View source for Courtney Love

{{Short description|American rock musician and actress (born 1964)}}
{{About|the American rock singer|the band|Lois Maffeo|the American football player and coach|Courtney Love (American football)|the Mediaeval literary term|Courtly love}}
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{{Use American English|date=June 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Courtney Love
| image              = CourtLoveRoyalGeo040325 (2 of 54) (cropped).jpg
| alt                = Profile photograph of Courtney Love
| caption            = Love in 2025
| birth_name         = Courtney Michelle Harrison
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1964|7|9}}
| birth_place        = [[San Francisco]], California, U.S.
| other_names        = Courtney Rodriguez{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=24}}<!--Adopted surname from her stepfather, which is documented--><br />Courtney Menely{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=24}}<!--Adopted surname from her stepfather, which is documented--><br />Courtney Love Cobain
| occupation         = {{hlist|Singer|songwriter|guitarist|actress}}
| years_active       = 1981–present
| notable_works      = {{hlist|[[Courtney Love discography|Discography]]|[[Courtney Love filmography|filmography]]}}
| spouse             = {{ubl|{{marriage|[[James Moreland]]|1989|1989|end=annulled}}|{{marriage|[[Kurt Cobain]]|1992|1994|end=[[Suicide of Kurt Cobain|died]]}}}}
| children           = [[Frances Bean Cobain]]
| mother             = [[Linda Carroll]]
| relatives          = {{plainlist|
* [[Paula Fox]]<br>(grandmother)
* [[Paul Hervey Fox]]<br>(great-grandfather)
}}
| awards             = [[List of awards and nominations received by Courtney Love|Full list]]
| module             = {{Infobox musical artist
| embed           = yes
| genre           = {{hlist|[[Alternative rock]]|[[punk rock]]|[[noise rock]]|[[grunge]]|[[power pop]]}}
| label           = {{hlist|[[Sympathy for the Record Industry]]|[[Caroline Records|Caroline]]|[[DGC Records|DGC]]|[[Virgin Records|Virgin]]|[[Ghost Ramp]]}}
| instrument      = {{hlist|Vocals|guitar}}
| origin          = [[Portland, Oregon]], U.S.
| past_member_of = {{hlist|[[Hole (band)|Hole]]|[[Sugar Babydoll]]|{{nowrap|[[Pagan Babies (band)|Pagan Babies]]}}|[[Faith No More]]}}
}}
| signature = Courtney Love's signature from the 2016 Billboard Open Letter.svg
}}

'''Courtney Michelle Love''' ([[née]] '''Harrison'''; 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, with ''[[NME]]'' naming her one of the most influential singers in [[alternative culture]] between 1990 and 2020. 

Love had an itinerant childhood, but was primarily raised in [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], Oregon, where she played in a series of short-lived bands and was active in the local punk scene. Following a brief stay in a [[juvenile hall]], she spent a year living in [[Dublin]] and [[Liverpool]] before returning to the United States and pursuing an acting career. She appeared in supporting roles in the [[Alex Cox]] films ''[[Sid and Nancy]]'' (1986) and ''[[Straight to Hell (film)|Straight to Hell]]'' (1987). In 1989, Love formed the alternative rock band [[Hole (band)|Hole]] with guitarist [[Eric Erlandson]]. She was its lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. She was becoming a rising figure in the [[alternative rock|alternative]] and [[grunge]] scenes of the 1990s. However, her highly publicized relationship with, and 1992 marriage to, [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] frontman [[Kurt 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 album ''[[Pretty on the Inside]]'', produced by [[Kim Gordon]], while their second release, ''[[Live Through This]]'' (1994), was met with critical accolades and [[RIAA certification|multi-platinum]] sales. In 1995, Love returned to acting, earning a [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama|Golden Globe Award]] nomination for her performance as [[Althea Flynt|Althea Leasure]] in [[Miloš Forman]]'s ''[[The People vs. Larry Flynt]]'' (1996), which established her as a mainstream actress. Hole's third album, ''[[Celebrity Skin]]'' (1998), was nominated for three [[Grammy Awards]].

Love continued to work as an actress into the early 2000s, appearing in big-budget pictures such as ''[[Man on the Moon (film)|Man on the Moon]]'' (1999) and ''[[Trapped (2002 film)|Trapped]]'' (2002), before releasing her first solo album, ''[[America's Sweetheart (Courtney Love 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 lockdown [[drug rehabilitation|rehabilitation]] sentence in 2005 while she was writing a second solo album. That project became ''[[Nobody's Daughter]]'', released in 2010 as a Hole album but without the former Hole lineup. Between 2014 and 2015, Love released two solo [[single (music)|singles]] and returned to acting in the network series ''[[Sons of Anarchy]]'' and ''[[Empire (2015 TV series)|Empire]]''. She has also been active as a writer; she co-created and co-wrote three volumes of a [[manga]], ''[[Princess Ai]]'', between 2004 and 2006, and wrote a memoir, ''[[Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love|Dirty Blonde]]'' (2006). 

==Life and career==
{{See also|List of awards and nominations received by Courtney Love}}

===1964–1982: Childhood and education===
Courtney Michelle Harrison was born July 9, 1964, at [[Saint Francis Memorial Hospital]] in San Francisco,{{sfn|Carroll|2005|p=144}} the first child of [[Psychotherapy|psychotherapist]] [[Linda Carroll]] (née Risi) and Hank Harrison,<ref>{{cite web|work=The Galt Herald|url=http://www.galtheraldonline.com/news/hank-harrison-81-played-early-role-in-grateful-dead-history/article_999e7682-8466-11ec-bd1f-37507ad63b65.html|title=Hank Harrison, 81, played early role in Grateful Dead history|last=Armstrong|first=Lance|date=February 2, 2022|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820131128/http://www.galtheraldonline.com/news/hank-harrison-81-played-early-role-in-grateful-dead-history/article_999e7682-8466-11ec-bd1f-37507ad63b65.html|archive-date=August 20, 2022|access-date=June 11, 2022}}</ref> a publisher and road manager for the [[Grateful Dead]].{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 4:30}}{{sfn|Hunter|Segalstad|2009|p=197}} Her parents met at a party held for [[Dizzy Gillespie]] in 1963, and the two married in [[Reno, Nevada]] after Carroll discovered she was pregnant.<ref name=selvin/>{{sfn|Carroll|2005|p=131}} Carroll, who was adopted at birth,{{sfn|Carroll|2005|pages=19–21}} is the biological daughter of novelist [[Paula Fox]].<ref name=Freeman>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716111058/http://observer.com/2013/04/courtney-loveless-family-tree-remains-mystery-as-feud-with-grandma-sizzles|archive-date=July 16, 2015|url=http://observer.com/2013/04/courtney-loveless-family-tree-remains-mystery-as-feud-with-grandma-sizzles/|work=[[The New York Observer]]|title=Courtney Loveless: Family Tree Remains Mystery as Feud with Grandma Sizzles|date=April 16, 2013|author=Freeman, Nate}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118201913/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/7543866/Courtney-Love-damage-limitation.html|archive-date=November 18, 2015|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/7543866/Courtney-Love-damage-limitation.html|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|title=Courtney Love: damage limitation|date=April 1, 2010|author=Garratt, Sheryl}}</ref><ref name="liverpool" /> The identity of Love's maternal biological grandfather is unknown.<ref name=Freeman/> Love's matrilineal great-grandmother was Elsie Fox (née de Sola),<ref name=Acocella>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/05/16/from-bad-beginnings|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|title=From Bad Beginnings|date=May 9, 2011|last=Acocella|first=Joan|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211164401/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/05/16/from-bad-beginnings|archive-date=December 11, 2015}}</ref> a [[Cubans|Cuban]] writer who co-wrote the film ''[[The Last Train from Madrid]]'' with Love's great-grandfather, [[Paul Hervey Fox]], cousin of writer [[Faith Baldwin]] and actor [[Douglas Fairbanks]].<ref>{{cite magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119181246/http://www.ew.com/article/2002/03/22/love-battlefield-combative-singer-actress-embarks-legal-skirmish-her-record-label|archive-date=November 19, 2015|author=''Entertainment Weekly'' Staff|url=https://www.ew.com/article/2002/03/22/love-battlefield-combative-singer-actress-embarks-legal-skirmish-her-record-label|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|title=Love is a Battlefield|date=March 22, 2002}}</ref>{{sfn|Lahire|2011|p=453}} [[Phil Lesh]], the founding bassist of the Grateful Dead, was Love's godfather.{{sfn|Buckley|Edroso|2003|p=499}}{{sfn|Rocco|Rocco|1999|p=224}}<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Rhino Entertainment|Rhino]]|date=March 15, 2018|title=5 Things You Might Not Know About Phil Lesh|quote=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?|url=https://www.rhino.com/article/5-things-you-might-not-know-about-phil-lesh|archive-date=October 26, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241026070141/https://www.rhino.com/article/5-things-you-might-not-know-about-phil-lesh}}</ref> According to Love, she was named after Courtney Farrell, the protagonist of [[Pamela Moore (author)|Pamela Moore]]'s 1956 novel ''[[Chocolates for Breakfast]]''.<ref>{{cite web|work=[[USA Today]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218222532/https://www.usatoday.com/story/popcandy/2013/06/26/chocolates-for-breakfast/2459137/|archive-date=December 18, 2013|title=I love this book: 'Chocolates for Breakfast'
|author=Matheson, Whitney|date=June 26, 2013|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/popcandy/2013/06/26/chocolates-for-breakfast/2459137/}}</ref> 

Love is of mixed Cuban, Italian, English, Welsh, Irish, Ashkenazi Jewish, and German ancestry.<ref name=Acocella/><ref name="fisher">{{cite episode|series=Conversations from the Edge with Carrie Fisher|title=Interview with Courtney Love|air-date=March 30, 2002|network=[[Oxygen Network|Oxygen]]|season=1|number=4}}</ref> Through her mother's subsequent marriages, Love has two younger half-sisters, three younger half-brothers (one of whom died in infancy), and one adopted brother.{{sfn|Carroll|2005|p=230}}<ref name="curse" />

Love spent her early years in [[Haight-Ashbury]], San Francisco, until her parents divorced in 1970.<ref name=liverpool/>{{sfn|Jung|2010|pages=188–189}} In a custody hearing, her mother, as well as one of her father's girlfriends, testified that Hank had dosed Courtney with [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]] when she was a toddler.<ref name=liverpool/>{{sfn|Jung|2010|pages=188–189}}{{sfn|Ladd-Taylor|Umanski|1998|p=327}} Carroll also alleged that Hank threatened to abduct his daughter and flee with her to a foreign country.<ref name=selvin/> Though Hank denied these allegations, his custody was revoked.<ref name=selvin>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818011317/http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Courtney-and-Dad-No-Love-Lost-He-downplays-3033159.php|archive-date=August 18, 2015|url=http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Courtney-and-Dad-No-Love-Lost-He-downplays-3033159.php|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|title=Courtney and Dad – No Love Lost / He downplays estrangement, she won't see him|author=Selvin, Joel|date=May 11, 1995}}</ref> 

In 1970, Carroll relocated with Love to the rural community of [[Marcola, Oregon]], where they lived along the [[Mohawk River (Oregon)|Mohawk River]]<ref name="curse" /> while Carroll completed her psychology degree at the [[University of Oregon]].{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=24}} There, Carroll remarried to schoolteacher Frank Rodríguez, who legally adopted Love.<ref name="curse" /> Though Love was baptized a [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-10-ca-44136-story.html|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=April 10, 1994|title=Cover Story: The Trials of Love: Just when Courtney Love should be focusing on Hole and her career, she can't help worrying about her husband, Kurt Cobain|last=Hilburn|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Hilburn|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324015723/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-10-ca-44136-story.html|archive-date=March 24, 2020}}</ref> her mother maintained an unorthodox home; according to Love, "There were hairy, wangly-ass [[hippie]]s running around naked [doing] [[Gestalt therapy]]", and her mother raised her in a [[Gender neutrality|gender-free]] household with "no dresses, no patent leather shoes, no canopy beds, nothing".{{Sfn|Marks|1995|p=47}} 

Love attended a [[Montessori education|Montessori school]] in [[Eugene, Oregon]], where she struggled academically and socially.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=25}}<ref name="etrue">{{cite episode|title=Courtney Love|series=[[E! True Hollywood Story]]|network=E!|air-date=October 5, 2003|season=8|number=2}}</ref> She has said that she began seeing psychiatrists at "like, [age] three. Observational therapy. [[Transendental meditation|TM]] for tots. You name it, I've been there."<ref name=lovechild/> At age nine, a psychologist noted that she exhibited signs of [[autism spectrum|autism]], among them [[Sensory processing disorder#History|tactile defensiveness]].{{Sfn|Marks|1995|p=47}}{{sfn|Brite|1998|pages=24–25}}{{Sfn|Carroll|2005|p=250}}<ref name=without/> Love commented in 1995: "When I talk about being introverted, I was diagnosed autistic. At an early age, I would not speak. Then I simply bloomed."<ref name=lovechild/>

In 1972, Love's mother divorced Rodríguez, remarried to sportswriter David Menely, and moved the family to [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]], New Zealand.{{sfn|Carroll|2005|p=221}} Love was enrolled at [[Nelson College for Girls]],<ref>{{Cite news|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10418549|title=Courtney Love: Dirty Blonde – The Diaries of Courtney Love|date=January 10, 2007|author=Kara, Scott|archive-date=June 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614095237/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10418549}}</ref> but soon expelled for misbehavior.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=32}} In 1973, Carroll sent Love back to [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], Oregon,{{Sfn|Marks|1995|p=46}} to be raised by her former stepfather and other family friends.{{sfn|Reisfeld|1996|p=67}}<ref>{{cite interview|title=Episode 49: Courtney Love|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd3ZnxUFuMw|work=Unqualified|interviewer=[[Anna Faris]]|date=August 23, 2016|access-date=August 24, 2016|quote=I grew up in Portland}}</ref> 

At age 14, Love was arrested for shoplifting from a Portland department store<ref name="courting">{{cite news|first=Chrissy|last=Iley|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article604615.ece|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227205943/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article604615.ece|archive-date=February 27, 2007|title=Courting disaster|work=[[The Times]]|date=October 22, 2006}}</ref> and remanded at [[Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility|Hillcrest Correctional Facility]], a [[juvenile hall]] in [[Salem, Oregon|Salem]], Oregon.<ref name="etrue" />{{sfn|Love|2006|pages=29–31}} While at Hillcrest, she became acquainted with records by [[Patti Smith]], [[the Runaways]], and [[the Pretenders]], who later inspired her to start a band.{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 11:29}} She was intermittently placed in [[Foster care in the United States|foster care]] throughout late 1979 until becoming legally [[Emancipation of minors|emancipated]] in 1980,{{sfn|Ladd-Taylor|Umanski|1998|p=327}}{{sfn|Brite|1998|pages=37–48}} after which she remained staunchly estranged from her mother.<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Willamette Week]]|url=https://www.wweek.com/portland/article-5227-linda-carroll-unplugged.html|title=Linda Carroll, Unplugged|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622081524/https://www.wweek.com/portland/article-5227-linda-carroll-unplugged.html|archive-date=June 22, 2020|author=Starr, Karla|date=January 17, 2006|access-date=June 19, 2020|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> 

Shortly after her emancipation, Love spent two months in Japan working as a topless dancer, but was deported after her passport was confiscated.{{Sfn|Brite|1998|p=48}} She returned to Portland and began working at the strip club [[Mary's Club]],{{sfn|Evans|1994|p=65}}<ref name="lovechild">{{cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/1995/06/courtney-love-199506|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|title=Love Child|date=June 1995|author=Sessums, Kevin|author-link=Kevin Sessums|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112183005/http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/1995/06/courtney-love-199506|archive-date=January 12, 2012}}</ref> adopting the surname Love to conceal her identity; she later adopted Love as her surname.<ref name="curse">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191343/http://www.seattleweekly.com/2006-03-22/news/courtney-s-family-curse/|archive-date=March 3, 2016|url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/2006-03-22/news/courtney-s-family-curse/|work=[[Seattle Weekly]]|title=Courtney's Family Curse|author=Appelo, Tim|date=October 9, 2006}}</ref> She worked odd jobs, including as a DJ at a gay disco.{{Sfn|Brite|1998|p=60}} Love said she lacked social skills,{{sfn|Yapp|2006|loc=event occurs at 20:20}} and learned them while frequenting gay clubs and spending time with [[drag queen]]s.{{sfn|Brite|1998|pages=44–46}} During this period, she enrolled at [[Portland State University]], studying English and philosophy.{{Sfn|Brite|1998|p=63}}<ref name="thepoweroflove">{{cite magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018230454/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C303306%2C00.html|archive-date=October 18, 2014|url=https://ew.com/article/1994/08/12/courtney-love-comes-out-hiding/|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|title=The Power of Love|first=Dana|last=Kennedy|date=August 12, 1994|url-status=live}}</ref> She later commented that, had she not found a passion for music, she would have sought a career working with children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.straight.com/blogra/619976/vaults-1999-interview-holes-courtney-love|work=[[The Georgia Straight]]|title=From the vaults: A 1999 interview with Hole's Courtney Love|last=Usinger|first=Mike|date=April 2, 2014|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109212420/https://www.straight.com/blogra/619976/vaults-1999-interview-holes-courtney-love|archive-date=January 9, 2022|access-date=January 9, 2022}}</ref>

{{quote box|align=right|width=22%|bgcolor=#f6ebff|quote=Before Liverpool, my life doesn't count. [[Ian McCulloch (singer)|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.|source=–Love on her time in Liverpool<ref name=liverpool/>}}
In 1981, Love was granted a small [[United States trust law|trust fund]] that had been left by her maternal grandparents. She used that money to travel to Dublin, Ireland, where her biological father was living.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=51}} She audited courses at [[Trinity College Dublin|Trinity College]], studying theology for two semesters.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=52}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/courtney-love-receives-honorary-university-award-103000990.html|work=Yahoo|author=''Yahoo'' Staff|title=Courtney Love receives honorary university award|date=October 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810093456/https://www.yahoo.com/news/courtney-love-receives-honorary-university-award-103000990.html|archive-date=August 10, 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=May 7, 2016}}</ref> She later received [[honorary degree|honorary patronage]] from Trinity's [[University Philosophical Society]] in 2010.<ref>{{Cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321041844/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8855284/Surprising-honorary-degree-recipients.html|archive-date=March 21, 2016|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8855284/Surprising-honorary-degree-recipients.html|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|title=Courtney Love – Surprising honorary degree recipients|author=''The Telegraph'' Staff|date=October 28, 2011}}</ref> 

While in Dublin, Love met musician [[Julian Cope]] of [[the Teardrop Explodes]] at one of the band's concerts.<ref name=liverpool/> Cope took a liking to Love and offered to let her stay at his Liverpool home in his absence.<ref name=liverpool/> She traveled to London, where she was met by her friend and future bandmate, Robin Barbur, from Portland.{{sfn|Brite|1998|pages=52–54}} Recalling Cope's offer, Love and Barbur moved into Cope's home with him and several other artists,<ref name=liverpool>{{cite web|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/25/courtney-love-in-liverpool-scousers-wild-child-how-to-rock|date=May 25, 2020|title=Courtney Love in Liverpool: the Scousers who taught the grunge icon how to rock|last=Haslam|first=David|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-date=May 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529215818/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/25/courtney-love-in-liverpool-scousers-wild-child-how-to-rock|access-date=May 30, 2020}}</ref>{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=55}} including [[Pete de Freitas]] of [[Echo & the Bunnymen]].{{sfn|Brite|1998|pages=54–55}} 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".{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=54}} Love recalled: "They kind of took me in. I was sort of a mascot; I would get them coffee or tea during rehearsals."<ref name="girlboss">{{cite interview|interviewer=Courtney Love|first=Sophia|last=Amoruso|date=January 6, 2016|series=#Girlboss Radio|title=Courtney Love – Nasty Galaxy|via=[[SoundCloud]]|url=https://soundcloud.com/panoply/courtney-love}}</ref> Cope writes of Love frequently in his 1994 autobiography, ''Head-On'', in which he refers to her as "the adolescent".<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408222717/http://www.headheritage.co.uk/drude/qa/misc.php|archive-date=April 8, 2009|url=http://www.headheritage.co.uk/drude/qa/misc.php|title=Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage: Drudical Q&A Miscellaneous|first=Julian|last=Cope|publisher=HeadHeritage.co.uk|quote=Q: Is Courtney Love the adolescent??? (Jeanette) A: Oh yes.}}</ref>

In July 1982, Love returned to the United States.<ref name=liverpool/> In late 1982, she attended a [[Faith No More]] concert in San Francisco and convinced the members to let her join as a singer.{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 16:07}}<ref name="AMG Love">{{cite web|author1=Sutton, Michael|work=[[AllMusic]]|title=Courtney Love Biography|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/courtney-love-mn0000109414/biography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930035403/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/courtney-love-mn0000109414/biography|archive-date=September 30, 2018|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=September 29, 2018}}</ref> The group recorded material with Love as a vocalist, but fired her; according to keyboardist [[Roddy Bottum]], who remained Love's friend in the years after, the band wanted a "male energy".{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 16:39}} 

