Courtney Love biography, band, daughter, husband, age, height 2025

Biography of Courtney Love

Courtney Love is an American rock singer, poet, and musician, founder of the female punk band Hole, and its guitarist and vocalist. She is the widow of Kurt Cobain, the leader of the band Nirvana. Her platinum album "Live Through This" was released a week after her husband's death. She is also known as an actress. She won awards for "Best Supporting Actress" and "Most Promising Actress" for her role as Althea Flint in Milos Forman's notable biographical film "The People vs. Larry Flynt."

Childhood and Adolescence

Courtney Michelle Harrison was born in the summer of 1964 to Hank Harrison and Linda Carroll, in the heart of hippie culture—San Francisco. Her father worked as a technician for the band Grateful Dead (young Courtney is pictured on the cover of their debut album "Aoxomoxoa," bottom row, right), and her mother became a psychotherapist. Their home parties always gathered a variety of people who indulged in alcohol and drugs.

Later, it turned out that Courtney's maternal grandmother was writer Paula Fox, and Linda always tried to find out if her father was the famous actor Marlon Brando who had an affair with Paula in the early '40s.

Courtney Love and her biological father Hank Harrison

In 1969, Hank lost his parental rights during the divorce from his wife—Linda claimed in court that her husband gave LSD to their three-year-old daughter. The woman moved with Courtney to a hippie commune in Oregon and soon married Frank Rodriguez, with whom she had two more daughters. Another child, a son, died in early childhood from a congenital heart defect.

Courtney Love with her younger sisters and brother

Frank adopted Courtney, but the family didn't stay together for long: in 1972, Linda took the children and moved to New Zealand. In one of her interviews, the singer described her mother like this:

She always lied that we had no money, but we actually had plenty. She was so stingy that Jenny, my younger sister, born at some point to one of her men, and I paid her rent. Mom kept marrying clinical idiots; one was either a transvestite or transsexual. Despite everything, I attended a good private school.

Courtney first attended elementary school in Eugene, and then, in New Zealand, she was placed in Nelson College for Girls. She was diagnosed with mild autism, and although teachers recognized her talent, Courtney struggled to form relationships with her peers. Soon, she was sent back to Oregon to her stepfather.

Courtney Love with her mom, Linda Carroll

She was 14 when she ended up in a juvenile detention center for stealing a T-shirt from a store featuring the logo of her favorite rock band "Cinderella," which she couldn't afford. As soon as she was released from supervision, the future rock star started working to support herself—relying on her parents wasn't an option. She learned to dance striptease, worked as a waitress, and DJ. She continued her studies, albeit intermittently, attending courses in philosophy and English.

After the parents of her stepfather gave her some money, Courtney decided to move to Ireland to study theology at Trinity College. She lasted two semesters before staying with musician Julian Cope, who taught her to play the guitar. When Courtney tired of Britain, she returned to San Francisco and studied at an art college. She then decided to explore Japan and worked there as a dancer.

From the age of fourteen, the artist admitted, she began using drugs and did not part with this habit until 2007.

Film Career and Music

In 1985, Courtney, who adopted the stage name Love, returned to the States. Upon hearing that director Alex Cox was planning to make a film about the life of Sid Vicious, the bassist of the Sex Pistols, she went to the casting, hoping for the role of the guitarist's girlfriend, Nancy. To her disappointment, she was only cast as Gretchen, the friend of the main character.

Courtney Love in the film 'Sid and Nancy' (1986)

However, in her next film, "Straight to Hell," Cox offered Courtney the leading female role of Velma. She even appeared on Andy Warhol's talk show as an emerging film star.

But the initial enthusiasm of the novice actress quickly faded, and she decided to dedicate herself to music, especially since she had already attempted to form her own band, "Sugar Baby Doll." She auditioned for the position of vocalist in the band "Faith No More," but the musicians, initially seeking a female voice, ultimately decided to use a male vocalist.

Love didn't stay long with "Pagan Babies" either. Courtney stopped looking for new bands and decided to form her own punk group, "Hole," which included Eric Erlandson (guitarist), Lisa Roberts (bassist), and Caroline Rue (drummer). Soon, Jill Emery replaced Lisa. With this lineup, the band recorded their debut album "Pretty on the Inside."

Hole. 1990 Concert

Following this, many events happened in Courtney's life: her marriage to Kurt Cobain, pregnancy, and the birth of her daughter Frances Bean Cobain.

The band Hole with Kristen Pfaff and Kurt Cobain

Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain: A Love Story

Since the age of fourteen, Courtney led quite a free lifestyle. She always had plenty of admirers around her. She even married James Moreland, the lead singer of "The Leaving Trains," in Las Vegas, later calling it a joke.

The only serious love for the rock singer was the frontman of the legendary band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain. In 1990, Courtney had just broken up with Corgan and went straight to a Nirvana concert. According to the artist, she had liked Kurt for a long time. After the concert, she went to the dressing room. It seemed perfectly natural to those around them that a scuffle broke out between them: the girl punched the musician in the stomach, he responded in kind, they tussled and rolled on the floor, but it all ended with a kiss. Soon after, they appeared as a couple at the Rock for Choice concert.

Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain were called 'the new Sid and Nancy'

Many believed they had another rock-and-roll fling, but their love and marriage lasted until Cobain's death in the spring of 1994. They were very similar in their approach to life, constantly giving reasons for discussion and criticism of their actions.

