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Courtney Love CobainAlthough some sources give Love's birth name as "Love Michelle Harrison", her listing on the '' California Birth Index '' from the Center for Health Statistics gives a birth name of "Courtney Michelle Harrison". Between adoptions from several stepfathers, she also gone by the names "Courtney Michelle Rodriguez" and "Courtney Michelle Menely". The name change to "Courtney Michelle Love" happened in early 1990s, in the beginning of her musical career and after the end of her first marriage (of which the legal records still feature the name "Courtney Michelle Menely"). According to the same statistics list above, the birth status of Courtney's 1992 born daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, already include "Love" as the mother's maiden surname. (born July 9 1964 ) is an American Rock Musician and Golden Globe -nominated Actress , best-known as lead singer for the now-defunct Alternative Rock band Hole and for her two-year marriage to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain , who died in 1994 . BIOGRAPHY Early life Courtney Love was born Courtney Michelle Harrison on July 9 , 1964 , in San Francisco , California , where her parents first met and married. Love then spent her childhood with her mother in Oregon , and attended various schools including a boarding school in Nelson , New Zealand . At 15, Love travelled around the U.S., England and the Republic of Ireland, living on a Trust Fund established for her by her mother's adoptive parents. During her time in England, Love met, befriended and moved into musician Julian Cope 's Toxteth , Liverpool home, and became a regular face at rock shows. In his autobiography ''Head-On'', Cope doesn't use her name, but refers to her as "the adolescent."1 Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage: Drudical Q&A Miscellaneous Eventually, she would head back to the states, ending up in Portland , Oregon , still avidly pursuing music. Love's first rock musician boyfriend was Rozz Rezabek of the Portland band Theatre of Sheep, who had an affair with her while she was still underage. Though the two wrote each other copious love letters, Love has said in many interviews that he did not take her Virginity ; she claims her first sexual encounter was a One-night Stand with Michael Mooney , a sometimes-guitarist for Echo & The Bunnymen and later to Spiritualized . HOLE In One Early musical career Love began her professional music career with a brief stint as the lead singer of Faith No More . Keyboardist Roddy Bottum described the band at the time as "democratic", saying that Love's dominating personality did not fit in. The two artists have remained friends, working together recently in 2005 on a track for the film ''Adam & Steve''. At age 22, Love moved back to Portland, then on to Los Angeles in 1987 with fellow musician . Love claimed that she took the style from Christina Amphlett of 1980s Australian rock group, Divinyls , in an interview in the Los Angeles Fanzine '' Ben Is Dead ''.[http://web.archive.org/web/19980209214657/http://benisdead.com Ben Is Dead] Love and Bjelland later formed a band called The Pagan Babies in San Francisco, with Diedre Schletter on drums and Janis Tanaka on bass. Pagan Babies The band recorded a demo of four tracks, then ejected Love and renamed themselves Italian Whorenuns. Lastly, in Minneapolis , Minnesota , Bjelland started what ultimately would become her longest-running band, Babes In Toyland : Courtney briefly played bass, but was kicked out of this group as well. Babes in Toyland Biography Love had more early success as an actress, appearing as the best friend of Nancy Spungen in Alex Cox 's Sid Vicious biopic '' Sid And Nancy '' in 1986, and in Cox's '' Straight To Hell '' in 1987, as well as some small roles on television episodes. Love has also appeared in the Music Video for The Ramones ' " I Wanna Be Sedated ", dressed as a bride and being carried away by a man at the end of the song. In 1989, Love taught herself to play guitar and set out to form her own band. To do so, she placed an ad in an issue of '' of R.E.M. and Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins (whom she briefly dated.)http://www.nyrock.com/features/courtneylove.htm Marriage Love met Kurt Cobain at the Satyricon club in Portland in 1991, where the two reportedly became more intimately acquainted. British journalist Everett True states in the BBC documentary "The Last 48 Hours of Kurt Cobain" that it was during True's first interview with Courtney Love while drinking together that the two began wrestling on the ground and that Cobain wandered into the club, saw them, jumped on top and joined in. Love and Cobain were married on Waikiki Beach , Hawaii on February 24 , 1992 . On August 18 of that year, the couple's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain , was born.Azerrad, Michael. ''Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana''. Doubleday, 1993. ISBN 0-385-47199-8 On April 8 , 1994 , four days before the release of Hole's breakthrough