Love returned to working abroad as an erotic dancer, briefly in [[Taiwan]], and then at a [[taxi dance hall]] in [[Hong Kong]].{{sfn|Brite|1998|pages=47–48, 66–70}}{{sfn|Roshan|2012|p=36}} By Love's account, she first used [[heroin]] while working at the Hong Kong dance hall, having mistaken it for [[cocaine]].{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=67}} While still inebriated from the drug, 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.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=67}} She used the money to purchase an airfare back to the United States.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=67}}

===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 at [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount Studios]] cleaning out the wardrobe department of vintage pieces that had suffered [[dry rot]] or other damage.<ref name=wilson>{{cite news|work=[[The New York Times]]|last=Wilson|first=Eric|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/fashion/07LOVE.html|title=Courtney Love: 'I'd Like to be Trusted Again'|date=November 7, 2010|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411162820/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/fashion/07LOVE.html|archive-date=April 11, 2021|access-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref> During this time, Love became interested in vintage fashion.<ref name=wilson/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/courtney-love|work=[[Glamour (magazine)|Glamour]]|title=Courtney Love Has Created Her First Collection and I Want It All!|date=October 25, 2012|last=Wicks|first=Amy|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411162822/https://www.glamour.com/story/courtney-love|archive-date=April 11, 2021|access-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref> 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 as [[Sugar Babydoll]]).{{efn|There are several different versions in circulation of how Sugar Babydoll (and later, Pagan Babies) formed. The version told in the ''E! 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.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=79}}}}{{Sfn|Marks|1995|pages=47–48}} Love  briefly fronted [[Faith No More]] for their first TV appearance in 1984: she sang with a [[Siouxsie Sioux]]-style vocal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/ten-90s-rock-stars-in-earlier-bands|work=Loudersound.com/|title=Watch ten rock stars from the 90s in their earlier bands|date=December 18, 2023|author=Doherty, Niall|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231218012949/https://www.loudersound.com/features/ten-90s-rock-stars-in-earlier-bands |archive-date=December 18, 2023}}</ref> After meeting [[Kat Bjelland]] at the [[Satyricon (nightclub)|Satyricon]] nightclub in 1984, the two formed the group the [[Pagan Babies (band)|Pagan Babies]].{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 17:03}} 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 bassist [[Jennifer Finch]] and drummer [[Janis Tanaka]].<ref name=garis>{{cite web|url=http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/g9069/the-evolution-of-courtney-love/|work=[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]]|title=The Evolution of Courtney Love|date=July 9, 2014|author=Garis, Mary Grace|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910014441/http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/g9069/the-evolution-of-courtney-love/|archive-date=September 10, 2016}}</ref> 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.<ref name="etrue" /> The group played several house shows and recorded one 4-track [[demo (music)|demo]] before disbanding in late 1985.<ref name=garis/>{{Sfn|Evans|1994|p=60}}

Love has stated that she underwent a [[rhinoplasty]] at the age of 20, and that the procedure helped her career.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/courtney-love-doesnt-regret-nose-job-lost-movie-gig-to-julie-roberts-20141911/|title=Courtney Love Doesn't Regret Nose Job, Lost Movie Gig to Julia Roberts|first=Madeline|last=Boardman|date=November 19, 2014|website=Us Weekly}}</ref>

After Pagan Babies, Love moved to Minneapolis, where Bjelland had formed the group [[Babes in Toyland (band)|Babes in Toyland]], and briefly worked as a concert promoter before returning to California.<ref name="etrue" /> Drummer [[Lori Barbero]] recalled Love's time in Minneapolis: {{blockquote|She lived in my house for a little while. And then we did a concert at the Orpheum. It was in 1988. It was called O-88 with [[Butthole Surfers]], Cows & Bastards, Run Westy Run, and Babes in Toyland. And I guess [[Maureen Herman|Maureen [Herman]]] took Courtney to the airport after she stole all the money. She stayed and stayed, and then the next day she wanted me to take her to the airport. And so I drove her to the airport. She had just had some weird fight with the guy at the desk, and then she left. She said, "I'm going to go to L.A. and I'm going to get my face done and I'm going to be famous." And then she did.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blog.thecurrent.org/2015/03/a-california-desert-interview-with-babes-in-toyland/|title=A California desert interview with Babes in Toyland|last=Swensson|first=Andrea|date=March 11, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200530082556/https://blog.thecurrent.org/2015/03/a-california-desert-interview-with-babes-in-toyland/|archive-date=May 30, 2020|work=The Current|access-date=May 2, 2019}}</ref>}}

[[File:Courtney Love 1986 publicity headshot.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|right|Love in a publicity headshot for ''[[Straight to Hell (film)|Straight to Hell]]'', 1986|alt=A woman posed for a photo staring into the camera]]
Deciding to shift her focus to acting, Love enrolled at the [[San Francisco Art Institute]]<ref name="Auto9L-26">{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2012/05/inside-courtney-loves-and-shes-not-even-pretty-art-exhibit/|work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|title=Inside Courtney Love's 'And She's Not Even Pretty' Art Exhibit|date=May 7, 2012|author=Grow, Kory|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004145429/https://www.spin.com/2012/05/inside-courtney-loves-and-shes-not-even-pretty-art-exhibit/|archive-date=October 4, 2015}}</ref> and studied film under experimental director [[George Kuchar]],<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203003830/https://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/culture-feed/prolific-profane-and-profound-george/|archive-date=December 3, 2013|url=https://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/culture-feed/prolific-profane-and-profound-george/|work=[[The Bay Citizen]]|title=Prolific, Profane and Profound: George Kuchar (1942–2011)|date=September 7, 2011|author=Korn, Jon}}</ref><ref name="kuchar2">{{cite web|url=http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/hfacollections/2011/09/07/rest-in-peace-george-kuchar/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122092026/http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/hfacollections/2011/09/07/rest-in-peace-george-kuchar/|archive-date=November 22, 2011|work=[[Harvard Film Archive|Harvard Film Archive Collections]]|publisher=[[Harvard University]]|title=Rest in peace, George Kuchar|date=September 7, 2011}}</ref> featuring in one of his short films, ''Club Vatican''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mubi.com/en/us/films/club-vatican|work=[[Mubi (streaming service)|Mubi]]|title=Club Vatican (1984)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250205063347/https://mubi.com/en/us/films/club-vatican|archive-date=February 5, 2025}}</ref><ref name="kuchar1">{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/milwaukee/articles/corruption-of-the-damned-a-conversation-with-georg,39685/|quote=Courtney Love and [[Devendra Banhart]] appeared in Kuchar's class pictures before they were famous.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105174700/http://www.avclub.com/milwaukee/articles/corruption-of-the-damned-a-conversation-with-georg%2C39685/|work=[[The A.V. Club]]|title=Corruption of the damned: A conversation with George Kuchar|date=April 8, 2010|first=Angelina|last=Krahn|archive-date=November 5, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="kuchar3">{{cite web|url=http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=film&article=743|work=[[Bay Area Reporter]]|title=Beyond the Planet of the Kuchars|date=April 15, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120629054512/http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=film&article=743|archive-date=June 29, 2012|author=Lamble, David}}</ref> She also took experimental theater courses in [[Oakland, California|Oakland]] taught by [[Whoopi Goldberg]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/whoopi-goldberg-icons|title=Whoopi Goldberg Really, Really Doesn't Care|last=Fitzsimons|first=Amanda|work=[[Glamour (magazine)|Glamour]]|date=September 21, 2018|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924092020/https://www.glamour.com/story/whoopi-goldberg-icons|archive-date=September 24, 2020|access-date=May 30, 2020}}</ref> In 1985, Love submitted an audition tape for the role of [[Nancy Spungen]] in the [[Sid Vicious]] biopic ''[[Sid and Nancy]]'' (1986) and was given a minor supporting role by director [[Alex Cox]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Courtney Love: Force of Nature|work=BBC News Worldwide|date=February 4, 2003|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2725377.stm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306040614/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2725377.stm|archive-date=March 6, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/milwaukee/events/it-came-from-kuchar,155451|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104024331/http://www.avclub.com/milwaukee/events/it-came-from-kuchar%2C155451|work=The A.V. Club|title=It Came From Kuchar|date=June 15, 2010|archive-date=November 4, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> After filming ''Sid and Nancy'' in New York City, she worked at a [[peep show]] in [[Times Square]] and [[squatting|squatted]] at the [[ABC No Rio]] social center and [[Pyramid Club (New York)|Pyramid Club]] in the [[East Village, Manhattan|East Village]].<ref name="scordelis">{{cite news|url=http://www.papermag.com/2014/08/courtney_love.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008140750/http://www.papermag.com/2014/08/courtney_love.php|archive-date=October 8, 2015|work=[[Paper (magazine)|Paper]]|title=Courtney Love Brings Anarchy to Hollywood|author=Scordelis, Alex|date=September 1, 2014}}</ref>{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=93}} That year, Cox cast her in a leading role in his film ''[[Straight to Hell (film)|Straight to Hell]]'' (1987),{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=187}} a [[Spaghetti Western]] starring [[Joe Strummer]], [[Dennis Hopper]], and [[Grace Jones]], shot in Spain in 1986.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=89}}<ref>{{cite news|work=[[San Francisco Examiner]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53634115/|date=June 28, 1987|title=Actress Love's Story Takes Happy Turn|page=233|via=Newspapers.com|last=Snyder|first=Michael}}</ref> The film was poorly reviewed by critics,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2011/03/why-alex-cox-returned-to-straight-to-hell-243434/|work=[[IndieWire]]|title=Why Alex Cox Returned 'Straight to Hell'|author=''IndieWire'' Staff|date=March 4, 2011|archive-date=August 27, 2022|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220827085848/https://www.indiewire.com/2011/03/why-alex-cox-returned-to-straight-to-hell-243434/|access-date=August 27, 2022}}</ref> but it caught the attention of [[Andy Warhol]], who featured Love in an episode of ''[[Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/22/arts/warhol-where-and-when.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240408002056/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/22/arts/warhol-where-and-when.html|archive-date=April 8, 2024|url-status=live|title=Warhol: Where and When|date=February 22, 1991|page=9|author=''The New York Times'' Staff}}</ref> She also had a part in the 1988 [[Ramones]] music video for "[[I Wanna Be Sedated]]", appearing as a bride among dozens of party guests.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com.ar/1508499-rescate-emotivo-i-wanna-be-sedated-de-ramones|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324013234/http://www.rollingstone.com.ar/1508499-rescate-emotivo-i-wanna-be-sedated-de-ramones|archive-date=March 24, 2016|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] Argentina|title=Rescate emotivo: "I Wanna Be Sedated" de Ramones|url-status=dead|date=September 14, 2012}}</ref>{{sfn|Mitchell|Reid-Walsh|2007|p=409}}<ref name=oxford>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/hole/49737|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623214658/http://www.nme.com/news/hole/49737|archive-date=June 23, 2016|title=Courtney Love blasts UK music scene and slags off 'America's Sweetheart' during Oxford Union speech|date=February 13, 2010|work=[[NME]]}}</ref>

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 of [[McMinnville, Oregon|McMinnville]].{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 22:15}} This prompted Love to go into isolation and relocate to [[Anchorage, Alaska]], where she lived for three months to "gather her thoughts", supporting herself by working at a strip club frequented by local fishermen.{{sfn|Yarm|2011|p=216}} "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 of [[vision 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."{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=94}}

===1988–1991: Beginnings of Hole===
{{Main|Hole (band)|Pretty on the Inside}}
{{quote box|width=23%|bgcolor=#f6ebff|align=right|quote=She was the most [[gung-ho]] person I've ever met&nbsp;... 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.|source=–Don Fleming, who co-produced Hole's debut album with [[Kim Gordon]], on Love{{Sfn|Chick|2008|p=171}}}}

[[File:Hole 1989 LA.jpg|thumb|left|180px|upright=.9|Love performing with Hole, 1989|alt=Woman in dress playing guitar, with a man in background]]
At the end of 1988, Love taught herself to play guitar and relocated to Los Angeles,{{sfn|Yarm|2011|p=217}} where she placed an ad in a local music zine: "I want to start a band. My influences are [[Big Black]], [[Sonic Youth]], and [[Fleetwood Mac]]."{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=100}} By 1989, Love had recruited guitarist [[Eric Erlandson]]; bassist Lisa Roberts, her neighbor; and drummer Caroline Rue, whom she met at a [[Gwar]] concert.<ref name="first" /> Love named the band [[Hole (band)|Hole]] after a line from [[Euripides]]' ''[[Medea (play)|Medea]]''{{Sfn|Raphael|1996|p=2}} ("There is a hole that pierces right through me")<ref name=france>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1eICAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA41|title=Feminism Amplified|journal=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|first=Kim|last=France|date=June 3, 1996|page=41|via=[[Google Books]]}} {{free access}}</ref> and a conversation in which her mother told her that she could not live her life "with a hole running through her".{{sfn|Reisfeld|1996|p=64}} On July 23, 1989, Love married [[Leaving Trains]] vocalist James Moreland in Las Vegas;<ref>{{cite web|work=Nevada Marriage Index, 1956-2005|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VVJX-6P7|date= September 20, 2019|title=James Arthur Moreland and Courtney Michelle Menely, 1989|access-date=December 23, 2020}} {{closed access}}</ref> the marriage was [[annulment|annulled]] the same year.<ref name=nyrock>{{cite web|url=http://www.nyrock.com/features/courtneylove.htm|work=NY Rock|title=Courtney Love: The Life of Love|first=Jeff|last=Apter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980209043432/http://www.nyrock.com/features/courtneylove.htm|archive-date=February 9, 1998}}</ref> She later said that Moreland was a [[transvestism|transvestite]] and that they had married "as a joke".{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=102}} After forming Hole, Love and Erlandson had a romantic relationship that lasted over a year.{{sfn|Erlandson|2012|p=7}}

In Hole's formative stages, Love continued to work at strip clubs in Hollywood (including [[Jumbo's Clown Room]] and the Seventh Veil),{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=100}} saving money to purchase [[backline (stage)|backline]] equipment and a touring van,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laweekly.com/music/courtney-love-talks-about-her-la-stripper-days-and-her-brawl-with-a-weekly-writer-4167587|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181218181226/https://www.laweekly.com/music/courtney-love-talks-about-her-la-stripper-days-and-her-brawl-with-a-weekly-writer-4167587|archive-date=December 18, 2018|work=LA Weekly|title=Courtney Love Talks About Her L.A. Stripper Days, and Her Brawl with a Weekly Writer|date=August 26, 2013|author=Lecaro, Lina}}</ref> while rehearsing at a Hollywood studio loaned to her by the [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]].<ref name=opie /> Hole played their first show in November 1989 at [[Raji's]], a rock club in central Hollywood.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=103}} Their debut single, "[[Retard Girl]]", was issued in April 1990 through the Long Beach indie label [[Sympathy for the Record Industry]] and was played by [[Rodney Bingenheimer]] on local rock station [[KROQ-FM|KROQ]].<ref name="etrue" /> Hole appeared on the cover of ''[[Flipside (fanzine)|Flipside]]'', a Los Angeles-based punk [[fanzine]].<ref name="first" /> In early 1991, they released their second single, "[[Dicknail]]", through [[Sub Pop Records]].<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302221954/https://www.subpop.com/releases/hole/dicknail_burn_black|archive-date=March 2, 2016|url=https://www.subpop.com/releases/hole/dicknail_burn_black|work=Sub Pop Records|title=Hole: Dicknail/Burn Black}}</ref>

{{listen|filename=Garbadge_Man_by_Hole_-_sample.ogg|title="Garbadge Man"|description=Track from ''[[Pretty on the Inside]]'' (1991), illustrating Love's aggressive vocals and heavy noise rock-influenced guitar.|format=[[Ogg]]}}
With [[no wave]], [[noise rock]], and [[grindcore]] bands being major influences on Love,<ref name="first" /> Hole's first studio album, ''[[Pretty on the Inside]]'', captured an abrasive sound and contained disturbing, graphic lyrics,<ref name=tunes>{{cite news|work=[[The Guardian]]|title=Calling the tune|author=Evans, Liz|date=December 11, 1991|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22821312/the_guardian/}}</ref><ref name=condran>{{cite news|work=[[The Courier-Post]]|date=November 7, 1991|title=Hole's graphic lyrics make the difference|author=Condran, Ed|page=2D|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22821361/courierpost/}}</ref> described by ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' as "confrontational [and] genuinely uninhibited".<ref name="Q">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]]|title=Review: Pretty on the Inside by Hole|date=October 1995|page=138|issn=0955-4955}}</ref> The record was released in September 1991 on [[Caroline Records]], produced by [[Kim Gordon]] of Sonic Youth with assistant production from [[Gumball (band)|Gumball]]'s Don Fleming; Love and Gordon had met when Hole opened for Sonic Youth during their promotional tour for ''[[Goo (album)|Goo]]'' at the [[Whisky a Go Go]] in November 1990.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317071256/http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/cc/110190.html|archive-date=March 17, 2016|url=http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/cc/110190.html|work=Sonic Youth Official Website|title=Sonic Youth: 11/01/90 – Los Angeles, California at The Whiskey}}</ref> In early 1991, Love sent Gordon a personal letter asking her to produce the record for the band, to which she agreed.<ref name=condran/>{{Sfn|Love|2006|p=116}}

''Pretty on the Inside'' received generally positive critical reception from indie and punk rock critics{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=114}} and was named one of the 20 best albums of the year by ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]''.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=December 1991|title=20 Best Albums of the Year|page=122|author=Spencer, Lauren|issn=0886-3032|via=Google Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5zrzfgLFgUYC|volume=7|issue=9}}</ref> It gained a following in the United Kingdom, charting at 59 on the [[UK Albums Chart]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/albums/pretty%20on%20the%20inside/ |title=Pretty on the Inside |website=[[Officialcharts.com]] |access-date=October 10, 2019 }}</ref> and its lead single, "[[Teenage Whore]]", entered the [[UK Indie Chart]] at number one.<ref>{{cite episode|title=Indie Charts: September 28, 1991|series=[[The Chart Show|The ITV Chart Show]]|network=Channel 4|date=September 28, 1991}}</ref> The album's feminist slant led many to tag the band as part of the [[riot grrrl]] movement,{{sfn|Bogdanov|Erlewine|Woodstra|2002|p=532}} a movement with which Love did not associate.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=October 2005|pages=70–72|title=Courtney Love: Let the healing begin|author=Reilly, Phoebe|issn=0886-3032|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jOIh4tn8TGYC|volume=21|issue=10|via=Google Books}}</ref>{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=117}} The band toured in support of the record, headlining with [[Mudhoney]] in Europe; in the United States, they opened for the [[Smashing pumpkins|Smashing Pumpkins]],<ref name="cromelin" /> and performed at [[CBGB]] in New York City.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/6414266/cbgb-10-classic-moments|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|title=CBGB: 10 Classic Moments That Helped Define the Birthplace of Punk|author=Richin, Leslie|date=December 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151207043025/http://www.billboard.com/articles/6414266/cbgb-10-classic-moments|archive-date=December 7, 2015}}</ref>

During the tour, Love briefly dated Smashing Pumpkins frontman [[Billy Corgan]]{{sfn|Yarm|2011|pages=297–298}} and then the [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] frontman [[Kurt Cobain]].<ref name=cross>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/04/the-moment-kurt-cobain-met-courtney-love.html|work=[[The Daily Beast]]|title=The Moment Kurt Cobain Met Courtney Love|date=April 5, 2014|author=Cross, Charles|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170609113438/http://www.thedailybeast.com/the-moment-kurt-cobain-met-courtney-love|archive-date=June 9, 2017}}</ref> The journalist [[Michael Azerrad]] states that Love and Cobain met in 1989 at the [[Satyricon (nightclub)|Satyricon]] nightclub in Portland, Oregon. However, the Cobain biographer [[Charles R. Cross|Charles Cross]] gives the date as February 12, 1990; Cross said that Cobain playfully wrestled Love to the floor after she said that he looked like [[Dave Pirner]] of [[Soul Asylum]].{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=99}} According to Love, she met Cobain at a [[Dharma Bums (band)|Dharma Bums]] show in Portland,{{sfn|Green|2003|pages=69–70}}{{sfn|Yarm|2011|p=294}} while Love's bandmate Eric Erlandson said that he and Love were introduced to Cobain in a parking lot after a concert at the [[Hollywood Palladium]] on May 17, 1991.{{sfn|Erlandson|2012|p=7}} In late 1991, Love and Cobain became re-acquainted through [[Jennifer Finch]], one of Love's friends and former bandmates.{{sfn|Green|2003|p=70}}{{sfn|Yarm|2011|p=299}} Love and Cobain were a couple by 1992.<ref>{{cite news|work=Wales Online|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/night-kurt-cobain-courtney-love-13249039|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004115541/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/night-kurt-cobain-courtney-love-13249039|archive-date=October 4, 2018|title=The night Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love came to Newport - told by the people who were there|last=McCarthy|first=James|date=June 29, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=[[BBC]]|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/history/pages/kurt-courtney-newport.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410072831/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/history/pages/kurt-courtney-newport.shtml|archive-date=April 10, 2019|title=Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love in Newport|url-status=live|date=July 6, 2010}}</ref>

