based libel in U.S. history to make it to trial.[278] The jury, however, found in Love's favor.[277] A subsequent defamation lawsuit filed by fashion designer Simorangkir in February 2014, however, resulted in Love being ordered to pay a further $350,000 in recompense.[254]
On April 22, 2014, Love debuted the song "You Know My Name" onBBC Radio 6 to promote her tour of the United Kingdom.[279] It was released as a double A-side single with the song "Wedding Day" on May 4, 2014, on her own label Cherry Forever Records viaKobalt Label Services.[280] The tracks were produced by Michael Beinhorn, and featureTommy Lee on drums.[281] In an interview with theBBC, Love revealed that she and former Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson had reconciled, and had been rehearsing new material together, along with former bassist Melissa Auf der Maur and drummer Patty Schemel, though she did not confirm a reunion of the band.[282] On May 1, 2014, in an interview withPitchfork, Love commented further on the possibility of Hole reuniting, saying:"I'm not going to commit to it happening, because we want an element of surprise. There's a lot ofis to be dotted andts to be crossed."[283][284]
Love was cast in several television series in supporting parts throughout 2014, including theFX seriesSons of Anarchy,[285]Revenge,[286] andLee Daniels' network seriesEmpire in a recurring guest role asElle Dallas.[287] The track "Walk Out on Me", featuring Love, was included on theEmpire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1 album, which debuted at number 1 on theBillboard 200.[288]Alexis Petridis ofThe Guardian praised the track, saying: "The idea of Courtney Love singing a ballad with a group of gospel singers seems faintly terrifying ... The reality is brilliant. Love's voice fits the careworn lyrics, effortlessly summoning the kind of ravaged darkness that Lana Del Rey nearly ruptures herself trying to conjure up."[289]
In January 2015, Love starred in a New York City stage production,Kansas City Choir Boy, a "pop opera" conceived by and co-starring Todd Almond.[290]Charles Isherwood ofThe New York Times praised her performance, noting a "soft-edged and bewitching" stage presence, and wrote: "Her voice, never the most supple or rangy of instruments, retains the singular sound that made her an electrifying front woman for the band Hole: a single sustained noted can seem to simultaneously contain a plea, a wound and a threat."[291] The show toured later in the year, with performances in Boston and Los Angeles.[292] In April 2015, the journalistAnthony Bozza sued Love, alleging a contractual violation regarding his co-writing of her memoir.[293] Love performed as the opening act forLana Del Rey on herEndless Summer Tour for eight West Coast shows in May and June 2015.[294] During her tenure, Love debuted the single "Miss Narcissist", released onWavves' independent label Ghost Ramp.[295] She was also cast in a supporting role inJames Franco's filmThe Long Home, based on the novel byWilliam Gay, her first film role in over ten years;[296] as of 2022, it remains unreleased.[297]
2016–present: Fashion and forthcoming music
In January 2016, Love released a clothing line in collaboration withSophia Amoruso, "Love, Courtney", featuring 18 pieces reflecting her personal style.[298] In November 2016, she began filming thepilot forA Midsummer's Nightmare, a Shakespeare anthology series adapted forLifetime.[299] She starred as Kitty Menendez inMenendez: Blood Brothers, a biopic television film based on the lives ofLyle and Erik Menendez, which premiered on Lifetime in June 2017.[300]
In October 2017, shortly after theHarvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases became public, a 2005 video of Love warning young actresses about Weinstein went viral.[302][303] In the footage, while on the red carpet for theComedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson, Love was asked byNatasha Leggero if she had any advice for "a young girl moving to Hollywood"; she responded, "If Harvey Weinstein invites you to a private party in theFour Seasons [hotel], don't go."[302] She later tweeted, "Although I wasn't one of his victims, I was eternally banned byCreative Artists Agency for speaking out."[304][305]
