Courtney Michelle Love is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989. Love has drawn public attention for her uninhibited live performances and confrontational lyrics, as well as her highly publicized personal life following her marriage to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. In 2020, NME named her one of the most influential singers in alternative culture of the last 30 years.
Love in a publicity headshot for Straight to Hell, 1986
Love performing with Hole, 1989
Love performing with Hole at Big Day Out, Melbourne, 1995
Love performing in London, 2007
Hole was an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1989. It was founded by singer and guitarist Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson. It had several different bassists and drummers, the most prolific being drummer Patty Schemel, and bassists Kristen Pfaff and Melissa Auf der Maur. Hole released a total of four studio albums between two incarnations spanning the 1990s and early-2010s and became one of the most commercially successful rock bands in history fronted by a woman.
Hole performing at Public Assembly, NYC in April 2013
Love and Erlandson performing with Hole, c. 1989.
Courtney Love performing with Hole at Big Day Out, Melbourne, January 22, 1995.
Love and Micko Larkin performing with Hole at SXSW in Austin, Texas, 2010.