=== 1992–1995: Marriage to Kurt Cobain, ''Live Through This'' and breakthrough ===
{{quote box|align=right|width=22%|bgcolor=#f6ebff|quote=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{{en dash}}a vilified light that made Yoko Ono look like [[Pollyanna]]{{en dash}}and I couldn't stop it.|source=–Love on her public image after marrying Kurt Cobain<ref>{{cite web|work=[[V (American magazine)|V]]|title=Courtney Love on ''Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck''|url=https://www.vmagazine.com/site/content/4111/courtney-love-on-kurt-cobain-montage-of-heck|date=May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905212809/https://www.vmagazine.com/site/content/4111/courtney-love-on-kurt-cobain-montage-of-heck|archive-date=September 5, 2015|author=Sandberg, Patrik}}</ref>}}

Shortly after completing the tour for ''Pretty on the Inside'', Love married Cobain on [[Waikiki Beach]] on February 24, 1992.<ref name=encore/> She wore a satin and lace dress once owned by the actress [[Frances Farmer]], and Cobain wore plaid pajamas.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=131}} During Love's pregnancy, Hole recorded a cover of "Over the Edge" for a [[Wipers (band)|Wipers]] tribute album,<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=Ask For It|others=Hole|year=1995|publisher=Caroline Records|id=CAROL 1470-1}}</ref> 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.<ref name="encore">{{cite magazine |author=Sinclair, Tom |date=February 19, 1999 |title=Encore: Kurt and Courtney's wedding |url=https://ew.com/article/1999/02/19/encore-kurt-and-courtneys-wedding/ |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]}}</ref> They relocated to [[Carnation, Washington]], and then Seattle.<ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/travel/chasing-kurt-cobain-in-washington-state.html|title=Chasing Kurt Cobain in Washington State|author=Seminara, Dave|date=March 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150828172450/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/travel/chasing-kurt-cobain-in-washington-state.html|archive-date=August 28, 2015}}</ref>{{sfn|Brite|1998|pages=147–150}}

Love's first major media exposure came in a September 1992 profile with Cobain for ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' by [[Lynn Hirschberg]], entitled "Strange Love".{{sfn|Yarm|2011|pages=364–366}} Cobain had become a major public figure following the surprise success of Nirvana's album ''[[Nevermind]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Freedland|first=Jonathan|date=April 5, 2014|title=Kurt Cobain: an icon of alienation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/from-the-archive-blog/2014/apr/05/kurt-cobain-an-icon-of-alienation|access-date=August 23, 2018|website=[[The Guardian]]|language=en}}</ref> Love was urged by her manager to participate in the cover story.{{sfn|Yarm|2011|p=365}} 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.{{sfn|Yarm|2011|p=367}} The [[Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services]] investigated, and custody of Frances was temporarily awarded to Love's sister Jaimee.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=142}} Love said she was misquoted by Hirschberg, and that she had immediately quit heroin during her [[first trimester]] once she discovered she was pregnant.{{sfn|Yarm|2011|p=365}}<ref name="lbarton">{{Cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043445/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/dec/11/biography.popandrock|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/dec/11/biography.popandrock|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|title=Love me do|first=Laura|last=Barton|date=December 11, 2006}}</ref><ref name=RSQuote>{{cite magazine|last1=Sirota|first1=Peggy|date=November 13, 1997|title=Women of Rock: Courtney Love|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|issue=773|page=163}}</ref> Love later said the article had serious implications for her marriage and Cobain's mental state,{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 36:42}}{{sfn|Yarm|2011|pages=367–368}}{{sfn|Raphael|1995|p=17}} suggesting it was a factor in [[Suicide of Kurt Cobain|his suicide two years later]].{{sfn|Yarm|2011|p=365}}<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Yahoo!]]|author=Car, Erin|title=Courtney Love Blames Lynn Hirschberg For Kurt Cobain's Death|date=May 26, 2011|archive-date=October 8, 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20171008105410/https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/blogs/thefamous/courtney-love-blames-lynn-hirschberg-kurt-cobain-death-070708985.html|url=https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/blogs/thefamous/courtney-love-blames-lynn-hirschberg-kurt-cobain-death-070708985.html|url-status=dead|access-date=October 8, 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Courtney Love 1995 by Andrzej Liguz.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.9|Love performing with Hole at [[Big Day Out]], [[Melbourne]], 1995|alt=Woman playing guitar and screaming into microphone]]
On September 8, 1993, Love and Cobain made their only public performance together at the Rock Against Rape benefit in Hollywood, performing two [[acoustic music|acoustic]] duets of "[[Pennyroyal Tea]]" and "[[Where Did You Sleep Last Night]]".<ref name="rar">{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1XjH458f108C&pg=PA46|author1=Gladstone, Eric|author2=Roberts, Michael|author3=Smith, Roger Len|journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=December 1993|page=46|volume=9|issue=9|title=The Ballad of Kurt and Courtney|issn=0886-3032|via=Google Books}} {{Free access}}</ref> Love also performed electric versions of two new Hole songs, "[[Doll Parts]]" and "[[Miss World (song)|Miss World]]", both written for their upcoming second album.<ref name="rar" /> In October 1993, Hole recorded their second album, ''[[Live Through This]]'', in Atlanta. The album featured a new lineup with bassist [[Kristen Pfaff]] and drummer [[Patty Schemel]].{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 49:29}}

In April 1994, [[Suicide of Kurt Cobain|Cobain killed himself]] in the Seattle home he shared with Love, who was in rehab in Los Angeles at the time.{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 49:29}} In the following months, Love was rarely seen in public, staying at her home with friends and family.<ref name="tour" /> Cobain's remains were [[cremation|cremated]] and his ashes divided into portions by Love, who kept some in a teddy bear and some in an urn.<ref name="tour">{{cite news|title=Kurt Cobain's Final Tour|work=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]|url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a19776/kurt-cobains-final-tour-0296/|date=February 1996|author=Dickinson, Amy|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241214055441/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a19776/kurt-cobains-final-tour-0296/|archive-date=December 14, 2024}}</ref> In June, she traveled to the [[Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies|Namgyal Buddhist Monastery]] in [[Ithaca, New York]] and had Cobain's ashes ceremonially blessed by Buddhist monks. Another portion was mixed into clay and made into memorial sculptures.<ref name="tour" />

''Live Through This'' was released one week after Cobain's death, on [[Geffen Records|Geffen]]'s subsidiary label [[DGC Records|DGC]].{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 49:29}} On June 16, Pfaff died of a heroin overdose in Seattle.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Hajari, Nisid |date=July 8, 1994 |title=Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff found dead |url=https://ew.com/article/1994/07/08/hole-bassist-kristen-pfaff-found-dead/ |url-status=bot: unknown |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930034019/https://ew.com/article/1994/07/08/hole-bassist-kristen-pfaff-found-dead/ |archive-date=September 30, 2018}}</ref> For Hole's impending tour, Love recruited the Canadian bassist [[Melissa Auf der Maur]].{{sfn|Reisfeld|1996|p=75}} Hole's performance on August 26, 1994, at the [[Reading Festival]]—Love's first public performance following Cobain's death<ref name="aaron spin">{{cite journal |last=Aaron |first=Charles |date=November 1994 |title=Hole: Live |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CtXO3_Rfo7YC&pg=PA90E |journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |volume=16 |issue=4 |page=90 |issn=0886-3032 |via=Google Books}}</ref>{{sfn|Irvin|2008|p=609}}—was described by [[MTV]] as "by turns macabre, frightening and inspirational".<ref>{{cite web |last=Green |first=Stuart |title=Foo Fighters Inspire Mad Madness at Reading '95 |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/504625/foo-fighters-inspire-madness-at-reading-95/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614072031/http://www.mtv.com/news/504625/foo-fighters-inspire-madness-at-reading-95/ |archive-date=June 14, 2018 |work=[[MTV]]}}</ref> [[John Peel]] wrote in ''[[The Guardian]]'' that Love's disheveled appearance "would have drawn whistles of astonishment in [[Bethlem Royal Hospital|Bedlam]]", and that her performance "verged on the heroic&nbsp;... Love steered her band through a set which dared you to pity either her recent history or that of the band&nbsp;... The band teetered on the edge of chaos, generating a tension which I cannot remember having felt before from any stage."{{sfn|Cavanagh|2015|loc=chapter: ''The Hall of Fame'', 1995}}

''Live Through This'' was [[Music recording sales certification|certified platinum]] in April 1995 and received numerous accolades.{{sfn|Mitchell|Reid-Walsh|2007|p=409}} The success combined with Cobain's suicide produced publicity for Love, and she was featured on [[Barbara Walters]]' ''[[Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People|10 Most Fascinating People]]'' in 1995.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=213}} Her erratic onstage behavior and various legal troubles during Hole's tour compounded the media coverage of her.<ref name="strauss">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/18/arts/critic-s-notebook-a-singer-spurns-the-role-of-victim.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=Critic's Notebook; A Singer Spurns The Role Of Victim|author=Strauss, Neil|author-link=Neil Strauss|date=February 18, 1995|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927064335/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/18/arts/critic-s-notebook-a-singer-spurns-the-role-of-victim.html|archive-date=September 27, 2016}}</ref> 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.<ref name="aaron spin" /><ref name=smith>{{cite magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207221706/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C298095%2C00.html|archive-date=December 7, 2014|url=https://ew.com/article/1995/07/28/courtney-love-causes-trouble-lollapolooza/|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|title=Love's Hate Fest|author=Smith, Ethan|date=July 28, 1995|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 into [[Tourette 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."<ref name=boston>{{cite web|url=http://www.celebrateboston.com/strange/courtney-love-rant.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930081209/http://www.celebrateboston.com/strange/courtney-love-rant.htm|archive-date=September 30, 2018|work=Celebrate Boston|title=Courtney Love Rant in Boston, 1994|publisher=CelebrateBoston.com}}</ref>

In January 1995, Love was arrested in Melbourne for disrupting a [[Qantas]] flight after getting into an argument with a flight attendant.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/court-orders-courtney-love-to-be-good-for-one-3048102.php|title=Court Orders Courtney Love To 'Be Good' for One Month|date=January 24, 1995|website=[[SFGate]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250716105341/https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/court-orders-courtney-love-to-be-good-for-one-3048102.php|archive-date=July 16, 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> On July 4, 1995, at the [[Lollapalooza Festival]] in [[George, Washington]], Love threw a lit cigarette at musician [[Kathleen Hanna]] before punching her in the face, alleging that she had made a joke about her daughter.<ref>{{cite magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511143058/http://www.ew.com/article/1995/07/28/courtney-love-causes-trouble-lollapolooza|archive-date=May 11, 2016|url=https://www.ew.com/article/1995/07/28/courtney-love-causes-trouble-lollapolooza|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|title=Courtney Love causes trouble at Lollapolooza|author=Smith, Ethan|date=July 28, 1995}}</ref> She pleaded guilty to an [[assault]] charge and was sentenced to [[anger management]] classes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/506111/lollapalooza-back-biting-thurston-moore-squeals-on-courtney/|work=[[MTV]]|title=Lollapalooza Back Biting: Thurston Squeals on Courtney|date=July 9, 1995|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206104028/http://www.mtv.com/news/506111/lollapalooza-back-biting-thurston-moore-squeals-on-courtney/|archive-date=February 6, 2017|url-status=dead|author=''MTV News'' Staff}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eonline.com/news/36483/writer-sues-courtney-love-for-alleged-attack|work=[[E! Online]]|title=Writer Sues Courtney Love for Alleged Attack|last=Frankel|first=Daniel|date=May 29, 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214061759/https://www.eonline.com/news/36483/writer-sues-courtney-love-for-alleged-attack|archive-date=February 14, 2019|access-date=February 13, 2019|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Orlando Sentinel]]|title=Case Against Courtney Love Thrown Out|date=November 7, 1995|author=Salamone, Debbie|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1995/11/07/case-against-courtney-love-thrown-out/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614044732/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1995-11-07/news/9511070076_1_courtney-love-judge-love-attorney|archive-date=June 14, 2018}}</ref> Love later said she had little memory of 1994 and 1995,<ref name=opie /> as she had been using large quantities of heroin and [[Flunitrazepam|Rohypnol]] at the time.<ref name=opie>{{cite interview|interviewer1=[[Gregg Hughes]]|interviewer2=[[Anthony Cumia]]|interviewer3=[[Jim Norton (comedian)|Jim Norton]]|last=Love|first=Courtney|date=May 30, 2013|series=''[[Opie and Anthony]]''|publisher=[[Sirius Satellite Radio]]|title=Courtney Love in Studio|url-status=bot: unknown|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUA98nxYLXE|archive-date=April 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230413025624/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUA98nxYLXE|access-date=April 13, 2023}}</ref>{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 1:02:31}}

===1996–2002: Acting success and ''Celebrity Skin''===
{{quote box
| width = 27%
| align = right
| bgcolor = #f6ebff
| quote = 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.
| source = –Love on her role in ''The People vs. Larry Flynt'' (1996)<ref>{{cite news|author=Moran, Caitlin|title=The girl who wanted to be God|work=[[Select (magazine)|Select]]|date=September 1999|page=92}}</ref>
}}

After Hole's world tour concluded in 1996, Love made a return to acting, first in small roles in the [[Jean-Michel Basquiat]] biopic ''[[Basquiat (film)|Basquiat]]'' and the drama ''[[Feeling Minnesota]]'' (1996),{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=204}} and then a starring role as [[Larry Flynt]]'s wife [[Althea Flynt|Althea]] in [[Miloš Forman]]'s critically acclaimed 1996 film ''[[The 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 of [[Columbia Pictures]] while filming, and passed all of them.<ref name="ic" />{{Sfn|Roshan|2012|p=44}} Despite Columbia Pictures' initial reluctance to hire Love due to her troubled past,<ref name="ic">{{cite web|url=http://www.industrycentral.net/director_interviews/MIFO01.HTM|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709195759/http://industrycentral.net/director_interviews/MIFO01.HTM|archive-date=July 9, 2015|work=Industry Central|title=Milos Forman (The People vs Larry Flynt)}}</ref> her performance received acclaim, earning a [[Golden Globe Award|Golden Globe]] nomination for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama|Best Actress]],{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=227}} and a [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/people_vs_larry_flynt/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025010957/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/people_vs_larry_flynt/|archive-date=October 25, 2011|title=The People Vs. Larry Flynt|work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|year=2011|access-date=November 1, 2011|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> Critic [[Roger 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."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19961227/REVIEWS/612270303/1023|date=December 27, 1996|first=Roger|last=Ebert|work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|title=People vs. Larry Flynt|author-link=Roger Ebert|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224232250/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19961227%2FREVIEWS%2F612270303%2F1023|archive-date=December 24, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> She won several other awards from various film critic associations for the film.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/154449/The-People-vs-Larry-Flynt/awards|title=The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) awards|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306144103/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/154449/The-People-vs-Larry-Flynt/awards|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2016|archive-date=March 6, 2016}}</ref>{{sfn|Brite|1998|pages=227–228}} During this time, Love maintained what the media noted as a more decorous public image,<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|url=https://ew.com/article/1997/01/10/hole-truth-courtney-love/|author=''Entertainment Weekly'' Staff|title=The Hole truth: Courtney Love|date=January 10, 1997|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614071904/http://ew.com/article/1997/01/10/hole-truth-courtney-love/|archive-date=June 14, 2018}}</ref> and she appeared in ad campaigns for [[Versace]]<ref>{{Cite magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306092223/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/04/06/versace-advertising-spread-featuring-courtney-love|archive-date=March 6, 2016|url=https://www.newyorker.com/archive/1998/04/06/1998_04_06_049_TNY_LIBRY_000015291|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|title=Versace advertising spread featuring Courtney Love|date=April 6, 1998|page=49|first=Richard|last=Avedon|author-link=Richard Avedon}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/courtney-love-fashion-_n_3561160.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327042008/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/courtney-love-fashion-_n_3561160.html|archive-date=March 27, 2017|work=[[HuffPost|The Huffington Post]]|title=Courtney Love Is Fashion's Biggest Badass|date=July 9, 2013|author=Persad, Michelle}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20126656,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317102547/http://people.com/archive/cover-story-altered-states-vol-50-no-16/|archive-date=March 17, 2018|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|title=Altered States|author=O'Neill, Anne-Marie|volume=50|date=November 2, 1998}}</ref> and in a ''[[Vogue Italia]]'' spread.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vogue.it/news/encyclo/personaggi/l/courtney-love|work=[[Vogue Italia]]|title=Courtney Love|archive-date=June 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603051510/http://www.vogue.it/news/encyclo/personaggi/l/courtney-love}}</ref> Following the release of ''The People vs. Larry Flynt'', she dated her co-star [[Edward Norton]], with whom she remained until 1999.<ref name="actually">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article630036.ece|title=Love, actually|last=Moran|first=Caitlin|date=November 9, 2006|work=[[The Times]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313215619/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article630036.ece|archive-date=March 13, 2007}}</ref><ref name="ed">{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/03/14/2010-03-14_courtney_love_says_edward_norton_is_mediator_between_her_and_daughter_frances_be.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105013925/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/courtney-love-edward-norton-mediator-daughter-frances-bean-article-1.167270|archive-date=November 5, 2013|work=[[New York Daily News]]|date=March 14, 2010|title=Courtney Love Says Edward Norton is Mediator Between her and Daughter Frances Bean|author=Rush & Molloy}}</ref>

In late 1997, Hole released the compilations ''[[My Body, the Hand Grenade]]'' and ''[[The 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/war-rosses-splitsville-stock-article-1.789748|work=[[Daily News (New York)|New York Daily News]]|title=War of the Rosses: What's Value of Splitsville Stock?|first1=George|last1=Rush|first2=Joanna|last2=Molloy|first3=Marcus|last3=Baram|date=May 31, 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307052010/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/war-rosses-splitsville-stock-article-1.789748|archive-date=March 7, 2016}}</ref> In September 1998, Hole released their third studio album, ''[[Celebrity Skin]]'', which featured a stark [[power pop]] sound that contrasted with their earlier punk influences.<ref name="int" /> Love divulged her ambition of making an album where "art meets commerce&nbsp;... there are no compromises made, it has commercial appeal, and it sticks to [our] original vision."<ref name="int" /> She said she was influenced by [[Neil Young]], Fleetwood Mac, and [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]] when writing the album.<ref name="int">{{cite AV media notes|title=The Interview|others=Hole|year=1998|type=CD|publisher=Geffen|id=PRO-CD-1232}}</ref>{{Sfn|Hole et al.|1999|p=3}} Smashing Pumpkins frontman [[Billy 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&nbsp;... a basic guitar record that's anything but basic."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/celebrity-skin-19980901|title=James Hunter reviews Celebrity Skin|last=Hunter|first=James|date=September 1, 1998|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426024647/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/celebrity-skin-19980901|archive-date=April 26, 2016}}</ref> ''Celebrity Skin'' went multi-platinum, and topped "Best of Year" lists at ''Spin'' and ''[[The Village Voice]]''.{{sfn|Mitchell|Reid-Walsh|2007|p=409}} It garnered Hole's only number-one single on the [[Modern Rock Tracks]] chart with "[[Celebrity Skin (song)|Celebrity Skin]]".<ref>{{cite magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109082738/http://www.billboard.com/charts/alternative-songs/1998-11-07|archive-date=November 9, 2016|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/alternative-songs/1998-11-07|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|title=Alternative Songs: Top Alternative Songs Chart|date=November 7, 1998}}</ref> Hole promoted the album through MTV performances and at the 1998 [[Billboard Music Awards]],<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LgoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA89|date=December 5, 1998|author=Bell, Carrie|page=89|title=DGC's Hole Harnessing a 'Newfound Energy'|via=Google Books}}</ref> and were nominated for three [[Grammy Award]]s at the [[41st Annual Grammy Awards|41st Grammy Awards]] ceremony.<ref name="grammy">{{cite web|title=1999 Grammy Awards&nbsp;– The Big Picture|url=http://edition.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/specials/1999/grammys/bigpicture.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010514233959/http://edition.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/specials/1999/grammys/bigpicture.html|archive-date=May 14, 2001|work=[[CNN]]|date=February 24, 1999}}</ref>

Before the release of ''Celebrity Skin'', Love and [[Fender Musical Instruments Corporation|Fender]] designed a low-priced [[Squier]] brand guitar, the [[Squier Venus|Vista Venus]].<ref name="hole tones">{{cite magazine|date=January 1999|title=Hole Tones: The Secrets Of Celebrity Skin's Smooth Sound|url=http://www.geocities.com/erictribute/gw199.html|url-status=dead|magazine=[[Guitar World]]|volume=19|issue=1|page=55|issn=1045-6295|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091025034712/http://geocities.com/erictribute/gw199.html|archive-date=October 25, 2009}}</ref> The instrument featured a shape inspired by Mercury, a little-known independent guitar manufacturer,{{sfn|Bacon|2012|p=106}} [[Fender Stratocaster|Stratocaster]], and [[Rickenbacker]]'s [[solid body]] guitars. It had a single-coil and a [[humbucker]] pickup and was available in 6-string and 12-string versions.{{sfn|Bacon|2012|p=106}} 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&nbsp;... 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 one [[pickup (music technology)|pickup switch]]."<ref name="hole tones" />