In the same year, Love was cast inJustin Kelly's biopicJT LeRoy, portraying a film producer oppositeLaura Dern.[306] In March 2018, she appeared in the music video for Marilyn Manson's "Tattooed in Reverse",[307] and in April she appeared as a guest judge onRuPaul's Drag Race.[308] In December, Love was awarded arestraining order against Sam Lutfi, who had acted as her manager for the previous six years, alleging verbal abuse and harassment.[309] Her daughter, Frances, and sister, Jaimee, were also awarded restraining orders against Lutfi.[309] In January 2019, a Los Angeles County judge extended the three-year order to five years, citing Lutfi's tendency to "prey upon people".[310]
Love with Todd Almond in London, March 4, 2025
On August 18, 2019, Love performed a solo set at the Yola Día festival in Los Angeles, which also featured performances byCat Power andLykke Li.[311] On September 9, Love garnered press attention when she publicly criticizedJoss Sackler, an heiress to theSackler family OxyContin fortune, after she allegedly offered Love $100,000 to attend her fashion show during New York Fashion Week.[312] In the same statement, Love indicated that she hadrelapsed into opioid addiction in 2018, stating that she had recently celebrated a year of sobriety.[312] In October 2019, Love relocated from Los Angeles to London.[313]
On November 21, 2019, Love recorded the song "Mother", written and produced byLawrence Rothman, as part of the soundtrack for the horror filmThe Turning (2020).[314] In January 2020, she received the Icon Award at theNME Awards;NME described her as "one of the most influential singers in alternative culture of the last 30 years".[315] The following month, she confirmed she was writing a new record which she described as "really sad ... [I'm] writing inminor chords, and that appeals to my sadness."[316] In March 2021, Love said she had been hospitalized with acuteanemia in August 2020, which had nearly killed her and reduced her weight to 97 pounds (44 kg); she made a full recovery.[317]
In August 2022, Love revealed the completion of her memoir,The Girl with the Most Cake, after a nearly ten-year period of writing.[318]
Love is featured as a guest vocalist on the track "Song to the Siren" by rapper070 Shake, from her studio albumPetrichor, which was released on November 15, 2024.[319]
On December 10, 2025, it was announced that a documentary film on Love, titledAntiheroine, was set to premiere at the2026 Sundance Film Festival.[320] The documentary follows Love after her 2019 relocation to London, focusing on her sobriety and recording of her forthcoming album.[321]
Artistry
Influences
Love has cited numerous musical acts and performers as influences, among the earliest beingPatti Smith,the Runaways, andthe Pretenders.[41] As a child, her first exposure to music was records that her parents received each month throughColumbia Record Club.[322] The first album Love owned wasLeonard Cohen'sSongs of Leonard Cohen (1967), which she obtained from her mother: "He was so lyric-conscious and morbid, and I was a pretty morbid kid", she recalled.[322] As a teenager, she namedFlipper,Kate Bush,Soft Cell,Joni Mitchell,Laura Nyro,[323]Lou Reed, andDead Kennedys among her favorite artists.[324] At age 15, Love attended aVirgin Prunes concert in Dublin which she credited as a pivotal influence: "I had never seen so much sex, snarl, poetry, evil, restraint, grace, filth, raw power and the very essence of rock and roll... [I had seen]U2 [who] gave me lashes of love and inspiration, and a few nights later the Virgin Prunes fucked–me–up."[325] Decades later, in 2009, Love introduced the band's frontmanGavin Friday at aCarnegie Hall event, and performed a song with him.[325]
Though often associated with punk music, Love has noted that her most significant musical influences have beenpost-punk andnew wave artists.[326] Commenting in 2021, Love said:
There's this idea of "Courtney is punk and stuck in 1995!" but that's not the case. I was more [influenced by] new wave or post-punk. My number one greatest song of all time is "Love Will Tear Us Apart" byJoy Division, and I will take no fucking prisoners in that battle. But the band that affected me more than even Leonard Cohen andBob Dylan wasEcho and the Bunnymen.[326]
Love's diverse genre interests were illustrated in a 1991 interview withFlipside, in which she stated: "There's a part of me that wants to have agrindcore band and another that wants to have aRaspberries-type pop band."[99] Discussing the abrasive sound of Hole's debut album, she said she felt she had to "catch up with all my hip peers who'd gone all indie on me, and who made fun of me for likingR.E.M. and The Smiths."[323] She has also embraced the influence of experimental artists and punk rock groups, includingSonic Youth,Swans,[329]Big Black,Diamanda Galás,[330] theGerms, andthe Stooges.[331] While writingCelebrity Skin, she drew influence fromNeil Young andMy Bloody Valentine.[187] She has also cited her contemporaryPJ Harvey as an influence, saying: "The one rock star that makes me know I'm shit is Polly Harvey. I'm nothing next to the purity that she experiences."[332]
