Search

The Online Encyclopedia and Dictionary

 
     
 

Encyclopedia

Dictionary

Quotes

 

Courtney Love

Courtney Love (born Love Michelle Harrison on July 9, 1964 in San Francisco, California) was the singer and guitarist for the now-defunct band Hole. Currently performing solo, Love is also an occasional model and actress. Love is the widow of Kurt Cobain (19671994), singer in the band Nirvana, with whom she has one daughter, Frances Bean Cobain.


Contents

1980s and 1990s

Courtney Love began her professional music career with a brief stint as the lead singer of Faith No More in the early 1980s. Love had more early success as an actress; appearing as the best friend of Nancy Spungen in Alex Cox's Sid Vicious biopic Sid and Nancy in 1986, and in Cox's Straight to Hell in 1987.

Returning to music in her adopted hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Love co-founded the all-female rock band Babes in Toyland with Kat Bjelland; acrimony between the two led to a quick exit from this band for Love. In 1991 Love formed her own band, Hole; the band's debut album garnered little critical or popular attention; Hole's fortunes improved considerably following Love's marriage to Cobain and the publicity following Cobain's death.

Early on Love also became a fashion trendsetter; in her early career, Love modelled a "kinderwhore" look, which she was accused of having ripped off of Kat Bjelland (Other sources suggest the rip-off was in fact in the opposite direction). Courtney herself stated that the look was inspired by Christina Amphlett of 1980s rock group The Divinyls. Love's style has since evolved, and she has modelled for more sophisticated designer labels.

In the 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flynt, Love received considerable acclaim for her role as Flynt's wife, Althea.

Controversy

Love has been a strong critic of the recording industry, especially the RIAA. In 2000, she publicly announced her admiration for Napster which, at the time, was being accused of fostering illegal file-sharing. She became known for her criticism of record companies' unfair contracts and mistreatment of artists.

With Hole having fallen into disarray, Love attempted to begin a "punk rock femme supergroup" called Bastard during Summer/Autumn of 2001, though this project never reached fruition. Hole broke up in 2001 amid continuing litigation. Love in October 2001 performed in some solo shows as an opening act.

In 2003, Love pleaded not guilty to felony drug charges related to possession of painkillers. In February of 2004, an arrest warrant was issued for Love after she failed to appear at a preliminary hearing; the warrant was subsequently rescinded when she appeared in court on February 18. She released her first solo effort America's Sweetheart just eight days earlier on February 10.

Early on the morning of March 19, 2004 Courtney Love was arrested in New York City for allegedly throwing a microphone stand and hitting a man on the head. Earlier in the night, she appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman and flashed her breasts at David Letterman six times.

On her 40th birthday, July 9, 2004, she missed a scheduled court appearance relating to an attempted break-in at a boyfriend's house and was found in contempt of court. Her attorney later said she missed the appearance due to medical problems; later in the month she appeared in court and was sentenced to an 18-month probation and drug rehabilitation program.

In August of 2004 Love alienated some fans, when she allowed a bill for a message board tied into her website to go unpaid. Love had agreed to pay (and had been paying) the bill though the board was registered to the head of her fanclub. A lawsuit is pending.

Love was cast to star as legendary cowgirl Texas Guinan in the story of her life, called Hello Sucker! . This role was revoked due to her problems with narcotics, and instead was given to Madonna.

Manga

When Love lived in Japan, she became a fan of the manga animation style. Because of this, she has co-created a manga series called Princess Ai. Princess Ai features the character design of Ai Yazawa. Dialogue for Princess Ai's main character, Ai, is taken from Love's song lyrics.

Princess Ai: Volume I was released by TokyoPop in the United States on July 6, 2004.

Discography

Filmography

External links

The contents of this article are licensed from Wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. How to see transparent copy