Hole toured with [[Marilyn Manson]] on the [[Beautiful 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 with [[Interscope Records]].<ref name="99x">{{cite interview|publisher=[[WWWQ-HD2|99X.FM]]|date=June 7, 2002|title=Interview with Courtney Love; "Hold on to Me"|interviewer=Axel Lowe and Jill|first=Courtney|last=Love}}</ref> Hole resumed touring with [[Imperial Teen]].<ref name="MTV Hole Walks Out">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203162558/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430056/hole-walks-out-on-tour-manson-injury-postpones-several-dates.jhtml|archive-date=December 3, 2013|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430056/hole-walks-out-on-tour-manson-injury-postpones-several-dates.jhtml|title=Hole Walks Out on Tour, Manson Injury Postpones Several Dates|author=''MTV News'' Staff|work=[[MTV]]|date=March 15, 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203162524/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430055/marilyn-manson-holes-departure-from-tour-not-personal-thing.jhtml|archive-date=December 3, 2013|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430055/marilyn-manson-holes-departure-from-tour-not-personal-thing.jhtml|title=Marilyn Manson Says Hole's Departure From Tour "Not A Personal Thing"|work=[[MTV]]|date=March 15, 1999|author=''MTV News'' Staff}}</ref> Love later said Hole also abandoned the tour due to Manson and [[Korn]]'s (whom they also toured with in Australia) sexualized treatment of teenage female audience members.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Woodstalkers-On-the-verge-of-a-sonic-sexual-2907258.php|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|title=Woodstalkers / On the verge of a sonic-sexual Dark Age|date=September 16, 1999|author=Chonin, Neva|archive-date=October 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007220101/http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Woodstalkers-On-the-verge-of-a-sonic-sexual-2907258.php}}</ref> Love told interviewers at [[WWWQ-HD2|99X.FM]] in Atlanta: "What I really don't like—there are certain girls that like us, or like me, who are really messed up&nbsp;... they're very young, and they do not need to be taken and raped, or filmed having enema contests&nbsp;... [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&nbsp;... it's just uncool."<ref name="99x" />

In 1999, Love was awarded an [[Orville H. Gibson]] award for Best Female Rock Guitarist.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160214145037/http://www.mtv.com/news/1429013/brian-setzer-courtney-love-john-fogerty-lisa-loeb-honored-at-1999-gibson-guitar-awards/|archive-date=February 14, 2016|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1429013/brian-setzer-courtney-love-john-fogerty-lisa-loeb-honored-at-1999-gibson-guitar-awards/|work=[[MTV]]|title=Brian Setzer, Courtney Love, John Fogerty, Lisa Loeb Honored at 1999 Gibson Guitar Awards|date=February 24, 1999}}</ref> During this time, she starred opposite [[Jim Carrey]] as his partner Lynne Margulies in the [[Andy Kaufman]] biopic ''[[Man on the Moon (film)|Man on the Moon]]'' (1999), followed by a role as [[William S. Burroughs]]'s wife [[Joan Vollmer]] in ''[[Beat (2000 film)|Beat]]'' (2000) alongside [[Kiefer Sutherland]].{{sfn|Hemmer|2006|p=35}} Love was cast as the lead in [[John Carpenter]]'s sci-fi horror film ''[[Ghosts of Mars]]'', but backed out after injuring her foot.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/feb/02/news|author=''The Guardian'' Staff|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|title=Will Courtney Love find time for Paula Yates?|date=February 2, 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509215644/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/feb/02/news|archive-date=May 9, 2014}}</ref> She sued the ex-wife of her then-boyfriend, James Barber, whom Love alleged had caused the injury by running over her foot with her [[Volvo]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/courtney-love-sues-boyfriends-ex-wife-65466/|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|title=Courtney Love Sues Boyfriend's Ex-Wife|last=Saraceno|first=Christina|date=January 5, 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530011445/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/courtney-love-sues-boyfriends-ex-wife-65466/|archive-date=May 30, 2019}}</ref> The following year, she returned to film opposite [[Lili Taylor]] in ''[[Julie Johnson (film)|Julie Johnson]]'' (2001), in which she played a woman who has a lesbian relationship; Love won an Outstanding Actress award at L.A.'s [[Outfest]].<ref name="outfest">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202121151/http://variety.com/2001/film/news/outfest-fetes-g-d-l-i-e-1117850106/|archive-date=February 2, 2016|url=https://variety.com/2001/film/news/outfest-fetes-g-d-l-i-e-1117850106/|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=Outfest fetes 'G-d,' 'L.I.E.'|date=July 23, 2001|author=Kowalski, Eileen|url-status=dead}}</ref> She was then cast in the thriller ''[[Trapped (2002 film)|Trapped]]'' (2002), alongside [[Kevin Bacon]] and [[Charlize Theron]].<ref>{{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306182745/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B06E7D61E30F932A1575AC0A9649C8B63|archive-date=March 6, 2016|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B06E7D61E30F932A1575AC0A9649C8B63|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Trapped (2002) Film Review; When a Perfect Scheme Doesn't Work Perfectly|date=September 21, 2002|first=Stephen|last=Holden|author-link=Stephen Holden}}</ref> The film was a box-office flop.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=trapped.htm|work=[[Box Office Mojo]]|title=Trapped (2002)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120100954/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl2893514241/|archive-date=January 20, 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/trapped-movie-netflix-top-10/|work=[[Screen Rant]]|title=Charlize Theron's Critically Panned Flop Reaches Netflix's US Top Chart 22 Years Later|last=Gearen|first=Hannah|date=January 17, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240121021354/https://screenrant.com/trapped-movie-netflix-top-10/|archive-date=January 21, 2024}}</ref>

In the interim, Hole had become dormant.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hole-call-it-quits-20020524|title=Hole Call It Quits|first=Christina|last=Saraceno|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=May 24, 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209012333/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hole-call-it-quits-20020524|archive-date=December 9, 2015}}</ref> In March 2001, Love began a "punk rock femme [[supergroup (music)|supergroup]]", Bastard, enlisting Schemel, [[Veruca Salt (band)|Veruca Salt]] co-frontwoman [[Louise Post]], and bassist Gina Crosley.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1441415/courtney-love-unveils-lineup-of-femme-punk-project-bastard/|work=[[MTV]]|title=Courtney Love Unveils Lineup of Femme-Punk Project Bastard|date=March 8, 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906174637/http://www.mtv.com/news/1441415/courtney-love-unveils-lineup-of-femme-punk-project-bastard/|archive-date=September 6, 2018|author=Kemp, Rob}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Warts and all|magazine=[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]|issue=30|date=August 2001|page=20|issn=1464-7834}}</ref> The group recorded a demo tape, but by September 2001, Post and Crosley had left, with Post citing "unhealthy and unprofessional working conditions".<ref>{{cite web|work=[[MTV]]|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1448738/love-shopping-bastard-demo-looking-for-new-bandmates/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403173628/http://www.mtv.com/news/1448738/love-shopping-bastard-demo-looking-for-new-bandmates/|archive-date=April 3, 2018|title=Love Shopping Bastard Demo, Looking for New Bandmates|author=Schumacher-Rasmussen, Eric|date=September 7, 2001|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=April 3, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Weston|first=Colin|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006102819/http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/1018|archive-date=October 6, 2008|url=http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/1018|title=Sort The 'Bastard' Out|work=[[Drowned in Sound]]|date=May 4, 2001|url-status=dead}}</ref> In May 2002, Hole announced their breakup amid continuing litigation with [[Universal Music Group]] over their record contract.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gnfF_10jpb8C&pg=PA6|first=Doug|last=Levy|page=6|journal=[[CMJ New Music Report]]|date=December 30, 2002|via=Google Books|title=A Month-by-Month Guide to the Musical Mayhem and Mirth of 2002|volume=74|issue=795}} {{Free access}}</ref>

In 1997, Love and former Nirvana members [[Krist Novoselic]] and [[Dave Grohl]] formed a [[limited liability company]], Nirvana LLC, to manage Nirvana's business dealings.<ref>{{Cite web|last=van Horn|first=Teri|date=June 29, 2001|title=Courtney Love Sues Grohl And Novoselic, Blocks Nirvana Rarity|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/1444878/courtney-love-sues-grohl-and-novoselic-blocks-nirvana-rarity/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010124353/http://www.mtv.com/news/1444878/courtney-love-sues-grohl-and-novoselic-blocks-nirvana-rarity/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 10, 2014|access-date=May 24, 2021|website=[[MTV]]|language=en}}</ref> In June 2001, Love filed a lawsuit to dissolve it, blocking the release of unreleased Nirvana material and delaying the release of the Nirvana compilation ''[[With the Lights Out]]''. Grohl and Novoselic sued Love, calling her "irrational, mercurial, self-centered, unmanageable, inconsistent and unpredictable".<ref name="Grow">{{Cite magazine|last=Grow|first=Kory|date=June 18, 2014|title=Courtney Love: It's Time to 'Make Amends' With Dave Grohl|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/courtney-love-on-dave-grohl-its-time-to-make-amends-90272/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228144536/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/courtney-love-on-dave-grohl-its-time-to-make-amends-90272/|archive-date=February 28, 2025|url-status=live|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Dansby|first=Andrew|date=December 18, 2001|title=Courtney Fires Back|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/courtney-fires-back-235397/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250709102544/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/courtney-fires-back-235397/|archive-date=July 9, 2025|url-status=live|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|language=en-US}}</ref>

===2003–2008: Solo work and legal troubles===
In February 2003, Love was arrested at [[Heathrow Airport]] for disrupting a flight and was banned from [[Virgin Atlantic|Virgin Airlines]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2724499.stm|date=February 5, 2003|author=BBC Staff|work=[[BBC News]]|title=Love blames 'potty mouth' for arrest|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003043606/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2724499.stm|archive-date=October 3, 2016}}</ref> 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;<ref name="smolowe">{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20148514,00.html|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|title=When Love Isn't Enough|author=Smolowe, Jill|date=November 3, 2003|archive-date=March 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321204637/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0%2C%2C20148514%2C00.html|volume=60|number=18|url-status=dead}}</ref> the ordeal resulted in her temporarily losing custody of her daughter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1479936/courtney-lovetrades-blows-with-kurt-cobains-mom.jhtml|work=[[MTV]]|title=Courtney Love Trades Blows With Kurt Cobain's Mom, Admits to Oxycontin OD|first=Gil|last=Kaufman|date=October 24, 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023115625/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1479936/courtney-lovetrades-blows-with-kurt-cobains-mom.jhtml|archive-date=October 23, 2011|access-date=May 26, 2011|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>

After the breakup of Hole, Love began composing material with songwriter [[Linda Perry]], and in July 2003 signed a contract with [[Virgin Records]].<ref name="vineyard">{{cite web|author=Vineyard, Jennifer|date=July 11, 2003|title='A Lot of God and a Lot of Sex' on Courtney Love Solo Album|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1473759/a-lot-of-god-and-a-lot-of-sex-on-courtney-love-solo-album/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403173633/http://www.mtv.com/news/1473759/a-lot-of-god-and-a-lot-of-sex-on-courtney-love-solo-album/|archive-date=April 3, 2018|work=[[MTV]]}}</ref> She began recording her debut solo album, ''[[America's Sweetheart (Courtney Love album)|America's Sweetheart]]'', in France shortly after.{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 1:11:50}} Virgin Records released ''America's Sweetheart'' in February 2004; it received mixed reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/americas-sweetheart/courtney-love|work=Metacritic|title=Reviews for America's Sweetheart by Courtney Love|archive-date=March 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315132635/http://www.metacritic.com/music/americas-sweetheart/courtney-love|url-status=dead}}</ref> Charles Aaron of ''Spin'' called it a "jaw-dropping act of artistic will and a fiery, proper follow-up to 1994's ''Live Through This''" and awarded it eight out of ten,<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150917064020/http://www.spin.com/reviews/courtney-love-americas-sweetheart-virgin|archive-date=September 17, 2015|url=http://www.spin.com/reviews/courtney-love-americas-sweetheart-virgin|title=Courtney Love, America's Sweetheart Review|author=Aaron, Charles|work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=March 9, 2004}}</ref> while Amy Phillips of ''The 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?"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0408/phillips.php|work=The Village Voice|date=February 23, 2004|first=Amy|last=Phillips|archive-date=March 7, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040307145925/http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0408/phillips.php|title=A big juicy fuckup for hissyfit-having little girls who hate being little girls}}</ref> The album sold fewer than 100,000 copies.{{sfn|Mitchell|Reid-Walsh|2007|p=409}} Love later expressed regret over the record,<ref name=bozza>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/arts/music/18courtney.html|title=Courtney Love's Music Therapy|url-status=live|author=Bozza, Anthony|date=April 15, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418084030/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/arts/music/18courtney.html|archive-date=April 18, 2010}}</ref> blaming her drug problems at the time.<ref name=jazz>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/10743170/Courtney-Love-interview-There-will-be-no-jazz-hands-on-Smells-Like-Teen-Spirit.html|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|title=Courtney Love interview: 'There will be no jazz hands on Smells Like Teen Spirit'|first=Neil|last=McCormick|date=April 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008032214/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/10743170/Courtney-Love-interview-There-will-be-no-jazz-hands-on-Smells-Like-Teen-Spirit.html|archive-date=October 8, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Shortly after it was released, she told [[Kurt Loder]] on ''[[Total Request Live|TRL]]'': "I cannot exist as a solo artist. It's a joke."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1485868/courtney-love-grievous-angel-the-interview-with-kurt-loder/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123072354/http://www.mtv.com/news/1485868/courtney-love-grievous-angel-the-interview-with-kurt-loder/|archive-date=January 23, 2018|work=[[MTV]]|author=''MTV News'' Staff|title=Love, Grievous Angel: The Interview with Kurt Loder|date=March 19, 2004|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=April 3, 2018}}</ref>

On March 17, 2004, Love appeared on the ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]'' to promote ''America's Sweetheart''.<ref name=sanneh/> Her appearance drew media coverage when she lifted her shirt multiple times,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4553516|title=Courtney Love Arrested in New York|work=[[MSNBC]]|date=March 25, 2004|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120702223108/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/4553516|archive-date=July 2, 2012|url-status=live|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref> [[Exhibitionism|flashed]] Letterman, and stood on his desk.<ref name=sanneh>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/20/arts/rock-review-love-lives-through-this-rasping-take-care-of-me.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Rock Review; Love Lives Through This, Rasping 'Take Care of Me'|author=Sanneh, Kelefa|date=March 20, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210144825/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/20/arts/rock-review-love-lives-through-this-rasping-take-care-of-me.html|archive-date=February 10, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The ''New 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."<ref name=dewan>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=From Flashing Letterman to Seeing a Flash of the Badge|date=March 19, 2004|author=Dewan, Shaila K.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324055640/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/19/nyregion/from-flashing-letterman-to-seeing-a-flash-of-the-badge.html|archive-date=March 24, 2018|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/19/nyregion/from-flashing-letterman-to-seeing-a-flash-of-the-badge.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 the [[East Village, Manhattan|East Village]].<ref name=dewan/> She was released within hours and performed a scheduled concert the following evening at the [[Bowery Ballroom]].<ref name=dewan/> Four days later, she called in multiple times to ''[[The Howard Stern Show]]'', claiming in broadcast conversations with Stern that the incident had not occurred, and that actress [[Natasha 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.<ref>{{cite interview|interviewer=Courtney Love|work=The Howard Stern Show|title=Courtney Love call|date=March 22, 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marksfriggin.com/news04/3-22.htm|work=Marks Friggin|date=January 25, 2006|title=For the week of 3/22/2004 to 3/26/2004|series=Howard Stern|access-date=October 3, 2016|author=Mercer, Mark}}</ref>

On July 9, 2004, her 40th birthday, Love was arrested for failing to make a court appearance for the March 2004 charges, and taken to [[Bellevue Hospital]], allegedly incoherent, where she was placed on a 72-hour watch.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2004/07/14/courtney-love-hospitalized-again/|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=July 14, 2004|title=Live Through This|author=Susman, Gary|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207222031/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,663753,00.html|archive-date=December 7, 2014}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gothamist.com/2004/07/10/courtney_love_finally_goes_to_bellevue.php|work=[[Gothamist]]|title=Courtney Love Finally Goes to Bellevue|first=Jen|last=Chung|date=July 10, 2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018080009/http://gothamist.com/2004/07/10/courtney_love_finally_goes_to_bellevue.php|archive-date=October 18, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Nothing-stops-Courtney-Love-she-s-been-2686581.php|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|title=Nothing stops Courtney Love – she's been arrested, hauled off to Bellevue, but she hasn't quit speaking her mind|first=Neva|last=Chonin|date=October 25, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208120754/https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Nothing-stops-Courtney-Love-she-s-been-2686581.php|archive-date=December 8, 2015}}</ref> Amidst public criticism and press coverage, comedian [[Margaret 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.<ref>{{cite web|work=Margaret Cho Official Site|title=Courtney Deserves Better from Feminists|date=July 13, 2004|archive-url=https://archive.today/20171008091039/http://margaretcho.com/2004/07/13/courtney-deserves-better-from-feminists/|archive-date=October 8, 2017|url=http://margaretcho.com/2004/07/13/courtney-deserves-better-from-feminists/|author=Cho, Margaret|url-status=dead|author-link=Margaret Cho}}</ref> Love pleaded guilty in October 2004 to [[disorderly conduct]] over the incident in East Village.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Tavernise, Sabrina|date=October 21, 2004|title=Courtney Love Enters Plea, and Nobody Else Gets Hurt|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/21/nyregion/courtney-love-enters-plea-and-nobody-else-gets-hurt.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150829082832/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/21/nyregion/courtney-love-enters-plea-and-nobody-else-gets-hurt.html|archive-date=August 29, 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Courtney Love on stage.jpg|thumb|right|Love performing in London, 2007|alt=Woman in corset holding microphone onstage]]
Love's appearance as a [[Roast (comedy)|roaster]] on the ''[[Comedy Central Roast]]'' of [[Pamela Anderson]] in August 2005, in which she appeared intoxicated and disheveled, attracted further media attention.<ref name=heffernan>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/13/arts/television/roasters-of-stacked-star-romp-high-to-low.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614071727/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/13/arts/television/roasters-of-stacked-star-romp-high-to-low.html|archive-date=June 14, 2018|title=Roast of Pamela Anderson – Review|author=Heffernan, Virginia|date=August 13, 2005}}</ref> One review said that Love "acted as if she belonged in an institution".<ref name=heffernan/> 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 her [[probation]].<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|title=Courtney Love Ordered Into Drug Rehab|date=August 19, 2005|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/61711/courtney-love-ordered-into-drug-rehab|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614182256/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/61711/courtney-love-ordered-into-drug-rehab|archive-date=June 14, 2018}}</ref> To avoid jail time, she accepted an additional 180-day rehab sentence in September 2005.<ref>{{cite web|work=Today|title=Courtney Love sentenced to 180 days in rehab|date=September 16, 2005|url=https://www.today.com/popculture/courtney-love-sentenced-180-days-rehab-wbna9371446|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614071717/https://www.today.com/popculture/courtney-love-sentenced-180-days-rehab-wbna9371446|archive-date=June 14, 2018}}</ref> In November 2005, after completing the program, Love was discharged from the rehab center under the provision that she complete further [[Ambulatory care|outpatient]] rehab.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.today.com/news/judge-lets-courtney-love-leave-rehab-center-wbna10102413|work=[[Today (American TV program)|Today]]|title=Judge lets Courtney Love leave rehab|date=November 18, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409171801/https://www.today.com/news/judge-lets-courtney-love-leave-rehab-center-wbna10102413|archive-date=April 9, 2018|access-date=April 9, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In subsequent interviews, Love said she had been addicted to substances including prescription drugs, [[cocaine]], and [[crack cocaine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newsroom.mtv.com/2010/04/28/courtney-love-letterman/|work=[[MTV]]|title=Courtney Love Says 'Letterman Years' Were Caused By Cocaine|date=April 28, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308184855/http://newsroom.mtv.com/2010/04/28/courtney-love-letterman/|archive-date=March 8, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=[[The Atlantic]]|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/05/courtney-love-has-very-clear-memory-addled-drugs/351138/|title=Courtney Love Has a Very Clear Memory of Being on Drugs|date=May 26, 2011|author=Gustini, Ray|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409171605/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/05/courtney-love-has-very-clear-memory-addled-drugs/351138/|archive-date=April 9, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> She said she had been sober since completing rehabilitation in 2007, and cited her [[Soka Gakkai International|Soka Gakkai Buddhist]] practice (which she began in 1988)<ref>{{cite news|last=Sevinc|first=Bihter|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10189167|title=Courtney Love Explains Why She Isn't Worried For Kurt Cobain|publisher=RockCelebrities.net|date=June 23, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Catarinella|first=Alex|url=https://nymag.com/strategist/article/courtney-love-favorite-things.html|title=What Courtney Love Can't Live Without|work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241214055823/https://nymag.com/strategist/article/courtney-love-favorite-things.html|archive-date=December 14, 2024|url-status=live|date=October 13, 2017}}</ref> as integral to her sobriety.<ref name="drugfreak">{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna43174163|title=Courtney Love: Stop calling me a 'drug freak'|date=June 25, 2013|work=[[Us Weekly]]|author=''Us Weekly'' Staff|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001185217/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43174163/|archive-date=October 1, 2012}}</ref>{{sfn|Roshan|2012|p=28}}