Musically, Love's work with Hole and her solo efforts have been characterized asalternative rock;[339] Hole's early material, however, was described by critics as being stylistically closer to grindcore and aggressive punk rock.[340]Spin's October 1991 review of Hole's first album noted Love's layering of harsh and abrasive riffs buried more sophisticated musical arrangements.[341] In 1998, she stated that Hole had "always been a pop band. We always had a subtext of pop. I always talked about it, if you go back ... what'll sound like some weird Sonic Youth tuning back then to you was sounding like the Raspberries to me, in my demented pop framework."[187]
Love's lyrics are composed from a female's point of view,[342] and her lyrics have been described as "literate and mordant"[343] and noted by scholars for "articulating athird-wave feminist consciousness."[344]Simon Reynolds, in reviewing Hole's debut album, noted: "Ms. Love's songs explore the full spectrum of female emotions, from vulnerability to rage. The songs are fueled by adolescent traumas, feelings of disgust about the body, passionate friendships with women and the desire to escape domesticity. Her lyrical style could be described as emotional nudism."[342] Journalist and criticKim France, in critiquing Love's lyrics, referred to her as a "dark genius" and likened her work to that of Anne Sexton.[345]
Love has remarked that lyrics have always been the most important component of songwriting for her: "The important thing for me ... is it has to look good on the page. I mean, you can loveLed Zeppelin and not love their lyrics ... but I made a big effort in my career to have what's on the page mean something."[346] Common themes in Love's early lyrics included body image, rape, suicide, conformity, pregnancy, prostitution, and death.[347][348] In a 1991 interview withEverett True, she said: "I try to place [beautiful imagery] next to fucked up imagery, because that's how I view things ... I sometimes feel that no one's taken the time to write about certain things in rock, that there's a certain female point of view that's never been given space."[349]
Critics have noted that Love's later musical work is more lyrically introspective.[350]Celebrity Skin andAmerica's Sweetheart are lyrically centered on celebrity life, Hollywood, and drug addiction, while still preoccupied with themes of vanity and body image.[351][352]Nobody's Daughter was lyrically reflective of Love's past relationships and her struggle for sobriety, with the majority of its lyrics written while she was in rehab in 2006.[353]
Love has acontralto vocal range.[354] According to Love, she never wanted to be a singer, but rather aspired to be a skilled guitarist: "I'm such a lazy bastard though that I never did that", she said. "I was always the only person with the nerve to sing, and so I got stuck with it."[334] She has been regularly noted by critics for her husky vocals as well as her "banshee [-like]"screaming abilities.[280][355] Her vocals have been compared to those ofJohnny Rotten,[356][357] and David Fricke ofRolling Stone described them as "lung-busting" and "a corrosive, lunatic wail".[356] Upon the release of Hole's 2010 album,Nobody's Daughter,Amanda Petrusich ofPitchfork compared Love's raspy, unpolished vocals to those ofBob Dylan.[358] In 2023,Rolling Stone ranked Love at number 130 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[359]
She has played a variety ofFender guitars throughout her career, including aJaguar and a vintage 1965Jazzmaster; the latter was purchased by theHard Rock Cafe and is on display in New York City.[360] Between 1989 and 1991, Love primarily played aRickenbacker 425[361] because she "preferred the 3/4 neck",[193] but she destroyed the guitar onstage at a 1991 concert opening for the Smashing Pumpkins.[123] In the mid-1990s, she often played a guitar made by Mercury, an obscure company that manufactured custom guitars,[194] as well as aUnivox Hi-Flier.[362] Fender'sVista Venus, designed by Love in 1998, was partially inspired by Rickenbacker guitars as well as her Mercury.[194] During tours after the release ofNobody's Daughter (post-2010), Love has played aRickenbacker 360 onstage.[363] Her setup has included Fender tube gear,Matchless,Ampeg, Silvertone and a solid-state 1976 Randall Commander.[193]