album '' Live Through This '', Kurt Cobain's body was found in his Seattle , Washington home, killed by a shotgun wound to his head. Cobain's death was officially ruled a Suicide . Love read his Suicide Note to assembled, mourning fans at a memorial service in Seattle a few days after his body was found. She interrupted the note frequently to express her anger and extreme sorrow. Finally, Love implored Nirvana fans not to listen to Cobain's infamous final words, "It's better to burn out than fade away," a lyric from Neil Young 's "Hey Hey, My My ." ''Live Through This'' tour (1994) The band was struck by disaster again when bassist Kristen Pfaff died of an apparent heroin overdose on June 16 , 1994 , just two months after Cobain's death and the new album's release. History of Women in Forest Lawn Lawn Cemetery: Kristen Pfaff A few months later, Love told MTV 's Kurt Loder , "you know...people go back to work. This is what I do. I gotta make a living." Hole recruited 22-year-old bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur (on Corgan's recommendation) to fill in for Pfaff, and took Hole on the road, appearing at the Reading Festival in England. The band's performance was written up by broadcaster John Peel in '' The Guardian '': Meanwhile, ''Live Through This'' was a commercial and critical success. '' Rolling Stone '', '' Spin '' and '' Village Voice '' all declared it "Album of the Year", and by November the record was certified Gold . By April 1995, it went Platinum . Hole next embarked on a tour opening for Nine Inch Nails . Nine Inch Nails Database: H ''Celebrity Skin'' era (1996-2000) Love received considerable acclaim for her role as Larry Flynt 's wife, Althea, in Miloš Forman 's 1996 film '' The People Vs. Larry Flynt '', opposite Woody Harrelson as Flynt. She received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Drama. During this time she met and began dating Edward Norton , a relationship which would become her longest yet. The two were engaged, but ultimately broke up. In 1998, Hole released '' was replaced by a session drummer during the recording. Around this time, Love created with ). The instrument featured a shape inspired by Mercury, Stratocaster and Rickenbacker 's solidbodies and had a single-coil and a humbucker pickup. 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 (...) 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 switch. Because I think that cultural revolutions are in the hands of guitar players". She also declared, "my Venus is better than the Jag-Stang". Hole Tones: The Secrets Of Celebrity Skin's Smooth Sound The Squier Vista Venus model is currently discontinued, as is the Jag-Stang as of 2006. Hole toured Australia in 1999 to support the album, then hit the U.S. on an ultimately failed co-headlining tour with 2007 . In May 2000, Love spoke in New York at the , 2000 ." In the speech, Love accused the major labels of devising a corrupt system of recording contracts to make the labels millions, while the band itself "may as well be working at a 7-Eleven ." With Hole fallen into disarray, Love attempted to begin a "punk rock femme . Going solo (2001-2004) "I need to be saved," Love told ''Rolling Stone'' magazine writer Neil Strauss during an interview in May, 2004. "I need to be fucking saved." Strauss, Neil. ''Rolling Stone'': "Queen of the Damned". May 13th, 2004. http://www.moonwashedrose.com/media/04rs3.html On October 2, 2003, Love was arrested in Los Angeles while breaking several windows to enter her then-boyfriend, manager and producer Jim Barber's home. Barber did not press charges (Love says she had paid for the home), but the police charged her with being under the influence of a controlled substance. Rocker Courtney Love Arrested, Hospitalized in LA Released on bail, just four hours later Love was rushed to a hospital to be treated for an accidental overdose of Oxycontin.Donegan, Lawrence. ''Sunday Magazine'': "LIVE THROUGH THIS". December 2003. http://www.moonwashedrose.com/media/sundaymag03.html Eight days later, on October 10, Frances Bean was taken by the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services and placed with Wendy O'Connor, Cobain's mother. Courtney Love Arrested After Allegedly Striking Fan With Mic Stand Authorities then ordered a 72-hour hospital evaluation of Love's health, but she walked from the facility, claiming she was ready to head directly to rehab. When Love didn't attend, her lawyer issued a statement that they may move to have the police department's Toxicology reports re-examined. In public appearances, Love protested her arrest, denying all charges, describing the drugs found on her as "one expired Percocet and one Ambien ". The police report, however, alleged possession of Oxycontin and Hydrocodone without prescription. Rock star Love arrested after gig In 2003, Love pleaded not guilty to felony drug charges related to possession of Painkiller s. In February 2004, an arrest warrant was issued for Love after she failed to appear at a preliminary hearing. The warrant was subsequently rescinded when she