In the midst of her legal troubles, Love had endeavors in writing and publishing. She co-wrote a semi-autobiographical [[manga]], ''[[Princess Ai]]'' ([[Japanese language|Japanese]]: プリンセス·アイ物語), with Stu Levy, illustrated by Misaho Kujiradou and [[Ai Yazawa]]; it was released in three volumes in the United States and Japan between 2004 and 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2004-07-14-princess-ai_x.htm|title=Courtney Love: Cartoon character|first=Kathy|last=Balog|work=[[USA Today]]|date=July 15, 2004|issn=0734-7456|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814173147/http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2004-07-14-princess-ai_x.htm|archive-date=August 14, 2009}}</ref>{{sfn|Yadao|2009|p=54}} In 2006, Love published a memoir, ''[[Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love|Dirty Blonde]]'', and began recording her second solo album, ''How Dirty Girls Get Clean'',{{sfn|Yapp|2006|loc=event occurs at 7:18}} 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.<ref name="readytorock">{{cite magazine|first=Jolie|last=Lash|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/courtney-love-is-cleared-ready-to-rock-20060203|title=Courtney Is Cleared, Ready To Rock|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610180947/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/courtney-love-is-cleared-ready-to-rock-20060203|archive-date=June 10, 2016|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=February 3, 2006}}</ref> She told ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'': "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]&nbsp;... I never thought I would work again."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/56894/love-wants-her-throne-back-on-new-album|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|title=Love Wants Her Throne Back on New Album|date=October 20, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515020858/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/56894/love-wants-her-throne-back-on-new-album|archive-date=May 15, 2018|author=''Billboard'' Staff}}</ref> 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 network [[More4]] in the fall of that year. A rough acoustic version of "Never Go Hungry Again", recorded during an interview for ''[[The Times]]'' in November, was also released. Incomplete audio clips of the song "[[Samantha (Hole song)|Samantha]]", originating from an interview with [[NPR]], were distributed on the internet in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|author-link=Neda Ulaby|last=Ulaby|first=Neda|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10189167|title=Rebuilding Courtney Love, One Song at a Time|website=[[NPR]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160908121536/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10189167|archive-date=September 8, 2016|date=May 15, 2007}}</ref>

===2009–2012: Hole revival and visual art===
[[File:Courtney_Love_and_Patty_Schemel_-_MoMA_2011_(crop).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1|Love with [[Patty Schemel]] {{small|(left)}} at the premiere of ''[[Hit So Hard]]'' at the [[Museum of Modern Art]], 2011|alt=Two women facing an audience, holding microphones]]
In March 2009, fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir brought a [[libel]] suit against Love concerning a defamatory post Love made on her [[Twitter]] account,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dmlp.org/threats/simorangkir-v-love|work=[[Digital Media Law Project]]|publisher=[[Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society]] of [[Harvard Law School]]|date=March 26, 2009|title=Simorangkir v. Love|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214174344/http://www.dmlp.org/threats/simorangkir-v-love|archive-date=February 14, 2019|access-date=February 14, 2019|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> which was eventually settled for $450,000.<ref name="sim">{{cite web|url=http://www.spin.com/2015/08/courtney-love-350000-dollars-defamation-lawsuit-twitter-dawn-simorangkir/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104184103/http://www.spin.com/2015/08/courtney-love-350000-dollars-defamation-lawsuit-twitter-dawn-simorangkir/|archive-date=January 4, 2016|title=Courtney Love Pays $350,000 to Settle Twitter-Based Defamation Lawsuit|author=Grebey, James|date=August 31, 2015|work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=January 29, 2016}}</ref> 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]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=10&title=the_return_of_hole_courtney_love_s_in_th&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1|work=NME|title=The Return Of Hole – Courtney Love's In-The-Studio Video Diary|date=June 17, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012223623/http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=10&title=the_return_of_hole_courtney_love_s_in_th&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1|archive-date=October 12, 2012|first=Dan|last=Martin}}</ref> In response, former Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson stated in ''Spin'' magazine that contractually no reunion could take place without his involvement; therefore ''Nobody's Daughter'' would remain Love's solo record, as opposed to a "Hole" record.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spin.com/2009/07/qa-holes-eric-erlandson/|work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=July 9, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811230402/https://www.spin.com/2009/07/qa-holes-eric-erlandson/|archive-date=August 11, 2018|author=Peisner, David|title=Q&A: Hole's Eric Erlandson}}</ref> Love responded to Erlandson's comments in a [[Twitter]] post, claiming "he's out of his mind, Hole is my band, my name, and my Trademark".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spin.com/2009/07/courtney-love-eric-erlandson-hole-my-band/|work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=July 16, 2009|author=Hyclak, Anna|title=Courtney Love to Eric Erlandson: "Hole Is MY Band!"|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927032428/http://www.spin.com/2009/07/courtney-love-eric-erlandson-hole-my-band/|archive-date=September 27, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Nobody's Daughter'' was released worldwide as a Hole album on April 27, 2010. For the new line-up, Love recruited guitarist [[Micko 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 engineer [[Michael Beinhorn]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2010/04/new_releases_from_courtney_lov.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930081427/https://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2010/04/new_releases_from_courtney_lov.html|archive-date=September 30, 2018|work=[[The Star-Ledger]]|title=New releases from Courtney Love, Nick Cave and others|date=April 23, 2010}}</ref> The album's subject matter was largely centered on Love's tumultuous life between 2003 and 2007, and featured a polished [[folk rock]] sound, and more acoustic guitar work than previous Hole albums.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2010/jun/12/nobodys-daughter/|work=San Diego Reader|title=Nobody's Daughter|first=Michael|last=Caldwell|date=June 12, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602104210/http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2010/jun/12/nobodys-daughter/|archive-date=June 2, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Courtney Love in Moscow, 2011.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|right|Love performing with Hole at [[Afisha Picnic]] in [[Moscow]], 2011|alt=Woman with hands on hips, with a guitar, speaking into a microphone]]

The first single from ''Nobody's Daughter'' was "[[Skinny Little Bitch]]", released to promote the album in March 2010.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Kreps, Daniel|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hole-reveal-track-list-cover-for-april-27s-nobodys-daughter-20100326|title=Hole Reveal Track List, Cover for April 27's "Nobody's Daughter"|date=March 26, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419220659/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hole-reveal-track-list-cover-for-april-27s-nobodys-daughter-20100326|archive-date=April 19, 2016|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|url-status=dead}}</ref> The album received mixed reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/nobodys-daughter/hole|website=Metacritic|title=Reviews for Nobody's Daughter by Hole|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818171241/http://www.metacritic.com/music/nobodys-daughter/hole|archive-date=August 18, 2018}}</ref> Robert Sheffield of ''Rolling 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''".<ref>{{cite magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131229232019/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/nobodys-daughter-20100426|archive-date=December 29, 2013|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/nobodys-daughter-20100426|first=Robert|last=Sheffield|title=Nobody's Daughter by Hole|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=April 26, 2010}}</ref> Sal Cinquemani of ''[[Slant Magazine]]'' also gave the album three out of five: "It's [[Marianne 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&nbsp;... 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/hole-nobodys-daughter/2083|work=[[Slant Magazine]]|date=April 21, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508211244/http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/hole-nobodys-daughter|archive-date=May 8, 2016|first=Sal|last=Cinquemani|title=Hole: Nobody's Daughter}}</ref> Love and the band toured internationally from 2010 into late 2012 promoting the record, with their pre-release shows in London and at [[South by Southwest]] receiving critical acclaim.<ref name=bozza/> In 2011, Love participated in ''[[Hit So Hard]]'', a documentary chronicling bandmate Schemel's time in Hole.<ref name=unlisten>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113238/http://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/10-things-we-learn-about-kurt-cobain-and-courtney-love-from-hit-so-hard|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/10-things-we-learn-about-kurt-cobain-and-courtney-love-from-hit-so-hard|first=Leonie|last=Cooper|title=10 Things We Learn About Kurt Cobain And Courtney Love From Hit So Hard|work=[[NME]]|date=March 24, 2011}}</ref>

In May 2012, Love debuted an art collection at Fred Torres Collaborations in New York titled "''And She's Not Even Pretty''",<ref>{{cite web|title=An Impromptu Interview With Courtney Love On The Occasion Of Her Debut Art Show|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/music/an-impromptu-interview-with-courtney-love-on-the-occasion-of-her-debut-art-show-6650249|first=Araceli|last=Cruz|date=May 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709025115/http://www.villagevoice.com/music/an-impromptu-interview-with-courtney-love-on-the-occasion-of-her-debut-art-show-6650249|archive-date=July 9, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> which contained over 40 drawings and paintings by Love composed in ink, colored pencil, pastels, and watercolors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vogue.com/vogue-daily/article/and-shes-not-even-pretty-courtney-loves-autobiographical-art-show-opens-tomorrow/|work=Vogue|title="And She's Not Even Pretty"; Courtney Love's Autobiographical Art Show Opens Tomorrow|date=May 1, 2012|archive-date=December 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121226111643/http://www.vogue.com/vogue-daily/article/and-shes-not-even-pretty-courtney-loves-autobiographical-art-show-opens-tomorrow/|first=Lynn|last=Yaeger}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-courtney-love-20120429,0,7941399.story|title=Courtney Love attempts her first gallery show|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|first=David|last=Ng|date=April 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614121333/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-courtney-love-20120429-story.html|archive-date=June 14, 2018}}</ref> Later in the year, she collaborated with [[Michael Stipe]] on the track "Rio Grande" for [[Johnny Depp]]'s sea shanty album ''[[Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys#Son of Rogues Gallery|Son of Rogues Gallery]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2012/12/johnny-depp-tom-waits-courtney-love-iggy-pop-pirates-album/|work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|title=Johnny Depp Ropes Tom Waits, Courtney Love, Iggy Pop for Pirate-Themed Album|date=December 5, 2012|first=Kyle|last=McGovern|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108210103/https://www.spin.com/2012/12/johnny-depp-tom-waits-courtney-love-iggy-pop-pirates-album/|archive-date=January 8, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> and in 2013, co-wrote and contributed vocals on "Rat A Tat" from [[Fall Out Boy]]'s album ''[[Save Rock and Roll]]'', also appearing in the song's music video.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704151/fall-out-boy-courtney-love-save-rock-roll.jhtml|title=Fall Out Boy Joined By Courtney Love On 'Save Rock And Roll'|date=March 22, 2013|first=Gil|last=Kaufman|work=[[MTV]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221101633/http://www.mtv.com/news/1704151/fall-out-boy-courtney-love-save-rock-roll/|archive-date=February 21, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===2013–2015: Return to acting; libel lawsuits===
After dropping the Hole name and performing as a solo artist<ref name="war">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/stevie-nicks-headlines-elton-johns-aids-foundation-gala-in-new-york-20121016|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|title=Stevie Nicks Headlines Elton John's AIDS Foundation Gala in New York|author=Horowitz, Steven J.|date=October 16, 2012|archive-date=December 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223075407/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/stevie-nicks-headlines-elton-johns-aids-foundation-gala-in-new-york-20121016|url-status=dead}}</ref> in late 2012,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/courtney-love-rocks/story?id=18307066|work=[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]|date=January 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614121250/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/courtney-love-rocks/story?id=18307066|archive-date=June 14, 2018|title=In a Cloud of Crazy, Courtney Love Rocks On|author=Marikar, Sheila}}</ref> Love appeared in spring 2013 advertisements for [[Yves Saint Laurent (brand)|Yves Saint Laurent]] alongside [[Kim Gordon]] and [[Ariel Pink]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/04/03/courtney-love-kim-gordon-marilyn-manson-for-saint-laurent-music-project|work=Vogue UK|title=Saint Laurent Unveils Music Project|date=April 3, 2013|author=Alexander, Ella|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054057/http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/04/03/courtney-love-kim-gordon-marilyn-manson-for-saint-laurent-music-project|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Love completed a solo tour of North America in mid-2013,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/q-a-with-courtney-love-on-her-memoir-and-im-still-alive-tour-20130624|title=Q&A With Courtney Love: On Her Memoir and 'I'm Still Alive' Tour|first=Steve|last=Baltin|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241114042907/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/qa-with-courtney-love-on-her-memoir-and-im-still-alive-tour-247054/|archive-date=November 14, 2024|url-status=live|date=June 24, 2013}}</ref><ref name="2013tour">{{cite web|url=http://exclaim.ca/News/courtney_love_extends_north_american_tour_adds_vancouver_date|work=Exclaim!|title=Courtney Love Extends North American Tour, Adds Vancouver Date|first=Gregory|last=Adams|date=May 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008192221/http://exclaim.ca/music/article/courtney_love_extends_north_american_tour_adds_vancouver_date|archive-date=October 8, 2016}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/courtney-love-on-a-small-tour-hits-brooklyn-huntington-1.5514155|work=[[Newsday]]|title=Courtney Love, on a small tour, hits Brooklyn, Huntington|first=Glenn|last=Gamboa|date=June 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614121318/https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/courtney-love-on-a-small-tour-hits-brooklyn-huntington-1.5514155|archive-date=June 14, 2018}}</ref> Love told ''Billboard'' at the time that she had recorded eight songs in the studio.<ref name="USAtoday">{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/07/18/courtney-love-new-album-book/2552467/|work=[[USA Today]]|title=Courtney Love has new album and memoir in the works|first=Steve|last=Jones|date=July 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002063146/http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/07/18/courtney-love-new-album-book/2552467/|archive-date=October 2, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Love was subject of a second landmark [[libel]] lawsuit brought against her in January 2014 by her former attorney Rhonda Holmes, who accused Love of online defamation, seeking $8 million in damages.<ref name="knoll">{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-love-libel-20140125-story.html|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|title=Singer-actress Courtney Love wins landmark Twitter libel case|author=Knoll, Corina|date=January 24, 2014|archive-date=June 17, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617171923/http://articles.latimes.com/2014/jan/24/local/la-me-love-libel-20140125}}</ref> It was the first case of alleged Twitter-based libel in U.S. history to make it to trial.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/01/25/jury-sides-with-courtney-love-in-trial-over-tweet/4882997/|work=[[USA Today]]|title=Courtney Love tweets after Twitter trial win|author=McCoy, Kevin|date=January 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219125318/https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/01/25/jury-sides-with-courtney-love-in-trial-over-tweet/4882997/|archive-date=December 19, 2018}}</ref> The jury, however, found in Love's favor.<ref name="knoll" /> 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.<ref name="sim" />

On April 22, 2014, Love debuted the song "[[You Know My Name (Courtney Love song)|You Know My Name]]" on [[BBC Radio 6]] to promote her tour of the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b041k6yf|title=Steve Lamacq, 22/04/2014|work=[[BBC Radio 6 Music]]|publisher=[[BBC]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127042919/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b041k6yf|archive-date=November 27, 2018}}</ref> It was released as a double A-side single with the song "[[Wedding Day (song)|Wedding Day]]" on May 4, 2014, on her own label Cherry Forever Records via [[Kobalt Label Services]].<ref name=Feeley>{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/72542/courtney-love-you-know-my-name/|author=Feeley, Nolan|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|title=Hear Courtney Love Howl on 'You Know My Name'|date=April 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105140652/http://time.com/72542/courtney-love-you-know-my-name/|archive-date=November 5, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The tracks were produced by Michael Beinhorn, and feature [[Tommy Lee]] on drums.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/tommyleetv/posts/10152073837842654|work=[[Facebook]]|author-link=Tommy Lee|title=Here's some new jams I recorded with CL|author=Lee, Tommy|date=April 23, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140425070907/https://www.facebook.com/tommyleetv/posts/10152073837842654|archive-date=April 25, 2014|access-date=November 16, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> In an interview with the [[BBC]], 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.<ref name="garvey">{{cite interview|last=Love|first=Courtney|interviewer=[[Jane Garvey (broadcaster)|Jane Garvey]]|title=Woman's Hour, Courtney Love; game changing politics; Lauren Owen|publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=April 1, 2014|access-date=April 1, 2014|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03zb49t}}</ref> On May 1, 2014, in an interview with ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'', 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 of ''i''s to be dotted and ''t''s to be crossed."<ref name="pitchfork">{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/9395-courtney-love/|work=[[Pitchfork Media|Pitchfork]]|title=Interviews: Courtney Love|author=Pelly, Jenn|date=May 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930120036/https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/9395-courtney-love/|archive-date=September 30, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://consequence.net/2014/07/courtney-love-changes-mind-will-not-reunite-holes-classic-lineup/|work=[[Consequence (publication)|Consequence of Sound]]|title=Courtney Love changes mind, will not reunite Hole's classic lineup|date=July 23, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151230204518/http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/07/courtney-love-changes-mind-will-not-reunite-holes-classic-lineup/|archive-date=December 30, 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Courtney Love (17269704453).jpg|thumb|upright=1|left|Love performing in [[Ventura, California]], 2015|alt=Woman onstage, holding guitar and looking down, smiling]]
Love was cast in several television series in supporting parts throughout 2014, including the [[FX Network|FX]] series ''[[Sons of Anarchy]]'',<ref name="anarchy">{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/courtney-love-sons-of-anarchy-1201259377/|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=Courtney Love Joins 'Sons of Anarchy' for Final Season|author=Johns, Nikara|date=July 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930034215/https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/courtney-love-sons-of-anarchy-1201259377/|archive-date=September 30, 2018}}</ref> ''[[Revenge (TV series)|Revenge]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eonline.com/news/634636/courtney-love-s-tv-takeover-continues-on-revenge-and-you-won-t-believe-who-she-s-playing|work=[[E!]]|title=Courtney Love's TV Takeover Continues on Revenge and You Won't Believe Who She's Playing|author=Bricker, Tierney|date=March 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708221422/https://www.eonline.com/news/634636/courtney-love-s-tv-takeover-continues-on-revenge-and-you-won-t-believe-who-she-s-playing|archive-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref> and [[Lee Daniels]]' network series ''[[Empire (2015 TV series)|Empire]]'' in a recurring guest role as [[Empire (season 1)#Cast and characters|Elle Dallas]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/courtney-love-joins-foxs-empire-743363|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=October 23, 2014|author=O'Connell, Michael|title=Courtney Love Joins Fox's 'Empire'|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201015112/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/courtney-love-joins-foxs-empire-743363|archive-date=February 1, 2017}}</ref> The track "Walk Out on Me", featuring Love, was included on the ''[[Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1]]'' album, which debuted at number 1 on the [[Billboard 200]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/empire-soundtrack-number-one-madonna-number-two/|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|title='Empire' Soundtrack Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart, Madonna Arrives at No. 2|first=Keith|last=Caulfield|date=March 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012105417/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6502441/empire-soundtrack-number-one-madonna-number-two|archive-date=October 12, 2018}}</ref> [[Alexis Petridis]] of ''[[The Guardian (newspaper)|The Guardian]]'' praised the track, saying: "The idea of Courtney Love singing a ballad with a group of gospel singers seems faintly terrifying&nbsp;... 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."<ref name="empire21">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/21/various-artists-empire-season-1-original-soundtrack-review-timbaland|date=May 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125174402/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/21/various-artists-empire-season-1-original-soundtrack-review-timbaland|archive-date=November 25, 2015|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|author=Petridis, Alexis|title=Various Artists: Empire Season 1 Original Soundtrack review – pretend stars get properly famous with Timbaland's help}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/forget-netrebko-heres-an-opera-with-courtney-love/|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Forget Neterbko. Here's an Opera With Courtney Love|author=Kozinn, Allan|date=October 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614094955/https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/forget-netrebko-heres-an-opera-with-courtney-love/|archive-date=June 14, 2018}}</ref> [[Charles Isherwood]] of ''[[The 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."<ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|author=Isherwood, Charles|author-link=Charles Isherwood|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/12/theater/kansas-city-choir-boy-with-courtney-love-and-todd-almond.html|title=A Bruising Love Throbs Anew|date=January 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116132251/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/12/theater/kansas-city-choir-boy-with-courtney-love-and-todd-almond.html|archive-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref> The show toured later in the year, with performances in Boston and Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater-dance/2015/10/04/courtney-love-attraction-but-songs-carry-choir-boy/gdW16KCGvCG6c34TjusAIK/story.html|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|title=Courtney Love is attraction, but songs carry 'Choir Boy'|author=Goodwin, Jeremy D.|date=October 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151108075335/https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater-dance/2015/10/04/courtney-love-attraction-but-songs-carry-choir-boy/gdW16KCGvCG6c34TjusAIK/story.html|archive-date=November 8, 2015}}</ref> In April 2015, the journalist [[Anthony Bozza]] sued Love, alleging a contractual violation regarding his co-writing of her memoir.<ref name="love denies">{{cite news |title=Courtney Love denies owing biographer Anthony Bozza any money for upcoming book |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/confidential/courtney-love-denies-owing-biographer-money-new-book-article-1.2313528|date=August 4, 2015 |author=Garvey, Marianne |author2=Niemietz, Brian |author3=Coleman, Oli |author4=Maresca, Rachel |newspaper=[[New York Daily News]]|archive-date=December 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151218051720/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/confidential/courtney-love-denies-owing-biographer-money-new-book-article-1.2313528}}</ref> Love performed as the opening act for [[Lana Del Rey]] on her [[The Endless Summer Tour|Endless Summer Tour]] for eight West Coast shows in May and June 2015.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Lana Del Rey Announces 2015 Tour Dates With Courtney Love|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/lana-del-rey-courtney-love-endless-summer-tour-dates-2015-6334673/|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=December 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216233126/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/6334673/lana-del-rey-courtney-love-endless-summer-tour-dates-2015|archive-date=December 16, 2018|url-status=live|author=Payne, Chris}}</ref> During her tenure, Love debuted the single "[[Miss Narcissist]]", released on [[Wavves]]' independent label Ghost Ramp.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/59601-courtney-love-releases-miss-narcissist-on-wavves-ghost-ramp-label/|work=[[Pitchfork Media|Pitchfork]]|title=Courtney Love Releases 'Miss Narcissist' on Wavves' Ghost Ramp Label|author=Camp, Zoe|date=May 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226175641/https://pitchfork.com/news/59601-courtney-love-releases-miss-narcissist-on-wavves-ghost-ramp-label/|archive-date=December 26, 2018}}</ref> She was also cast in a supporting role in [[James Franco]]'s film ''[[The Long Home]]'', based on the novel by [[William Gay (author)|William Gay]], her first film role in over ten years;<ref name="home">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/04/casting-net-courtney-love-giancarlo-esposito-james-franco|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|title=Casting Net: Courtney Love, Timothy Hutton, Giancarlo Esposito join James Franco's The Long Home|author=Maas, Jennifer|date=May 4, 2015|archive-date=June 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614121505/http://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/04/casting-net-courtney-love-giancarlo-esposito-james-franco/|url-status=dead}}</ref> as of 2022, it remains unreleased.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Serben |first=Brandy Lynn |date=December 22, 2021 |title=James Franco speaks on sexual misconduct allegations 4 years later |url=https://movieweb.com/james-franco-sexual-misconduct-allegations-speak-out/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203024607/https://movieweb.com/james-franco-sexual-misconduct-allegations-speak-out/|archive-date=December 3, 2024|url-status=live|website=[[MovieWeb]]|language=en-US}}</ref>