Some called their romance "destructive," blaming Courtney for Kurt's drug addiction and eventual suicide. Others claimed they genuinely loved each other, and the reckless, fun-loving Courtney helped the musician overcome a prolonged depression brought on by his sudden fame. "A new version of Sid and Nancy, but much more talented," the press called them.

A few months into their romance, Courtney became pregnant, and they married on February 24, 1992. After the wedding, Kurt sank back into depression, withdrew, and didn't want to go on tour. In a 1992 Vanity Fair interview, Courtney said:

We went on a drug binge. We used various drugs, a lot of drugs, and went clubbing. Then I used heroin for 2 months.

A few months before their daughter was born, both tried to quit, but unsuccessfully. In August, their daughter Frances Bean Cobain was born. Kurt considered leaving Nirvana, quitting drugs, and focusing on fatherhood, but none of that happened. They nearly lost parental rights immediately after the baby's birth, but Courtney and Kurt proved their right to raise their daughter in court.

Courtney Love with her husband and daughter

Both loved their daughter madly – numerous testimonies from the couple's friends confirm this. But the relationship between Courtney and Kurt, eroded by drug addiction, became increasingly toxic. In one interview, Love claimed that suicidal thoughts appeared in Kurt after she asked for a divorce during a Rome tour in March 1994, and he refused to grant it, deliberately overdosing on medication.

Upon returning, the musician locked himself in his room with a gun and threatened to end his life. Love reported it to the police, but withdrew her statement upon their arrival. Kurt insisted he only wanted to hide from his wife after an argument. At the end of March, Nirvana's leader entered rehab but escaped from the clinic. Courtney hired a detective to help track Cobain down. However, it wasn't the detective who found him but an electrician who arrived at Kurt's house on April 8 and discovered the musician dead.

Life After Kurt's Death

Many fans of Nirvana still blame Courtney Love for their idol's death. Kurt's fans would gouge out Courtney’s eyes on Hole posters, and conspiracy theorists developed theories that Love ordered Cobain's murder. While they used to be called "the new Sid and Nancy," now she’s been dubbed "the second Yoko Ono," implying she destroyed Nirvana just like Yoko Ono destroyed The Beatles.

After Cobain's death, Courtney Love's career took off

The release of Hole's new album "Live Through This" added fuel to the fire—just a few days after Kurt's death (and two months after bassist Kristen Pfaff's overdose). Despite mixed feelings about the vocalist, the album went platinum.

Hole – Doll Parts

Courtney didn’t leave behind her destructive lifestyle. She continued to use drugs and frequently got into scandals. In 1995, she caused a scene on a plane and later attacked Kathleen Hanna, the vocalist of the group she hated, Bikini Kill, at the Lollapalooza music festival. After Kurt, she had tens of millions of dollars, allowing her to pursue her passions without worrying about haters and critics.

In 1996, Love was offered the lead female role in Milos Forman's "The People vs. Larry Flynt." The required insurance premiums for Courtney were so high that she, along with the director and leading actor Woody Harrelson, had to pay them themselves—the studio refused. But the expenses paid off: the film about the creator of Hustler magazine won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival.

Courtney Love in 'The People vs. Larry Flynt'

After that, Courtney played Lucy in the comedy "200 Cigarettes" and Lynn Margulies in the drama "Man on the Moon" with Jim Carrey in the lead role. These were all central female characters. In 1998, Hole's last album, "Celebrity Skin," was released.

Hole – Celebrity Skin

In 2002, the band officially disbanded, and Courtney decided to record a solo album, which was largely unsuccessful. Her film roles also went unnoticed: "Beat" (Joan Vollmer Burroughs), "Trapped" (Cheryl Hickey), and "Julie Johnson" (Claire).

After turning 40, Courtney fell into depression, attempted suicide, and entered rehab. In 2007, after several more attempts to get her life together, she finally managed to overcome her addiction. According to Courtney, she has been "clean" since then—no more illegal substances in her life.

In 2009, the artist tried to revive Hole and recorded the album "Nobody’s Daughter," but Courtney was disappointed once again: fans preferred listening to their earlier albums and were not impressed by the new songs. Love performed solo for a while, occasionally stating that she was working on new songs and albums.

Hole - Nobody's Daughter (live 2010)

In 2015, Courtney Love went on tour with Lana Del Rey, and a year later, she introduced her clothing collection "Love, Courtney."

Love never remarried, although she did have romances. Among her boyfriends were musician Billy Gould, producer James Barber, model Jamie Burke, comedian Steve Coogan, singer Billy Corgan, and actor Noel Fielding. She was even engaged to actor Edward Norton, but the couple broke up after two years.

Her relationship with her daughter was also troubled. Because of her drug addiction, custody revoked Courtney's parental rights. The girl was mostly raised by her grandmother, as Frances preferred to avoid her scandalous mother. When Frances was 17, they had a falling out and didn’t speak for five years. The girl didn’t invite her mother to her wedding. However, in 2016, they managed to reconcile.

Courtney Love Now

In 2020, the American rock singer announced that during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, she began writing a book. Love also hinted once again that the band Hole has every chance to resume creative activities. Courtney confidently announced the release of a new solo album, which she started working on in London. According to her, she discovered completely new singer-songwriters with whom she would be interested in collaborating.

In March 2021, the singer revealed that in 2020 she lost weight down to 44 kilograms, suffered from anemia, and was on the brink of life and death.

In 2022, Love finished her autobiography "The Girl with the Most Cake," which she had been working on for almost ten years.

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