Love has referred to herself as "a shit guitar player", further commenting in a 2014 interview: "I can still write a song, but [the guitar playing] sounds like shit ... I used to be a goodrhythm player but I am no longer dependable."[364] Throughout her career, she has also garnered a reputation for unpredictable live shows.[162] In the 1990s, her performances with Hole were characterized by confrontational behavior, with Love stage diving, smashing guitars[123] or throwing them into the audience,[365] wandering into the crowd at the end of sets,[365] and engaging in sometimes incoherent rants.[163] Critics and journalists have noted Love for her comical, often stream-of-consciousness-like stage banter.[366][367] Music journalist Robert Hilburn wrote in 1993 that, "rather than simply scripted patter, Love's comments between songs [have] the natural feel of someone who is sharing her immediate feelings."[368] In a review of a live performance published in 2010, it was noted that Love's onstage "one-liners [were] worthy of theComedy Store."[367]
Philanthropy
In 1993, Love and husband Kurt Cobain performed an acoustic set together at the Rock Against Rape benefit in Los Angeles, which raised awareness and provided resources for victims of sexual abuse.[151] In 2000, Love publicly advocated for reform of the record industry in a personal letter published bySalon.[369] In the letter, Love said: "It's notpiracy when kids swap music over the Internet usingNapster orGnutella orFreenet oriMesh or beaming their CDs into aMy.MP3.com or MyPlay.com music locker. It's piracy when those guys that run those companies make side deals with the cartel lawyers and label heads so that they can be 'the label's friend', and not the artists'."[369] In a subsequent interview withCarrie Fisher, she said that she was interested in starting aunion for recording artists,[20] and also discussedrace relations in the music industry, advocating for record companies to "put money back into the black community [whom] white people have been stealing from for years."[370]
Love has been a long-standing supporter ofLGBT causes.[371] She has frequently collaborated withLos Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, taking part in the center's "An Evening with Women" events.[372] The proceeds of the event help provide food and shelter for homeless youth; services for seniors; legal assistance; domestic violence services; health and mental health services, and cultural arts programs. Love participated with Linda Perry for the event in 2012, and performed alongsideAimee Mann and comedianWanda Sykes. Speaking on her collaboration on the event, Love said: "Seven thousand kids in Los Angeles a year go out on the street, and forty percent of those kids aregay,lesbian, ortransgender. Theycome out to their parents, and become homeless ... for whatever reason, I don't really know why, but gay men have a lot of foundations—I've played many of them—but the lesbian side of it doesn't have as much money and/or donors, so we're excited that this has grown to cover women and women's affairs."[373]
She has also contributed toAIDS organizations, partaking in benefits foramfAR[374] and theRED Campaign.[375] In May 2011, she donated six of her husband Cobain's personal vinyl records for auction atMariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation event for victims of child abuse, rape, and domestic violence.[376] She has also supported theSophie Lancaster Foundation as well asStand For Courage, an anti-bullying organization started by Love's sister.[377][378]
In 2021, Love and creative director and philanthropist Julie Panebianco launched From Her To Eternity, an initiative designed to collect and categorize a physical collection of related music materials that focus on and celebrate the contributions of women to popular music.[379]
The first project of From Her to Eternity was a world-renowned female music photographers´ exhibition titledFrom Her to Eternity: The Women Who Photograph Music.[380][381] The installation was displayed at the corner of S. Wabash Avenue and E. Eight Street in Chicago's South Loop throughout Summer 2023.[382][383] The name is a tribute by Love to the late Australian singer-songwriterAnita Lane. Lane was a member of the Birthday Party and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds who co-wrote the song“From Her To Eternity” withNick Cave, who's an exhibition supporter alongside Anita Lane's family,Michael Stipe and artist Thomas Dozol.[384]