===2016–present: Fashion and forthcoming music===
In January 2016, Love released a clothing line in collaboration with [[Sophia Amoruso]], "Love, Courtney", featuring 18 pieces reflecting her personal style.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205191937/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/courtney-love-sophia-amoruso-love-856098|archive-date=December 5, 2019|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/courtney-love-sophia-amoruso-love-856098|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|title=Courtney Love, Sophia Amoruso Fete Their Nasty Gal Collab|author=McKenzie, Lesley|date=January 14, 2016|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> In November 2016, she began filming the [[television pilot|pilot]] for ''[[A Midsummer's Nightmare (film)|A Midsummer's Nightmare]]'', a Shakespeare anthology series adapted for [[Lifetime (TV network)|Lifetime]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/a-midsummers-nightmare-lifetime-courtney-love-cast-1201909013/|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=Courtney Love Joins Lifetime's Shakespeare Anthology 'A Midsummer's Nightmare'|author=Wagmeister, Elizabeth|date=November 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008130824/http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/a-midsummers-nightmare-lifetime-courtney-love-cast-1201909013/|archive-date=October 8, 2017|access-date=December 9, 2017|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> She starred as Kitty Menendez in ''[[Menendez: Blood Brothers]]'', a biopic television film based on the lives of [[Lyle and Erik Menendez]], which premiered on Lifetime in June 2017.<ref name=wagmeister>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/menendez-brothers-lifetime-movie-courtney-love-1201974553/|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=Lifetime Orders Menendez Brothers TV Movie Starring Courtney Love|first=Elizabeth|last=Wagmeister|date=January 31, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241214063925/https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/menendez-brothers-lifetime-movie-courtney-love-1201974553/|archive-date=December 14, 2024}}</ref>

In 2017, Love accompanied the museum director [[Nicholas Cullinan]] to the [[GQ Men of the Year Awards|GQ Men of the Year awards]] at the [[Tate Modern]], calling him her "soulmate" and her "family for life".<ref name="Batty 2024">{{cite news |last1=Batty |first1=David |title=Nicholas Cullinan: energetic leader tasked with British Museum overhaul |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/mar/28/nicholas-cullinan-energetic-leader-british-museum-overhaul|work=[[The Guardian]] |date=March 28, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=December 14, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241214064009/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/mar/28/nicholas-cullinan-energetic-leader-british-museum-overhaul}}</ref>

In October 2017, shortly after the [[Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases]] became public, a 2005 video of Love warning young actresses about Weinstein went viral.<ref name=usaweinstein>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/10/14/harvey-weinstein-coutney-love-advice/765314001/|work=[[USA Today]]|date=October 14, 2017|title=Courtney Love warned young women about Harvey Weinstein more than a decade ago|last=Mallenbaum|first=Carly|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304012128/https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/10/14/harvey-weinstein-coutney-love-advice/765314001/|archive-date=March 4, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/courtney-love-warned-actress-about-harvey-weinstein-back-in-2005-2017-10|work=[[Business Insider]]|title=Courtney Love publicly warned women to stay away from Harvey Weinstein back in 2005|date=October 16, 2017|last=Guerrasio|first=Jason|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227000250/https://www.businessinsider.com/courtney-love-warned-actress-about-harvey-weinstein-back-in-2005-2017-10|archive-date=February 27, 2020|access-date=February 19, 2021}}</ref> In the footage, while on the red carpet for the ''[[Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson]]'', Love was asked by [[Natasha 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 the [[Four Seasons (hotels)|Four Seasons]] [hotel], don't go."<ref name=usaweinstein/> She later tweeted, "Although I wasn't one of his victims, I was eternally banned by [[Creative Artists Agency|[Creative Artists Agency]]] for speaking out."<ref>{{cite web |title=Courtney Love Warns About Harvey Weinstein In 2005 Video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDh4xeI-4KQ | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211114/mDh4xeI-4KQ| archive-date=November 14, 2021 | url-status=live|website=YouTube |publisher=CBS Los Angeles |date=October 16, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=France |first1=Lisa Respers |title=Courtney Love warned women about Harvey Weinstein |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/16/entertainment/courtney-love-harvey-weinstein/index.html |website=[[CNN]] |date=October 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212023057/https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/16/entertainment/courtney-love-harvey-weinstein/index.html |archive-date=February 12, 2020}}</ref>

In the same year, Love was cast in [[Justin Kelly (director)|Justin Kelly]]'s biopic ''[[JT LeRoy (film)|JT LeRoy]]'', portraying a film producer opposite [[Laura Dern]].<ref name=leroy>{{cite web|work=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|url=https://deadline.com/2017/08/kelvin-harrison-jr-courtney-love-james-jagger-jt-leroy-movie-1202140167/|date=August 1, 2017|author=D'Nuka, Amanda|title=Kelvin Harrison Jr., Courtney Love & James Jagger Board 'JT' Biopic|archive-url=https://archive.today/20171029130423/http://deadline.com/2017/08/kelvin-harrison-jr-courtney-love-james-jagger-jt-leroy-movie-1202140167/|archive-date=October 29, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In March 2018, she appeared in the music video for Marilyn Manson's "[[Tattooed in Reverse]]",<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|title=Marilyn Manson Teases 'Tattooed in Reverse' Video Featuring Courtney Love: Watch|date=March 21, 2018|author=Kaufman, Gil|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/marilyn-manson-tattooed-in-reverse-video-courtney-love-teaser-8256902/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241214064043/https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/marilyn-manson-tattooed-in-reverse-video-courtney-love-teaser-8256902/|archive-date=December 14, 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> and in April she appeared as a guest judge on ''[[RuPaul's Drag Race]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8280603/courtney-love-rupauls-drag-race-first-look|title=First Look: See Courtney Love Sashay Her Way to the Judges Panel on 'RuPaul's Drag Race'|author=Daw, Stephen|date=April 2, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241214063201/https://www.billboard.com/culture/pride/courtney-love-rupauls-drag-race-first-look-8280603/|archive-date=December 14, 2024}}</ref> In December, Love was awarded a [[restraining order]] against Sam Lutfi, who had acted as her manager for the previous six years, alleging verbal abuse and harassment.<ref name="sam" /> Her daughter, Frances, and sister, Jaimee, were also awarded restraining orders against Lutfi.<ref name="sam">{{cite web|work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|title=Courtney Love Alleges Ex-Manager Sam Lutfi Told Her to "Choke on Opiates and Die"|last=Burks|first=Tosten|date=December 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214174243/https://www.spin.com/2018/12/courtney-love-frances-bean-cobain-sam-lutfi-restraining-order/|url=https://www.spin.com/2018/12/courtney-love-frances-bean-cobain-sam-lutfi-restraining-order/|archive-date=February 14, 2019|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> In January 2019, a Los Angeles County judge extended the three-year order to five years, citing Lutfi's tendency to "prey upon people".<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|title=Courtney Love, Frances Bean Cobain Granted Restraining Order Against Ex-Manager|last=Kreps|first=Daniel|date=January 2, 2019|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/courtney-love-restraining-order-sam-lutfi-774212/|archive-date=December 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206173126/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/courtney-love-restraining-order-sam-lutfi-774212/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Courtney Love and Todd Almond (4 March 2025) crop.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|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 by [[Cat Power]] and [[Lykke Li]].<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Stereogum]]|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2055229/watch-courtney-love-cover-echo-the-bunnymen-at-lykke-lis-yola-dia-fest/news/|title=Courtney Love Sings Hole Songs, Covers Echo & The Bunnymen At Lykke Li's Yola Día|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190913231224/https://www.stereogum.com/2055229/watch-courtney-love-cover-echo-the-bunnymen-at-lykke-lis-yola-dia-fest/news/|archive-date=September 13, 2019|author=Breihan, Tom|date=August 19, 2019|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> On September 9, Love garnered press attention when she publicly criticized [[Joss Sackler]], an heiress to the [[Sackler family]] OxyContin fortune, after she allegedly offered Love $100,000 to attend her fashion show during New York Fashion Week.<ref name=sackler>{{cite news|work=[[Yahoo!]]|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/courtney-love-turned-down-100-165953257.html|title=Courtney Love Turned Down $100,000 From OxyContin Heiress To Appear At Her Fashion Show|last=Nauman|first=Ryan|date=September 9, 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927095943/https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/courtney-love-turned-down-100-165953257.html|archive-date=September 27, 2019}}</ref> In the same statement, Love indicated that she had [[relapse]]d into opioid addiction in 2018, stating that she had recently celebrated a year of sobriety.<ref name=sackler/> In October 2019, Love relocated from Los Angeles to London.<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 18, 2020|title=Courtney Love: "I feel like the luckiest motherfucker in the history of rock and roll"|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/courtney-love-hole-solo-music-liverpool-interview-2819456|last=Cooper|first=Leoni|archive-date=December 14, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241214062749/https://www.nme.com/news/music/courtney-love-hole-solo-music-liverpool-interview-2819456|website=[[NME]]|language=en-GB}}</ref>

On November 21, 2019, Love recorded the song "Mother", written and produced by [[Lawrence Rothman]], as part of the soundtrack for the horror film ''[[The Turning (2020 film)|The Turning]]'' (2020).<ref name="kerrang">{{cite web|author=''Kerrang!'' Staff|date=November 21, 2019|title=Listen to Courtney Love's New Song, "Mother," from The Turning Soundtrack|url=https://www.kerrang.com/the-news/listen-to-courtney-loves-new-song-mother-from-the-turning-soundtrack/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191122031301/https://www.kerrang.com/the-news/listen-to-courtney-loves-new-song-mother-from-the-turning-soundtrack/|archive-date=November 22, 2019|work=[[Kerrang!]]}}</ref> In January 2020, she received the Icon Award at the [[NME Awards|''NME'' Awards]]; ''NME'' described her as "one of the most influential singers in alternative culture of the last 30 years".<ref name="icon">{{cite web|work=[[NME]]|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/courtney-love-to-receive-icon-award-at-the-nme-awards-2020-2602586|title=Courtney Love to receive Icon Award at the NME Awards 2020 |date=January 29, 2020|last=Trendell|first=Andrew|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130091416/https://www.nme.com/news/music/courtney-love-to-receive-icon-award-at-the-nme-awards-2020-2602586|archive-date=January 30, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> The following month, she confirmed she was writing a new record which she described as "really sad&nbsp;... [I'm] writing in [[minor chord]]s, and that appeals to my sadness."<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Women's Wear Daily]]|url=https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/courtney-love-falls-london-1203492623/|date=February 18, 2020|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200524051113/https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/courtney-love-falls-london-1203492623/|archive-date=May 24, 2020|title=Courtney Love Falls for London|last1=Conti|first1=Samantha|last2=Theodosi|first2=Natalie}}</ref> In March 2021, Love said she had been hospitalized with acute [[anemia]] in August 2020, which had nearly killed her and reduced her weight to {{convert|97|lb|kg}}; she made a full recovery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/courtney-love-almost-died-hospital-anemia|work=[[Fox News]]|title=Courtney Love says she 'almost died' in the hospital from anemia|last=Day|first=Nate|date=March 15, 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316213256/https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/courtney-love-almost-died-hospital-anemia|archive-date=March 16, 2021}}</ref>

In August 2022, Love revealed the completion of her memoir, ''The Girl with the Most Cake'', after a nearly ten-year period of writing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/courtney-love-memoir-book-b2139290.html|work=[[The Independent]]|title=Courtney Love announces she's finished her memoir after 'decade' of writing: 'F*** an untrue narrative'|date=August 5, 2022|last=Murray|first=Tom|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817184536/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/courtney-love-memoir-book-b2139290.html|archive-date=August 17, 2022}}</ref>

Love is featured as a guest vocalist on the track "[[Song to the Siren]]" by rapper [[070 Shake]], from her studio album ''Petrichor'', which was released on November 15, 2024.<ref>{{cite web|work=[[NME]]|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/courtney-love-to-feature-on-070-shakes-new-album-petrichor-3811977|title=Courtney Love to feature on 070 Shake's new album 'Petrichor'|last=Skinner|first=Tom|date=November 12, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241115031746/https://www.nme.com/news/music/courtney-love-to-feature-on-070-shakes-new-album-petrichor-3811977|archive-date=November 15, 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Artistry==
===Influences===
Love has been candid about her diverse musical influences, the earliest being [[Patti Smith]], [[the Runaways]], and [[the Pretenders]], artists she discovered while in juvenile hall as a young teenager.{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 11:29}} As a child, her first exposure to music was records that her parents received each month through [[Columbia House|Columbia Record Club]].<ref name=firsttime>{{cite interview|orig-year=2014|interviewer=[[Matt Everitt]]|last=Love|first=Courtney|title=The First Time With... Courtney Love|publisher=[[BBC Radio 6]]|date=January 24, 2018|volume=8|issue=1}}</ref> The first record Love owned was [[Leonard Cohen]]'s ''[[Songs 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.<ref name=firsttime/> As a teenager, she named [[Flipper (band)|Flipper]], [[Kate Bush]], [[Soft Cell]], [[Joni Mitchell]], [[Laura Nyro]],{{sfn|Cooper|1994|p=42}} [[Lou Reed]], and [[Dead Kennedys]] among her favorite artists.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=65}} While in Dublin at age fifteen, Love attended a [[Virgin Prunes]] concert, an event she credited as being 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", she recalled. "[I had seen] [[U2]] [who] gave me lashes of love and inspiration, and a few nights later the Virgin Prunes fucked{{en dash}}me{{en dash}}up."<ref name=atkinson>{{Cite news|newspaper=The Guardian|title=Gavin Friday: 'You can't be what you were'|date=March 25, 2010|author=Atkinson, Mike|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/mar/25/gavin-friday-virgin-prunes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614071806/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/mar/25/gavin-friday-virgin-prunes|archive-date=June 14, 2018}}</ref> Decades later, in 2009, Love introduced the band's frontman [[Gavin Friday]] at a [[Carnegie Hall]] event, and performed a song with him.<ref name=atkinson/>

Though often associated with punk music, Love has noted that her most significant musical influences have been [[post-punk]] and [[new wave music|new wave]] artists.<ref name=bell>{{cite web|work=Vogue|title=Courtney Love Has a New Video Series Covering Her Favorite Songs|last=Bell|first=Keaton|date=June 2, 2021|url-status=live|archive-date=June 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602141210/https://www.vogue.com/article/courtney-love-bruises-of-roses|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/courtney-love-bruises-of-roses}}</ref> Commenting in 2021, Love said: {{blockquote|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]]" by [[Joy Division]], and I will take no fucking prisoners in that battle. But the band that affected me more than even Leonard Cohen and [[Bob Dylan]] was [[Echo & the Bunnymen|Echo and the Bunnymen]].<ref name=bell/>}} Over the years, Love has also named several other new wave and post-punk bands as influences, including [[the Smiths]],<ref name="loder">{{cite interview|last=Love|first=Courtney|interviewer=[[Kurt Loder]]|work=[[MTV]]|title=The Hole Story|date=September 1, 1994}}</ref> [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]],{{sfn|Love|2006|page=35}} [[Television (band)|Television]],{{sfn|Love|2006|page=35}} and [[Bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus]].<ref name="loder"/>

Love's diverse genre interests were illustrated in a 1991 interview with ''Flipside'', in which she stated: "There's a part of me that wants to have a [[grindcore]] band and another that wants to have a [[Raspberries (band)|Raspberries]]-type pop band."<ref name="first">{{cite journal|title=Hole|number=68|date=September 1990|journal=[[Flipside (fanzine)|Flipside]]|author=Al & Gus}}</ref> 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 liking [[R.E.M. (band)|R.E.M.]] and The Smiths."{{sfn|Cooper|1994|p=42}} She has also embraced the influence of experimental artists and punk rock groups, including [[Sonic Youth]], [[Swans (band)|Swans]],<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Addicted to Noise|date=January 6, 1997|title=Swans Song|first=Howard|last=Wuelfing|quote=The group count the likes of Metallica's Kirk Hammet, Henry Rollins, Courtney Love and even Jeff Buckley among its admirers.}}</ref> [[Big Black]], [[Diamanda Galás]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/ask-courtney-love|work=[[Clash (magazine)|Clash]]|last=Love|first=Courtney|title=Ask Courtney Love|date=February 23, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614050804/http://www.clashmusic.com/features/ask-courtney-love|archive-date=June 14, 2018}}</ref> the [[Germs (band)|Germs]], and [[the Stooges]].<ref>{{cite interview |last=Love |first=Courtney |interviewer=[[Howard Stern]] |title=The Howard Stern Show |publisher=Sirius XM Radio |date=May 30, 2013 |quote=The Stooges were a really big deal to me.}}</ref> While writing ''Celebrity Skin'', she drew influence from [[Neil Young]] and [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]].<ref name="int" /> She has also cited her contemporary [[PJ 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2013/05/pj-harvey-rid-of-me-oral-history-steve-albini/|work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|title=Let It Bleed: The Oral History of PJ Harvey's 'Rid of Me'|author=Peisner, David|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150917055146/https://www.spin.com/2013/05/pj-harvey-rid-of-me-oral-history-steve-albini/|archive-date=September 17, 2015|date=May 2013}}</ref>

Literature and poetry have often been a major influence on her songwriting; Love said she had "always wanted to be a poet, but there was no money in it."<ref>{{cite interview|last=Love|first=Courtney|interviewer=[[Barbara Walters]]|title=Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 1995|publisher=ABC News|date=December 5, 1995}}</ref> She has named the works of [[T. S. Eliot]] and [[Charles Baudelaire]] as influential,<ref name="superrock">{{cite interview|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovgo4h9_lQc| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016214837/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovgo4h9_lQc| archive-date=October 16, 2013 | url-status=dead|work=[[MTV]]|title=Courtney Love: Super Rock Interview|subject=Love, Courtney|year=1995|interviewer=Farry, Jackie}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://fleursdumal.org/audio/|work=Fleurs du Mal.org|title=Audio of Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729135627/https://fleursdumal.org/audio/|archive-date=July 29, 2018}}</ref> and referenced works by [[Dante Gabriel Rossetti|Dante Rossetti]],{{Sfn|Latham|2003|p=2}} [[William Shakespeare]],<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FD4jKFVQOhMC&pg=PT6|journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|title=Hole: Celebrity Skin|last=Clover|first=Joshua|series=Reviews|page=136|date=October 1998|volume=14|issue=10|via=Google Books|issn=0886-3032}}</ref> [[Rudyard Kipling]], and [[Anne Sexton]] in her lyrics.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=October 1998|pages=90–100|title=The Love Issue|first=Phillip|last=Weiss|issn=0886-3032|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FD4jKFVQOhMC|via=Google Books|volume=14|issue=10}}</ref>

===Musical style and lyrics===
Musically, Love's work with Hole and her solo efforts have been characterized as [[alternative rock]];{{sfn|Ladd-Taylor|Umanski|1998|p=319}} Hole's early material, however, was described by critics as being stylistically closer to grindcore and aggressive [[punk rock]].{{sfn|Lankford|2009|p=77–8}} ''Spin''{{'}}s October 1991 review of Hole's first album noted Love's layering of harsh and abrasive riffs buried more sophisticated musical arrangements.<ref name="oct91">{{cite news|work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=October 1991|title=Hole Lotta Love|page=32|first=Daisy|last=Von Furth|issn=0886-3032|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yGjqAHJs488C|via=Google Books|volume=7|issue=7}}</ref> 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&nbsp;... 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."<ref name="int" />