appeared in court on February 18. She released her first solo album, '' America's Sweetheart '', just eight days earlier. The album was a commercial flop and received a mixed reaction from critics. ''Spin'' called it a "jawdropping act of artistic will", while ''Rolling Stone'' proclaimed "For people who enjoy watching celebrities fall apart, ''America's Sweetheart'' should be more fun than an Osbournes marathon." The record was re-recorded and finished while Love was either fresh from or still undergoing drug rehab, and in its first three months the album sold about 86,000 copies, according to Nielsen Soundscan. FOX News — Did Virgin Records Use Her? In early 2004, just as she had completed her first batch of songs, Love contacted ex Hole drummer Samantha Maloney asking her to fly to France (after drummer Patty Schemel departed for the second time) and add drums to Love's otherwise complete solo debut, '' America's Sweetheart ''. Returning to the States , Maloney was put in charge of assembling Love's live band. After a world wide search and countless auditions Maloney reconnected with guitarist Radio Sloan , found guitarist Lisa Leveridge , Bassist Dvin , and the four women formed the core of Love's backing band. After playing with the band for only a few weeks Love decided to call her new band "The Chelsea” after Maloney's previous endeavour. In January 2005, Love regained the custody of her daughter that she had lost in October 2003, after completing a state-enforced rehabilitation program and enduring a probational period. Child welfare authorities alluded to drug addiction when responding to the press on the matter, though they didn't comment directly. Courtney Love Fighting For Custody Of Daughter Frances Bean Courtney Love Regains Custody Of Frances Bean Cobain On August 19 , 2005 , Love admitted using drugs in violation of her probation. She was ordered into a 28-day drug treatment program by a judge who initially said "my belief was that you need to go to the county jail." This program was also violated, and on September 21 she was sentenced to six months in lock down rehab. Teary-Eyed Courtney Love Ordered Back To Rehab By Judge Present day (2005-Present) In June 2005, three months after being released from court-ordered drug rehabilitation, Love started recording her second solo LP, titled '', though not in its entirety. Rebuilding Courtney Love, One Song at a Time More recently the complete track "How Dirty Girls Get Clean" began streaming on her website. On February 3 , 2006 , Love was released from house arrest and issued the following statement: "I would just like to thank the court for allowing me these 90 days... helped me deal with a very gnarly drug problem, which is behind me... I've just been playing guitar and taking care of my daughter. I want to [take this opportunity to let the community know I'm doing great... I've been really inspired and have remained inspired." Courtney Is Cleared, Ready To Rock On July 2, 2007 she is off to Europe, with her band. Love has released a memoir/diary collection book, '' and Ai Yazawa to make the manga Princess Ai . On June 1 , 2007 , Love made her stage comeback in a not-so-secret gig, by the end of a Linda Perry show at House of Blues in Los Angeles. With Perry and the producer's backup band, she performed the songs "Nobody's Daughter", "Sunset Marquis", "Pacific Coast Highway" and "Letter to God". On July 23 , 2007 , Love added the first song to her MySpace page, titled "Dirty Girls". In recent interviews Christopher Scott , a noted Art and Fashion Photographer , has referred to Love as one of his muses. She was once the muse to the late designer Gianni Versace , another noted figure in the Fashion Industry . Love currently lives in L.A. with her daughter. She also has an official MySpace page and Blog s at her official website www.courtneylove.com. Family history Love's mother Linda Carroll was adopted by an Italian-American couple at birth, retaining no contact with her birth father or her birth mother, whom she later discovered was the well-known children's writer Paula Fox (herself also adopted). Carroll penned an autobiography titled ''Her Mother's Daughter'', released in 2006, about her relationship with both adoptive mother and elder daughter. The Guardian: Sins of the mothers Conflicting news stories began to appear in August 2003 regarding Love's family tree, some of them remarking that Love's mother had taken DNA tests, and that the results proved that Carroll's father was actor Marlon Brando . The news reports implied this disclosure would appear in Carroll's then-forthcoming memoir. Later that month, however, a spokeswoman for Carroll's publisher, Doubleday, told the '' New York Daily News '', "There was nothing in Linda Carroll's book proposal about Marlon Brando, nor will there be anything in the book about him. I've spoken to her and she has told me that there is no truth to the suggestion that she is related to Marlon Brando." Brando Shocks Courtney Love Courtney Love Not Brando's Granddaughter AWARDS
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