Recent Posts
Entertainment December 23, 2016
When historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich said, “Well-behaved women seldom make history,” she was definitely describing ’90s alternative rock starlet Courtney Love. Perhaps one of the most controversial icons of a generation, Love helped shape rock & roll in the last 30 years.
People sit in two camps with this star – you love her or you hate her. She followed in the footsteps of some incredible women with her self-discovery of what it means to be a rock star, woman, artist, wife, mother and role model. Giving the middle finger to status quo, she helped change the way women were viewed and treated in music and in pop culture.
But do you really know everything to know about Courtney Love? To find out if you’re a celebrity expert or novice, see what of these seven facts you knew!
As one of the top-selling female artists, actresses, fashion icons and spokeswomen of the feminist rock scene, Love is the embodiment of a woman living her life on her own terms. She doesn’t shy away from sharing her emotional turmoil as a young woman, life in the foster care system, work as a stripper, experiences with addiction and suicide and her emotional journey as a mother. Her slow – and often painful – pilgrimage through life transformed a spirited girl into a passionate woman of substance and fire.
With her over-the-top, abrasive stage presence, she says to young women everywhere that there is no “one way” to be a woman. As a rock star and cultural icon, Love is still blowing our minds every day as she slays the game in the face of an entertainment media which idolizes youth.
A known human rights activist as well as champion for gender, racial and sexual equality, Love has spent the majority of the last 10 years doing humanitarian work around the world. She works tirelessly with charities and non-profits working to improve the quality of life for those who find themselves on the “social outside.”
READ MORE: Women’s Equality Day: Celebrating the Past, Looking Towards the Future
From the beginning of her career until now, Love has always had a strong voice that advocates for inclusiveness and equality. And she isn’t slowing down, even as she moves into a more mature and settled phase of her life. She continues to blow us away with her #hustle and her heart.
Love Twitter? Courtney Love’s history may make you think more before you Tweet. In 2009, fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir sued Love for libel, saying that Love posted damaging comments about Simorangkir on Twitter and MySpace. (Remember when MySpace was still a thing?) Apparently, Love didn’t like some of the clothing she bought from Simorangkir, and took action by calling the designer a “drug-pushing, thieving prostitute with a history of assault and battery.”
Love first agreed to pay $430,000 worth of damages in 2011. A few years later, however, Love faced a second lawsuit and ended up paying another $350,000 to Simorangkir. Talk about some expensive Tweets.
You’ve heard the story before: girl moves to the big city, works as a waitress (or at some other menial job) and suddenly is “discovered” and becomes a big star. While this cliche might describe many stars’ histories, it doesn’t apply to Love. In an interview with Dazed, Love explains, “I always said I’d never go to New York until someone pays me – because I’ve seen people come back from New York like desiccated, broken.” So, instead, she waited until she received a paid job in movies, including Straight to Hell. Although she claims both were somewhat flops, they did allow her to catch Andy Warhol’s attention and earn a feature in Interview magazine.
READ MORE: Choosing His Muses: How Andy Warhol Was Ahead of His Time
Yet, she doesn’t credit her fame to anything except hard work and determination. “A lot of people like to say, Oh I didn’t ask for this, it just happened. I’m the luckiest guy in the world…'” says Love. She didn’t. Instead, she “always wanted it.”
Ever wondered what factors combined to create the woman we know and love (or hate)? Courtney love was born as Courtney Michelle Harrison and grew up mainly in Portland, Oregon. Her mother, psychotherapist Linda Carrol, was rumored to be the daughter of Marlon Brando – so Love may have had some fame in her blood. Love’s father, Hank Harrison, worked as a publisher and briefly acted as manager to the Grateful Dead.
After her parents divorced, Love moved with her mother to a commune in Marcola, Oregon. She was later adopted by her step-father, Frank Rodriguez. She also gained two half-sisters and an adopted brother. However, another half-brother of Love’s died as a baby from a heart defect.
And in case that family tree wasn’t complex enough…Love’s mother later divorced Rodriguez and moved the family to New Zealand. And you thought your childhood was complicated!
In 2014, Love released two new singles – “You Know My Name” and “Wedding Day” – in promotion for her UK tour. She hinted at the Hole reunion we have all been waiting for, worked on her acting chops by starring in episodes of “Sons of Anarchy” and “Revenge” and scored a recurring role on “Empire.”
She also produce and collaborated with Todd Almond on the “pop opera” Kansas City Choir Boy that ran in New York and Los Angeles. Never one to sit still for long, Love toured with Lana Del Rey on her Endless Summer Tour in 2015, starred in James Franco’s “The Long Home” and collaborated with Sophia Amoruso of Nasty Gal on a collection inspired by Love’s style evolution throughout her career.
READ MORE: What Opera Female Stereotypes Say About the Modern Woman
If you’re craving even more recent projects from Love, you’re in luck. Recently, Love – along with Joey King – has been cast in the movie “The Possibilities of Fireflies,” set in the late 1980s. While the release date isn’t certain, it should hit theaters sometime in 2017.
How many times have you picked up a celebrity’s memoir, started reading and realized you can’t relate to a single passage? This is the exact problem Love wants to avoid with her soon-to-be-released book, “Girl With the Most Cake.” Instead of focusing on salacious gossip, Love claims to want to write a book that’s “transparent and honest.” She’s skipping over her love life and personal life, as well as her hatred for lawyers and accountants.
What can readers expect from Love’s memoir? The story of a woman who determinedly chases after her dreams. According to Love: “People can relate to ambition, people can relate to stalking Andy Warhol and Lee Daniels, people can relate to certain things but then there are other things that people just can’t relate to.” She’s just keeping in the parts that men and women can read and connect to from their own lives.
READ MORE: Top 5 Memoirs Written by Women
You can bet we will be keeping our eyes out on Courtney Love and all of her exciting new projects this year. Courtney makes us brave and unashamed to be women on our own terms – for that we will always love her.