Love's lyrics are composed from a female's point of view,<ref name=reynolds>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/09/arts/pop-music-belting-out-that-most-unfeminine-emotion.html|title=Belting Out That Most Unfeminine Emotion|date=February 9, 1992|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180506110018/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/09/arts/pop-music-belting-out-that-most-unfeminine-emotion.html|archive-date=May 6, 2018|author=Reynolds, Simon|author-link=Simon Reynolds|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=May 6, 2018}}</ref> and her lyrics have been described as "literate and mordant"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/grey-presents-courtney-love-at-cannes-in-8th-annual-music-legends-seminar-263089401.html|agency=PR Newswire|title=Grey Presents Courtney Love at Cannes in 8th Annual Music Legends Seminar|date=June 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624041927/http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/grey-presents-courtney-love-at-cannes-in-8th-annual-music-legends-seminar-263089401.html|archive-date=June 24, 2016}}</ref> and noted by scholars for "articulating a [[third-wave feminism|third-wave feminist]] consciousness."<ref name="morris">{{Cite journal|url=http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/3/2/9/6/4/p329640_index.html|journal=National Communication Association|first=Matthew|last=Morris|date=November 11, 2009|title=Writing (Courtney) Love into the History of Rhetoric: Articulation of a Feminist Consciousness in Live Through This|access-date=September 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120193238/http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/3/2/9/6/4/p329640_index.html|archive-date=November 20, 2012|url-status=dead}} {{small|(Link to abstract only)}}</ref> [[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."<ref name=reynolds/> Journalist and critic [[Kim France]], in critiquing Love's lyrics, referred to her as a "dark genius" and likened her work to that of Anne Sexton.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[Bookforum]]|title=Kim France on ''Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women'' by Elizabeth Wurtzel|pages=7–8|volume=5–7|year=1998|issn=1098-3376|author=France, Kim|author-link=Kim France}}</ref>

Love has remarked that lyrics have always been the most important component of songwriting for her: "The important thing for me&nbsp;... is it has to look good on the page. I mean, you can love [[Led Zeppelin]] and not love their lyrics&nbsp;... but I made a big effort in my career to have what's on the page mean something."<ref>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/13/fashion/courtney-love-batsheva-fashion-week.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214012126/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/13/fashion/courtney-love-batsheva-fashion-week.html|archive-date=February 14, 2019|url-status=bot: unknown|date=February 13, 2019|author=Schneier, Matthew|title=Angry Dolls Meet Their Mother|access-date=February 13, 2019}}</ref> Common themes present in Love's lyrics during her early career included body image, rape, suicide, conformity, pregnancy, prostitution, and death.<ref name="levin">{{cite web|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-hole-story/Content?oid=16345 |work=[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]] |title=The Hole Story |author=Levin, Hanna |date=November 20, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216085525/http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-hole-story/Content?oid=16345 |archive-date=December 16, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{Sfn|Burns|Lafrance|2002|pages=98–103}} In a 1991 interview with [[Everett True]], she said: "I try to place [beautiful imagery] next to fucked up imagery, because that's how I view things&nbsp;... 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."<ref name="sidelines">{{cite news|work=[[Melody Maker]]|date=June 15, 1991|first=Everett|last=True|author-link=Everett True|title=Hole|series=Sidelines|page=8|issn=0025-9012}} {{small|([https://archive.today/20180614220000/https://archivedmusicpress.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/hole-in-sidelines-15th-june-1991.jpg Archived scan])}}.</ref>

Critics have noted that Love's later musical work is more lyrically introspective.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/courtney-love-to-resurrect-hole-for-nobodys-daughter-20090617|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140117071409/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/courtney-love-to-resurrect-hole-for-nobodys-daughter-20090617|archive-date=January 17, 2014|title=Courtney Love To Resurrect Hole For "Nobody's Daughter"|date=June 17, 2009|author=Kreps, Daniel}}</ref> ''Celebrity Skin'' and ''America's Sweetheart'' are lyrically centered on celebrity life, Hollywood, and drug addiction, while continuing Love's interest in vanity and body image. ''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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/hole-nobody-s-daughter-1798164834|work=[[The A.V. Club]]|title=Hole: Nobody's Daughter|first=Jason|last=Heller|date=April 27, 2010|archive-date=November 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105144301/http://www.avclub.com/articles/hole-nobodys-daughter,40501/|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref>

===Performance===
[[File:Courtney Love Hole (4753167616) (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Love, playing a [[Rickenbacker 360]] in 2010, has played both [[Fender (company)|Fender]] and [[Rickenbacker]] guitars throughout her career]]
Love has a [[contralto]] vocal range.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jan/09/courtney-love-theatricalised-concept-album|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|title=Courtney Love's 'theatricalised concept album' sounds practically amphibian|author=Soloski, Alexis|date=January 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608025657/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jan/09/courtney-love-theatricalised-concept-album|archive-date=June 8, 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=June 28, 2017}}</ref> 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."<ref name="superrock" /> She has been regularly noted by critics for her husky vocals as well as her "[[banshee]] [-like]" [[screaming (music)|screaming]] abilities.<ref name=Feeley/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2004/04/love_me_love_my_tantrums.html|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|title=Love Me, Love My Tantrums|date=April 7, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708221854/http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2004/04/love_me_love_my_tantrums.html|archive-date=July 8, 2018|first=Amanda|last=Fortini}}</ref> Her vocals have been compared to those of [[Johnny Rotten]],<ref name="rotten">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/live-through-this-19940421|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140807194629/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/live-through-this-19940421|archive-date=August 7, 2014|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|title=Live Through This|date=April 12, 1994|first=David|last=Fricke}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,301841,00.html|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=April 15, 1994|title=Live Through This Review|first=David|last=Browne|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930115748/https://ew.com/article/1994/04/15/live-through-this-2/|archive-date=September 30, 2018}}</ref> and David Fricke of ''Rolling Stone'' described them as "lung-busting" and "a corrosive, lunatic wail".<ref name="rotten" /> Upon the release of Hole's 2010 album, ''Nobody's Daughter'', [[Amanda Petrusich]] of ''Pitchfork'' compared Love's raspy, unpolished vocals to those of [[Bob Dylan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14178-nobodys-daughter/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100628210153/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14178-nobodys-daughter/|archive-date=June 28, 2010|work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|title=Hole: Nobody's Daughter|first=Amanda|last=Petrusich|date=April 27, 2010}}</ref> In 2023, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked Love at number 130 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=January 1, 2023|title=The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/courtney-love-13-1234642975/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241114042033/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/wanda-jackson-5-1234642911/|archive-date=November 14, 2024|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|language=en-US}}</ref>

She has played a variety of [[Fender Musical Instruments Corporation|Fender]] guitars throughout her career, including a [[Fender Jaguar|Jaguar]] and a vintage 1965 [[Fender Jazzmaster|Jazzmaster]]; the latter was purchased by the [[Hard Rock Cafe]] and is on display in New York City.<ref name="jazzmaster">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111114908/https://www.flickr.com/photos/rustysheriff/4373963261|archive-date=November 11, 2016|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/rustysheriff/4373963261/|work=Flickr|title=Courtney Love (Hole) Jazzmaster Fender Guitar – Hard Rock Cafe NYC|date=April 9, 2007}}</ref> Between 1989 and 1991, Love primarily played a [[Rickenbacker]] 425{{sfn|Yarm|2011|p=353}} because she "preferred the 3/4 neck",<ref name="hole tones" /> but she destroyed the guitar onstage at a 1991 concert opening for the Smashing Pumpkins.<ref name="cromelin">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22821393/the_los_angeles_times/|page=F9|title=Pumpkins, Hole Unleash Frustrations|date=December 19, 1991|author=Cromelin, Richard|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In the mid-1990s, she often played a guitar made by Mercury, an obscure company that manufactured custom guitars,{{sfn|Bacon|2012|p=106}} as well as a [[Univox Hi-Flier]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://equipboard.com/pros/courtney-love/univox-hi-flier|work=Equipboard|title=Courtney Love's Univox Hi-Flier|access-date=February 6, 2017}}</ref> Fender's [[Vista Venus]], designed by Love in 1998, was partially inspired by Rickenbacker guitars as well as her Mercury.{{sfn|Bacon|2012|p=106}} During tours after the release of ''Nobody's Daughter'' (post-2010), Love has played a [[Rickenbacker 360]] onstage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rockshot.photoshelter.com/image/I0000faG1oanue2A|work=Rockshot|title=Courtney Love at Shepherds Bush Empire|author=Ford, Kim|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161112154332/http://rockshot.photoshelter.com/image/I0000faG1oanue2A|archive-date=November 12, 2016}}</ref> Her setup has included Fender tube gear, [[Matchless Amplifiers|Matchless]], [[Ampeg]], Silvertone and a solid-state 1976 Randall Commander.<ref name="hole tones" />

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&nbsp;... I used to be a good [[rhythm guitar|rhythm]] player but I am no longer dependable."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/may/08/courtney-love-kurt-cobain-bitch-zits-notes-hole-interview|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|title=Courtney Love: I wrote the Kurt Cobain 'bitch with zits' note|first=Charlotte Richardson|last=Andrews|date=May 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104143216/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/may/08/courtney-love-kurt-cobain-bitch-zits-notes-hole-interview|archive-date=November 4, 2016}}</ref> Throughout her career, she has also garnered a reputation for unpredictable live shows.<ref name=smith /> In the 1990s, her performances with Hole were characterized by confrontational behavior, with Love stage diving, smashing guitars<ref name=cromelin /> or throwing them into the audience,<ref name=pattydoc /> wandering into the crowd at the end of sets,<ref name=pattydoc /> and engaging in sometimes incoherent rants.<ref name=boston /> Critics and journalists have noted Love for her comical, often stream-of-consciousness-like stage banter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/article/more-talk-less-rock-15-masters-of-onstage-banter-2016|work=[[The A.V. Club]]|title=More Talk, Less Rock: 15 Masters Of Onstage Banter|date=August 13, 2007 |author=Bahn, Christopher |author2=Earles, Andrew |author3=Hyden, Steven |author4=Modell, Josh |author5=Murray, Noel |author6=Phipps, Keith |author7=Keith Phipps |author8=Nathan Rabin|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930081301/https://www.avclub.com/more-talk-less-rock-15-masters-of-onstage-banter-1798212092|archive-date=September 30, 2018}}</ref><ref name=powers>{{cite web|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/03/hole-at-sxsw.html|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|title=Hole at SXSW: Courtney Love offers one-liners worthy of the Comedy Store|author=Powers, Ann|date=March 19, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609024423/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/03/hole-at-sxsw.html|archive-date=June 9, 2010|series=Pop & Hiss}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-09-ca-54735-story.html|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|last=Hilburn|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Hilburn|title=POP MUSIC REVIEW : Notes From the Underground: Hole Shows Surprising Depth|date=November 9, 1993|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001072143/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-09-ca-54735-story.html#selection-1689.1-1702.0|archive-date=October 1, 2022|access-date=October 1, 2022}}</ref> In a review of a live performance published in 2010, it was noted that Love's onstage "one-liners [were] worthy of the [[The Comedy Store|Comedy Store]]."<ref name=powers />

==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.<ref name="rar" /> In 2000, Love publicly advocated for reform of the record industry in a personal letter published by ''[[Salon (website)|Salon]]''.<ref name="math">{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2000/06/14/love_7/|work=Salon|title=Courtney Love does the math (unedited speech transcript)|date=May 14, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107144356/https://www.salon.com/2000/06/14/love_7/|archive-date=January 7, 2019|author=Love, Courtney}}</ref> In the letter, Love said: "It's not [[music piracy|piracy]] when kids swap music over the Internet using [[Napster]] or [[Gnutella]] or [[Freenet]] or [[iMesh]] or beaming their CDs into a [[MP3.com|My.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'."<ref name="math" /> In a subsequent interview with [[Carrie Fisher]], she said that she was interested in starting a [[trade union|union]] for recording artists,<ref name="fisher" /> and also discussed [[race 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."<ref name="24 hours">{{cite episode|title=[[24 Hours of Love]]|network=[[MTV2]]
|date=September 21, 2002|series=MTV Specials}}</ref>

Love has been a long-standing supporter of [[LGBT]] causes.<ref>{{cite episode|people=Love, Courtney|series=VH1 Fashion Awards|network=VH1|air-date=October 28, 1997|quote=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.}} {{YouTube|XOhSXrrSyjM}}</ref> She has frequently collaborated with [[Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center]], taking part in the center's "An Evening with Women" events.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/courtney-love-linda-perry-team-up-for-gay-rights-20120514|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|first=Steve|last=Balkin|title=Courtney Love, Linda Perry Team Up for Gay Rights|date=May 14, 2012|archive-date=September 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921175434/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/courtney-love-linda-perry-team-up-for-gay-rights-20120514}}</ref> 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 alongside [[Aimee Mann]] and comedian [[Wanda 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 are [[gay]], [[lesbian]], or [[transgender]]. They [[coming out of the closet|come out]] to their parents, and become homeless&nbsp;... 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."<ref>{{cite interview|last1=Love|first1=Courtney|last2=Perry|first2=Linda|work=The Insider|date=May 10, 2012|url=http://theinsider.etonline.com/gossip/52204_Courtney_Love_I_Tried_Begging/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224114713/http://theinsider.etonline.com/gossip/52204_Courtney_Love_I_Tried_Begging/|archive-date=December 24, 2013|url-status=dead|title=Courtney Love: 'I Tried Begging'}}</ref>

She has also contributed to [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] organizations, partaking in benefits for [[amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research|amfAR]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amfar.org/in-the-spotlight/press-releases/sharon-stone,-kylie-minogue,-dita-von-teese,-courtney-love,-kenneth-cole,-and-kevin-huvane-join-for-amfar-inspiration-gala-in-los-angeles/|work=amfAR|title=Sharon Stone, Kylie Minogue, Dita von Teese, Courtney Love, Kenneth Cole, and Kevin Huvane Join For amfAR Inspiration Gala in Los Angeles|date=October 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222033116/https://www.amfar.org/in-the-spotlight/press-releases/sharon-stone,-kylie-minogue,-dita-von-teese,-courtney-love,-kenneth-cole,-and-kevin-huvane-join-for-amfar-inspiration-gala-in-los-angeles/|archive-date=December 22, 2015}}</ref> and the [[Product Red|RED Campaign]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/267389/u2-scarlett-johannson-courtney-love-set-for-aids-charity-concert|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=September 15, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715053400/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/267389/u2-scarlett-johannson-courtney-love-set-for-aids-charity-concert|archive-date=July 15, 2018|title=U2, Scarlett Johansson, Courtney Love Set For AIDS Charity Concert|first=Michael D.|last=Ayers}}</ref> In May 2011, she donated six of her husband Cobain's personal vinyl records for auction at [[Mariska Hargitay]]'s Joyful Heart Foundation event for victims of child abuse, rape, and domestic violence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newsroom.mtv.com/2011/05/18/courtney-love-patti-smith-charity-event/|work=[[MTV]]|title=Courtney Love, Patti Smith Bring Punk Cred To Mariska Hargitay's Charity Event|date=May 18, 2011|first=Sabrina Rojas|last=Weiss|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224114357/http://newsroom.mtv.com/2011/05/18/courtney-love-patti-smith-charity-event/|archive-date=December 24, 2013}}</ref> She has also supported the [[Murder of Sophie Lancaster|Sophie Lancaster Foundation]] as well as [[Stand For Courage]], an anti-bullying organization started by Love's sister.<ref>{{cite interview|last=Love|first=Courtney|interviewer=Noah Levy|title=Courtney Love on Pop Culture|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8UpZwZKOTo| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211114/u8UpZwZKOTo| archive-date=November 14, 2021 | url-status=live|work=Endemol|date=June 12, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="Courage">{{cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Ingrid |date=December 3, 2018 |title=Courtney Love on Her Latest Closet Sale for Charity and Getting Over Hoarding |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/style/courtney-love-her-latest-closet-sale-charity-getting-hoarding-1165688/ |access-date=April 14, 2025 }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news|url=
https://hero-magazine.com/article/189917/courtney-love-cobain-the-archive-of-contemporary-music |title=Courtney Love Cobain is helping preserve and celebrate the contributions of women to popular music|work=HERO Magazine|date=May 12, 2021}}</ref>

The first project of From Her to Eternity was a world-renowned female music photographers´ exhibition titled ''From Her to Eternity: The Women Who Photograph Music''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.traveler.es/articulos/exposicion-from-her-to-eternity-fotografas-musicales-chicago|title='From Her to Eternity': la música tras la lente femenina|work=Condé Nast Traveler|date=August 30, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://loeildelaphotographie.com/en/wabash-arts-corridor-courtney-love-from-her-to-eternity-the-women-who-photograph-music/|title=Wabash Arts Corridor : Courtney Love : From Her To Eternity : The Women Who Photograph Music|work=The Eye Of Photography|date=August 11, 2023}}</ref> The installation was displayed at the corner of S. Wabash Avenue and E. Eight Street in Chicago's South Loop throughout Summer 2023.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://beintheloopchicago.com/?p=51798|title=All Female Photography Exhibit, From Her to Eternity: The Women Who Photograph Music, Runs In Chicago Until Mid September|work=In The Loop Magazine|date=August 11, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=
https://art.newcity.com/2023/08/04/women-behind-the-lens-a-review-of-from-her-to-eternity|title=Women Behind the Lens: A Review of "From Her to Eternity" |work=New City Art|date=August 4, 2023}}</ref> The name is a tribute by Love to the late Australian singer-songwriter [[Anita Lane]]. Lane was a member of the Birthday Party and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds who co-wrote the song [[From Her to Eternity (song)|“From Her To Eternity”]] with [[Nick Cave]], who's an exhibition supporter alongside Anita Lane's family, [[Michael Stipe]] and artist Thomas Dozol.<ref>{{Cite web |title=From Her to Eternity|url=https://www.fromhertoeternity.org/|date=7 July 2023 |access-date=30 April 2025 |website=From Her To Eternity: The Women Who Photograph Music |language=en}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[File:Courtney Love (17887095652).jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Love, pictured in 2015, with her leg supported on the [[Foldback (sound engineering)|monitor]], recognized as one of her signature stage moves<ref name=france />{{sfn|Millard|2004|p=196}}|alt=Woman playing guitar, with her left leg up on a monitor.]]
Love has had an impact on female-fronted alternative acts and performers.{{sfn|Carson|Lewis|Shaw|2004|pages=89–90}} She has been cited as influential on young female instrumentalists in particular,{{sfn|Carson|Lewis|Shaw|2004|p=90}} having once infamously proclaimed: "I want every girl in the world to pick up a guitar and start screaming&nbsp;...{{sfn|Millard|2004|p=195}} I strap on that motherfucking guitar and you cannot fuck with me. That's my feeling."{{Sfn|Millard|2004|pp=195–96}} In ''The Electric Guitar: A History of an American Icon'', it is noted: {{blockquote|[Love] truly lived up to Paul Westerberg's ([[The Replacements (band)|The Replacements]]) assessment of pretty girls "playing makeup/wearing guitar"&nbsp;... 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&nbsp;... Love depended heavily upon her male lead guitar foil Eric Erlandson, but the rest of her band remained exclusively female throughout several lineup changes.{{sfn|Millard|2004|p=196}}}}