Legacy
Love, pictured in 2015, with her leg supported on themonitor, recognized as one of her signature stage moves[101][385]
Love has had an impact on female-fronted alternative acts and performers.[386] She has been cited as influential on young female instrumentalists in particular,[387] having once infamously proclaimed: "I want every girl in the world to pick up a guitar and start screaming ...[388] I strap on that motherfucking guitar and you cannot fuck with me. That's my feeling."[389] InThe Electric Guitar: A History of an American Icon, it is noted:
[Love] truly lived up to Paul Westerberg's (The Replacements) assessment of pretty girls "playing makeup/wearing guitar" ... She frequently stood on stage, microphone in hand and foot on monitor, and simply let her Fender guitar dangle around her neck. She truly embodied the empowerment that came with playing the electric guitar ... Love depended heavily upon her male lead guitar foil Eric Erlandson, but the rest of her band remained exclusively female throughout several lineup changes.[385]
When you're dying and your life is flashing before your eyes ... you're gonna be thinking about the great things you did, the horrible things that you did, the emotional impact that someone had on you and that you had on somebody else. Those are the things that are relevant. To have some sort of emotional impact that transcends time, that's great.
With over 3 million records sold in the United States alone,[iii] Hole became one of the most successful rock bands of all time fronted by a woman.[387][392]VH1 ranked Loveno. 69 in their list ofThe 100 Greatest Women in Music History in 2012.[393] In 2015, thePhoenix New Times declared Love the number one greatest female rock star of all time, writing: "To build a perfect rock star, there are several crucial ingredients: musical talent, physical attractiveness, tumultuous relationships, substance abuse, and public meltdowns, just to name a few. These days, Love seems to have rebounded from her epic tailspin and has leveled out in a slightly more normal manner, but there's no doubt that her life to date is the type of story people wouldn't believe in a novel or a movie."[394]
She has also been agay icon since the mid-1990s,[409] and has jokingly referred to her fanbase as consisting of "females, gay guys, and a few advanced, evolved heterosexual men."[365] Love's aesthetic image, particularly in the early 1990s, also became influential and was dubbed "kinderwhore" by critics and media. The subversive fashion mainly consisted of vintagebabydoll dresses accompanied by smeared makeup and red lipstick.[111][410]MTV reporterKurt Loder described Love as looking like "a debauched rag doll" onstage.[411][412] Love later said she had been influenced by the fashion ofChrissy Amphlett of theDivinyls.[413] Interviewed in 1994, Love commented "I would like to think–in my heart of hearts–that I'm changing some psychosexual aspects of rock music. Not that I'm so desirable. I didn't do the kinder-whore thing because I thought I was so hot. When I see the look used to make one more appealing, it pisses me off. When I started, it was aWhat Ever Happened to Baby Jane? thing. My angle was irony."[32]
^Love's mother, Linda Carroll, though the biological daughter ofPaula Fox, was adopted at birth by Jack and Louella Risi, an Italian-American family from San Francisco.[3]
^There are several different versions in circulation of how Sugar Babydoll (and later, Pagan Babies) formed. The version told in theE! True Hollywood Story as told by Kat Bjelland fails to mention the alternate names of the group, though Love's 1998 biography by Poppy Z. Brite notes the shift in name from Sugar Babylon to Sugar Babydoll.[67]
^As of 2003,Pretty on the Inside had sold over 200,000 copies in the U.S.;[391]Live Through This, 1,600,000;Celebrity Skin, 1,400,000 (the latter two per 2010 approximations).[392]
^"5 Things You Might Not Know About Phil Lesh".Rhino. March 15, 2018. Archived fromthe original on October 26, 2024.According to Love, her father wasn't nearly as involved with the Grateful Dead as he often claimed to have been, but she really is Lesh's goddaughter. She is not, however, one of the little girls on the cover of AOXOMOXOA, so let's go ahead and put that rumor to rest finally, shall we?