{{quote box|align=left|width=25%|bgcolor=#f6ebff|quote=When you're dying and your life is flashing before your eyes&nbsp;... 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.|source=–Love on having a cultural impact, 1997{{sfn|O'Dair|1997|p=472}} }}
With over 3 million records sold in the United States alone,{{efn|As of 2003, ''Pretty on the Inside'' had sold over 200,000 copies in the U.S.;<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Newman |first1=Melinda |year=2003 |title=Courtney Cuts the Drama: Love Leaves Woe Behind |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |issue=July 19, 2003 |page=61 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WhEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA6 |via=Google Books |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221112138/https://books.google.com/books?id=WhEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA6 |archive-date=February 21, 2017 }}</ref> ''Live Through This'', 1,600,000; ''Celebrity Skin'', 1,400,000 (the latter two per 2010 approximations).<ref name=harding/>}} Hole became one of the most successful rock bands of all time fronted by a woman.{{sfn|Carson|Lewis|Shaw|2004|p=90}}<ref name=harding>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/958756/courtney-love-fixing-a-hole|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|title=Courtney Love: Fixing a Hole|date=April 2, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211003918/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/958756/courtney-love-fixing-a-hole|archive-date=December 11, 2018|author=Harding, Cortney}}</ref> [[VH1]] ranked Love {{abbr|no.|number}} 69 in their list of ''The 100 Greatest Women in Music History'' in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vh1.com/news/1238/the-100-greatest-women-in-music/|work=VH1|title=The 100 Greatest Women in Music|date=February 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107134908/http://www.vh1.com/news/1238/the-100-greatest-women-in-music/|archive-date=January 7, 2019}}</ref> In 2015, the ''[[Phoenix 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/10-greatest-female-rock-stars-of-all-time-7287205|work=[[Phoenix New Times]]|date=April 28, 2015|author=Chesler, John|title=The 10 Greatest Female Rock Stars of All Time|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209071257/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/10-greatest-female-rock-stars-of-all-time-7287205|archive-date=December 9, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Among the alternative musicians who have cited Love as an influence are [[Scout Niblett]];<ref name="conner">{{cite web|url=http://www.thesnipenews.com/music/interviews/scout-niblett-interview-2013/|work=The Snipe News|date=August 21, 2013|author=Conner, Shawn|title=Scout Niblett (Interview)|quote=I was 17 when I first heard it. I definitely think they had a huge role in that. For me, the thing that I loved about them and her was the anger, and aggressiveness, along with the tender side. That was something I hadn't seen before in a woman playing music. That was hugely influential and really inspiring. Women up 'til then were kind of one-dimensional, twee, sweet, ethereal, and that annoys the shit out of me.}}</ref> [[Brody Dalle]] of [[The Distillers]];{{sfn|Diehl|2007|pages=93–94}} Dee Dee Penny of [[Dum Dum Girls]];<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/dum-things-442-v17n5/|work=Vice|title=DUM THINGS|author=Moran, Rob|date=April 30, 2010|quote=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.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060649/http://www.vice.com/read/dum-things-442-v17n5|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref> [[Florence Welch]];<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wfuv.org/content/florence-and-the-machine-words-and-music-2009|work=[[WFUV]]|title=Florence + The Machine - Words and Music - 2009|date=December 15, 2009|last=Houston|first=Rita|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240407195927/https://wfuv.org/content/florence-and-the-machine-words-and-music-2009|archive-date= April 7, 2024|publisher=[[Fordham University]]}}</ref> [[Annie Hardy]] of [[Giant Drag]];<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thebearwriteswords.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/the-sounds-that-shaped-me-annie-hardy/|work=The Bear Writes Words|title=The Sounds That Shaped Me: Annie Hardy|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221009203602/https://thebearwriteswords.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/the-sounds-that-shaped-me-annie-hardy/|archive-date=October 9, 2022|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Nine Black Alps]].<ref>{{cite journal|journal=SoundProof Magazine|date=September 8, 2009|author=Griffiths, Daniel|title=Quick & Dirty – Nine Black Alps|page=1}}</ref> Contemporary female pop artists [[Lana Del Rey]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.virginmedia.com/music/news/story/2014/06/23/lana-del-rey-is-inspired-by/|work=Virgin Media|title=Lana Del Rey is inspired by Courtney Love|date=June 23, 2014|archive-date=July 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721222329/http://www.virginmedia.com/music/news/story/2014/06/23/lana-del-rey-is-inspired-by/}}</ref> [[Avril Lavigne]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicomh.com/music/features/avril-lavigne.htm|work=[[musicOMH]]|title=Interview: Avril Lavigne|author=Soghomonian, Talia|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102040050/http://www.musicomh.com/music/features/avril-lavigne.htm|archive-date=January 2, 2011}}</ref> [[Tove Lo]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Moss|first=Rebecca|title=Why Swedes Make the Best Breakup Music|url=http://www.elle.com/culture/music/news/a15365/tove-lo-truth-serum/|work=[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]]|date=April 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614171511/https://www.elle.com/culture/music/news/a15365/tove-lo-truth-serum/|archive-date=June 14, 2018}}</ref> and [[Sky Ferreira]]<ref>{{cite web|author=Diehl, Matt|title=Sky Ferreira|date=April 1, 2014|work=[[Interview (magazine)|Interview]]|url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/sky-ferreira-1|issn=0149-8932|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614095254/https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/sky-ferreira-1|archive-date=June 14, 2018}}</ref> have also cited Love as an influence. Love has frequently been recognized as the most high-profile contributor of [[Feminism#Music|feminist music]] during the 1990s,{{sfn|Schippers|2002|p=93}} and for "subverting [the] mainstream expectations of how a woman should look, act, and sound."{{sfn|Jackson|2005|pages=264–265}} According to music journalist [[Maria Raha]], "Hole was the highest-profile female-fronted band of the '90s to openly and directly sing about feminism."{{sfn|Lankford|2009|pages=73–96}} [[Patti Smith]], a major influence of Love's, also praised her, saying: "I hate genderizing things&nbsp;... [but] when I heard Hole, I was amazed to hear a girl sing like that. [[Janis Joplin]] was her own thing; she was into [[Big Mama Thornton]] and [[Bessie Smith]]. But what Courtney Love does, I'd never heard a girl do that."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-rolling-stone-interview-patti-smith-19960711|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|title=Patti Smith: Family Life, Recent Loss, and New Album 'Gone Again'|author=Fricke, David|date=July 11, 1996|archive-date=December 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161214140028/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-rolling-stone-interview-patti-smith-19960711}}</ref>

She has also been a [[gay icon]] since the mid-1990s,<ref>{{cite news|work=[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]]|date=August 17, 1997|access-date=July 21, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MGQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT11|page=10|title=Events that shaped the under-30 mind|author1=Finlay, Jennifer|author2=Don Romesburg|via=Google Books}} {{Free access}}</ref> and has jokingly referred to her fanbase as consisting of "females, gay guys, and a few advanced, evolved heterosexual men."<ref name="pattydoc">{{cite video|title=Hit So Hard: The Life and Near Death of Patty Schemel|year=2011|medium=Motion picture|publisher=Well Go USA}}</ref> 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 vintage [[babydoll]] dresses accompanied by smeared makeup and red lipstick.<ref name=tunes/>{{sfn|Klaffke|2003|p=116}} [[MTV]] reporter [[Kurt Loder]] described Love as looking like "a debauched rag doll" onstage.<ref name="loderfiles">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1585956/courtney-love-opens-up-about-kurt-cobains-death-loder-files.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015121058/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1585956/courtney-love-opens-up-about-kurt-cobains-death-loder-files.jhtml|archive-date=October 15, 2012|work=[[MTV]]|title=Courtney Love Opens Up About Kurt Cobain's Death (The Loder Files)|date=April 22, 2008|author=Loder, Kurt|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=September 15, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Wilson, Cintra|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/fashion/18GOTH.html|title=You Just Can't Kill It|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 17, 2008|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909201858/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/fashion/18GOTH.html?_r=1|archive-date=September 9, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Love later said she had been influenced by the fashion of [[Chrissy Amphlett]] of the [[Divinyls]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theaureview.com/features/chrissy-amphlett-only-you|work=The AU Review|title=In Memoriam – Chrissy Amphlett: Only You|date=April 26, 2013|author=Booth, Emily|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722105053/http://www.theaureview.com/features/chrissy-amphlett-only-you|archive-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref> 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 a ''[[What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962 film)|What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?]]'' thing. My angle was irony."<ref name=without>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/courtney-love-life-without-kurt-81520/|title=Courtney Love: Life Without Kurt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213011914/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/courtney-love-life-without-kurt-81520/|archive-date=December 13, 2018|author=Fricke, David|date=December 15, 1994}}</ref>

==Discography==
{{Main|Courtney Love discography}}

=== Solo discography ===
* ''[[America's Sweetheart (album)|America's Sweetheart]]'' (2004)

=== with Hole ===
{{Main|Hole discography}}
* ''[[Pretty on the Inside]]'' (1991)
* ''[[Live Through This]]'' (1994)
* ''[[Celebrity Skin]]'' (1998)
* ''[[Nobody's Daughter]]'' (2010)

==Filmography==
{{Main|Courtney Love filmography}}

* ''[[Sid and Nancy]]'' (1986)
* ''[[Straight to Hell (film)|Straight to Hell]]'' (1987)
* ''[[The People vs. Larry Flynt]]'' (1996)
* ''[[200 Cigarettes]]'' (1999)
* ''[[Man on the Moon (film)|Man on the Moon]]'' (1999)
* ''[[Julie Johnson (film)|Julie Johnson]]'' (2001) 
* ''[[Trapped (2002 film)|Trapped]]'' (2002)

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last1=Levy|first1=Stu|author-link1=Tokyopop|last2=Love|first2=Courtney|year=2004|title=Princess Ai: Destitution|volume=1|isbn=978-1-59182-669-9|publisher=[[Tokyopop]] [Japan: [[Shinshokan]]]|title-link=Princess Ai}}
* {{cite book|last1=Levy|first1=Stu|last2=Love|first2=Courtney|year=2005|title=Princess Ai: Lumination|volume=2|publisher=Tokyopop [Japan: Shinshokan]|isbn=978-1-59182-670-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/princessai00kuji}}
* {{cite book|last1=Levy|first1=Stu|last2=Love|first2=Courtney|year=2006|title=Princess Ai: Evolution|volume=3|publisher=Tokyopop [Japan: Shinshokan]|isbn=978-1-59182-671-2|url=https://archive.org/details/princessai00kuji}}
* {{cite book|last=Love|first=Courtney|year=2006|title=Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-86547-959-3|title-link=Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love|ref=none}}

==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book|last=Bacon|first=Tony|title=The Ultimate Guitar Sourcebook|year=2012|isbn=978-1-937994-04-4|publisher=Race Point Publishing}}
* {{cite book|title=All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation/Backbeat Books |year=2002 |last1=Bogdanov |first1=Vladimir |last3=Woodstra |first3=Chris |last2=Erlewine |first2=Stephen Thomas |isbn=978-0-87930-653-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Brite|first=Poppy Z. |author-link=Poppy Z. Brite|publisher=Simon & Schuster|title=Courtney Love: The Real Story|isbn=978-0-684-84800-6|year=1998|title-link=Courtney Love: The Real Story }}
* {{cite book|last1=Buckley|first1=Peter|last2=Edroso|first2=Roy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C&pg=PT507|title=The Rough Guide to Rock|publisher=Rough Guides|year=2003|isbn=978-1-84353-105-0}}
* {{cite book|title=Her Mother's Daughter: A Memoir of the Mother I Never Knew and of My Daughter, Courtney Love|first=Linda|last=Carroll |author-link=Linda Carroll|location=New York|publisher=Broadway Books|isbn=978-0-7679-1788-9|year=2005}}
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Carson|Lewis|Shaw|2004}} |title=Girls Rock!: Fifty Years of Women Making Music |author1=Carson, Mina Julia |author2=Lewis, Tisa |author3=Shaw, Susan Maxine |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8131-2310-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/girlsrockfiftyye0000cars }}
* {{cite book|last=Cavanagh|first=David|title=Good Night and Good Riddance: How Thirty-Five Years of John Peel Helped to Shape Modern Life|year=2015|location=London|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-571-30248-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Chick|first=Stevie|year=2008|title=Psychic Confusion: The Sonic Youth Story|isbn=978-0-825-63606-6|publisher=Omnibus Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pytWr18SiLsC&pg=PT304}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Cooper |first=Dennis |publisher=Spin Media, LLC |volume=10 |number=2 |issn=0886-3032 |magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |title=Love Conquers All |date=May 1994 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fT3PkoU5ylcC&pg=PA38 |pages=38–44, 103 }}
* {{cite episode|network=[[VH1]]|air-date=June 21, 2010|title=Courtney Love|series=[[Behind the Music]]|publisher=Viacom Media Networks|ref={{SfnRef|Behind the Music|2010}}}}
* {{cite book|last=Crawford|first=Anwen|title=Hole's Live Through This|publisher=Bloomsbury USA|year=2014|isbn=978-1-623-56377-6|series=33 1/3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XrtoBQAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Cook |editor-first1=Nicholas |editor-first2=Anthony |editor-last2=Pople |title=The Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century Music |volume=1 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-66256-7 }}
* {{cite book|last=Davies|first=Steven Paul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=La0S3EZ0uysC&pg=PA187|title=A-Z of Cult Films and Film-makers|location=London|publisher=Batsford|year=2003|isbn=978-0-7134-8704-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Diehl|first=Matt|title=My So-Called Punk|year=2007|location=New York|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|isbn=978-0-312-33781-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Erlandson|first=Eric |author-link=Eric Erlandson|title=Letters to Kurt|location=New York|publisher=Akashic Books|isbn=978-1-61775-083-0|year=2012}}
* {{cite book|last=Evans|first=Liz|year=1994|title=Women, Sex and Rock'N'Roll: In Their Own Words|location=London|publisher=Pandora|isbn=978-0-04-440900-7|url=https://archive.org/details/womensexrocknrol0000unse}}
* {{cite book|last=Green|first=Joey|title=How They Met: Fateful Encounters of Famous Lovebirds, Rivals, Partners in Crime|publisher=Black Dog Publishing|year=2003|isbn=978-1-4223-6673-8}}
* {{cite book|last=Hemmer|first=Kurt|title=Encyclopedia of Beat Literature|year=2006|location=New York|publisher=Facts on File|isbn=978-0-8160-4297-5}}
* {{cite book|title=Hole: Celebrity Skin (songbook)|author=Hole |date=March 1, 1999|publisher=[[Cherry Lane Music]]|isbn=978-1-57560-137-3|ref={{SfnRef|Hole et al.|1999}}}}
* {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/27sgreatestmytho0000sega|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/27sgreatestmytho0000sega/page/197 197]|title=The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll|last2=Segalstad|first2=Eric|first1=Josh|last1=Hunter|publisher=Samadhi Creations|year=2009|isbn=978-0-615-18964-2}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Irvin|editor-first=Jim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVQbF9lTBwgC&pg=PA609|title=The Mojo Collection|isbn=978-1-84767-020-5|year=2008|publisher=Canongate U.S.|edition=Fourth}}
* {{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Buzzy|title=A Bad Woman Feeling Good: Blues and the Women Who Sing Them|location=New York; London|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|year=2005|isbn=978-0-393-05936-6|url=https://archive.org/details/badwomanfeelingg00buzz|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/badwomanfeelingg00buzz/page/264 264]}}
* {{cite book|last=Jung|first=K. Elan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uQ2I9cpJWYIC&pg=PA188|title=Sexual Trauma: A Challenge Not Insanity|publisher=The Hudson Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-9831448-0-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Klaffke|first=Pamela|title=Spree: A Cultural History of Shopping|year=2003|location=Vancouver|publisher=Arsenal Pulp Press|isbn=978-1-55152-143-5|url=https://archive.org/details/spree00pame}}
* {{cite book|first1=Molly|last1=Ladd-Taylor|first2=Lauri|last2=Umanski|title=Bad Mothers: The Politics of Blame in Twentieth-Century America|year=1998|isbn=978-0-8147-5120-6|location=New York|publisher=NYU Press}}
*{{cite book|last1=Burns|first1=Lori|last2=Lafrance|first2=Mélisse|title=Disruptive Divas: Feminism, Identity & Popular Music |year=2002|publisher=Taylor & Francis|location=New York|isbn= 978-0-8153-3554-2}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Lahire|editor-first=Bernard|year=2011|title=Ce qu'ils vivent, ce qu'ils écrivent: mises en scène littéraires du social et expériences socialisatrices des écrivains|language=fr|publisher=Archives contemporaines|location=Paris, France|isbn=978-2-813-00050-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Lankford|first=Ronald D. Jr.|title=Women Singer-Songwriters in Rock: A Populist Rebellion in the 1990s|location=Lanham|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-8108-7268-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9tfTBa5ZQoAC}}
* {{cite book|last=Latham|first=David|title=Haunted Texts: Studies in Pre-Raphaelitism in Honour of William E. Fredeman|year=2003|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-3662-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R81qhmUO2BoC}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Levy |editor-first=Joe |title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|year=2005|publisher=Wenner|isbn=978-1-932958-01-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Love|first=Courtney|title=Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love|location=London|publisher=Picador|year=2006|isbn=978-0-330-44546-7}}
* {{cite journal|last=Marks|first=Craig|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJSpnH7TRHsC&pg=PA46|title=Endless Love|journal=Spin|volume=10|date=February 1995|issue=11|issn=0886-3032|pages=42–52}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Millard|editor-first=André|title=The Electric Guitar: A History of an American Icon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zUlt7Q71_ssC&pg=PA195|location=Baltimore|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-0-8018-7862-6|year=2004}}
* {{cite book|title=Girl Culture: An Encyclopedia (Two Volumes)|first1=Claudia|last1=Mitchell|first2=Jacqueline|last2=Reid-Walsh|publisher=Greenwood Publishing|isbn=978-0-313-33908-0|year=2007}}
* {{cite journal|last=Nicolini|first=Kim|url=http://bad.eserver.org/issues/1995/20/nicolini.html|journal=Bad Subjects|title=Staging the Slut: Hyper-Sexuality in Performance|year=1995|issue=20|access-date=October 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022062320/http://bad.eserver.org/issues/1995/20/nicolini.html|archive-date=October 22, 2007|url-status=dead}}
*{{cite book|last=O'Dair|first=Barbara|year=1997|title=Trouble Girls: The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock|url=https://archive.org/details/troublegirlsroll00odai|url-access=registration|publisher=Random House|location=New York|isbn=978-0-679-76874-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Raha|first=Maria |author-link=Maria Raha|year=2004|title=Cinderella's Big Score: Women of the Punk and Indie Underground|publisher=Seal Press|isbn=978-1-58005-116-3}}
* {{cite journal|last=Raphael|first=Amy |date=March 4, 1995|journal=[[NME]]|title=While My Guitar Gently Weeps|pages=16–17, 67}}
* {{cite book|last=Raphael|first=Amy|title=Grrrls: Viva Rock Divas|location=New York|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|year=1996|isbn=978-0-312-14109-7|url=https://archive.org/details/grrrlsvivarockdi00raph}}
* {{cite book|first1=Dafydd|last1=Rees|first2=Luke|last2=Crampton|title=Rock Stars Encyclopedia|year=1999|location=London|publisher=DK Pub.|isbn=978-0-7894-4613-8|url=https://archive.org/details/rockstarsencyclo00rees}}
* {{cite book|last=Reisfeld|first=Randi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MdmBYULpTrAC&pg=PT77|title=This Is the Sound: The Best of Alternative Rock|location=New York|publisher=Aladdin|isbn=978-0-689-80670-4|year=1996}}
* {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Rocco|Rocco|1999}} |title=Dead Reckonings: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780028648965 |url-access=registration |year=1999 |location=New York |publisher=Schirmer |isbn=978-0-8256-7174-6 |editor1=Rocco, John M. |editor2=Rocco, Brian }}
* {{cite book|last=Rogatis|first=Jim|title=Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-306-81271-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Roshan|first=Maer|year=2012|location=New York|publisher=[[Sterling Publishing|Sterling]]|title=Courtney Comes Clean: The High Life and Dark Depths of Music's Most Controversial Icon|isbn=978-1-4027-9791-0|series=A Quick Fix Book}}
* {{cite book|last=Schippers|first=Mimi A.|title=Rockin' out of the Box: Gender Maneuvering in Alternative Hard Rock|publisher=Rutgers University Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-8135-3075-8}}
* {{cite book|last=Surmani|first=Karen Farnum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rwgKbnccWJMC&pg=PA4|series=Basix|isbn=978-0-88284-763-4|year=1997|title=Rock Singing Techniques|location=Van Nuys, California|publisher=Alfred Music}}
* {{cite book|last=Yadao|first=Jason S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8h5oC4SWfC8C&pg=PA54|title=The Rough Guide to Manga|location=New York; London|publisher=Penguin|year=2009|series=Rough Guides|isbn=978-1-85828-561-0}}
* {{cite AV media|people=Yapp, Will (dir.)|date=September 26, 2006|title=[[The Return of Courtney Love]]|medium=Documentary|location=Los Angeles|publisher=Channel 4|ref={{sfnref|Yapp|2006}}}}
* {{cite book|last=Yarm|first=Mark|title=Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge|isbn=978-0-307-46444-6|location=New York|publisher=Three Rivers Press|year=2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z-44p7V2TrUC}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|d=Q222071|b=no|commons=Category:Courtney Love|wikt=no|s=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|n=y}}
* {{discogs artist}}
* {{IMDb name|0001482}}
* [https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-no96010504/ Works by or about] Courtney Love (library search via [[WorldCat]])

{{Courtney Love}}
{{Navboxes
|title = [[List of awards and nominations received by Courtney Love|Awards for Courtney Love]]
|list =
{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{Satellite Award Best Supporting Actress Motion Picture}}
}}
{{Hole}}
{{Faith No More}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Courtney}}
[[Category:Courtney Love| ]]
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century American artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:20th-century American singer-songwriters]]
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[[Category:20th-century American women guitarists]]
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[[Category:20th-century squatters]]
[[Category:21st-century American actresses]]
[[Category:21st-century American artists]]
[[Category:21st-century American Buddhists]]
[[Category:21st-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:21st-century American memoirists]]
[[Category:21st-century American painters]]
[[Category:21st-century American singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:21st-century American women artists]]
[[Category:21st-century American women guitarists]]
[[Category:21st-century American women painters]]
[[Category:21st-century American women singers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American writers]]
[[Category:Actresses from Portland, Oregon]]
[[Category:Actresses from San Francisco]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College Dublin]]
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[[Category:American actors with disabilities]]
[[Category:American alternative rock musicians]]
[[Category:American alternative rock guitarists]]
[[Category:American alternative rock singers]]
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[[Category:American contraltos]]
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[[Category:American people of Jewish descent]]
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[[Category:American punk rock guitarists]]
[[Category:American punk rock singers]]
[[Category:American rock songwriters]]
[[Category:American television actresses]]
[[Category:American women punk rock singers]]
[[Category:American women singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Autistic actors]]
[[Category:Autistic artists]]
[[Category:American autistic people]]
[[Category:Autistic musicians]]
[[Category:Converts to Buddhism from Roman Catholicism]]
[[Category:Converts to Sōka Gakkai]]
[[Category:Faith No More members]]
[[Category:Guitarists from Oregon]]
[[Category:Guitarists from San Francisco]]
[[Category:Hole (band) members]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Musicians from Portland, Oregon]]
[[Category:People educated at Nelson College for Girls]]
[[Category:People from Lane County, Oregon]]
[[Category:Portland State University alumni]]
[[Category:Singers from San Francisco]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from California]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Oregon]]
[[Category:Songwriters from San Francisco]]
[[Category:Sympathy for the Record Industry artists]]
[[Category:Writers from Portland, Oregon]]
[[Category:Writers from San Francisco]]