^abLove, Courtney (January 24, 2018) [2014]. "The First Time With... Courtney Love" (Interview). Vol. 8, no. 1. Interviewed byMatt Everitt.BBC Radio 6.
^Wuelfing, Howard (January 6, 1997). "Swans Song".Addicted to Noise.The group count the likes of Metallica's Kirk Hammet, Henry Rollins, Courtney Love and even Jeff Buckley among its admirers.
^Love, Courtney (May 30, 2013). "The Howard Stern Show" (Interview). Interviewed byHoward Stern. Sirius XM Radio.The Stooges were a really big deal to me.
^Love, Courtney (December 5, 1995). "Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 1995" (Interview). Interviewed byBarbara Walters. ABC News.
^Love, Courtney (October 28, 1997).VH1 Fashion Awards. VH1.I think that great personal style is being true to yourself and speaking your mind, which, since I'm up here, I'm going to do. I feel that keeping gay people in the closet with our attitudes and our actions is cruel, and it's tacky, and most of all, it's boring.Video onYouTube
^Love, Courtney (June 12, 2014)."Courtney Love on Pop Culture".Endemol (Interview). Interviewed by Noah Levy.Archived from the original on November 14, 2021.
^Moran, Rob (April 30, 2010)."DUM THINGS".Vice.Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.I played out their cassette tapes in about 6th or 7th grade. But I definitely thank Courtney Love for existing because she was one of my formative inspirations and one of the reasons that I play in a band now.
^Gourlay, Dom (May 2, 2014).""We don't really fit in anywhere": DiS meets Nine Black Alps".Drowned in Sound.Archived from the original on January 2, 2021.I was listening to lots of Hole and certain elements of Courtney Love's lyrics. I wasn't deliberately trying to rip them off but I wanted to make mine as good as her lyrics so I guess that's where themes of decay and rotting things emanate from. Exploitation as well, that kind of thing.
Bacon, Tony (2012).The Ultimate Guitar Sourcebook. Race Point Publishing.ISBN978-1-937994-04-4.
Bogdanov, Vladimir; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas; Woodstra, Chris (2002).All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul. Hal Leonard Corporation/Backbeat Books.ISBN978-0-87930-653-3.
Carroll, Linda (2005).Her Mother's Daughter: A Memoir of the Mother I Never Knew and of My Daughter, Courtney Love. New York: Broadway Books.ISBN978-0-7679-1788-9.
Cavanagh, David (2015).Good Night and Good Riddance: How Thirty-Five Years of John Peel Helped to Shape Modern Life. London: Faber & Faber.ISBN978-0-571-30248-2.
Ladd-Taylor, Molly; Umanski, Lauri (1998).Bad Mothers: The Politics of Blame in Twentieth-Century America. New York: NYU Press.ISBN978-0-8147-5120-6.
Burns, Lori; Lafrance, Mélisse (2002).Disruptive Divas: Feminism, Identity & Popular Music. New York: Taylor & Francis.ISBN978-0-8153-3554-2.
Lahire, Bernard, ed. (2011).Ce qu'ils vivent, ce qu'ils écrivent: mises en scène littéraires du social et expériences socialisatrices des écrivains (in French). Paris, France: Archives contemporaines.ISBN978-2-813-00050-7.
Rogatis, Jim (2003).Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press.ISBN978-0-306-81271-2.
Roshan, Maer (2012).Courtney Comes Clean: The High Life and Dark Depths of Music's Most Controversial Icon. A Quick Fix Book. New York:Sterling.ISBN978-1-4027-9791-0.
Schippers, Mimi A. (2002).Rockin' out of the Box: Gender Maneuvering in Alternative Hard Rock. Rutgers University Press.ISBN978-0-8135-3075-8.
_(crop).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_crop.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
