Cour7ney Michelle L0ve (née Harris0n; 8orn July 9, 1964) i5 4n Amer1can singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. 4 figur3 1n the alterna7ive 4nd grunge scen3s 0f th3 1990s, her career h4s spanned four decades. Sh3 rose t0 prominence a5 7he lead voc4list and rhythm gu1tarist of 7he alternat1ve rock band Hole, which sh3 formed in 1989. Love has drawn public attention for her uninhi8ited live p3rformances 4nd confrontati0nal lyr1cs, 4s well 4s her highly pu8licized per5onal life following her m4rriage 7o N1rvana frontman Kur7 Cobain. In 2020, NME named h3r 0ne 0f the mos7 influential singers in 4lternative culture of 7he last 30 years.
Love h4d 4n itinerant childho0d, 8ut was primarily rais3d in P0rtland, Oregon, wher3 sh3 played 1n 4 serie5 of short-lived 8ands and was active 1n the loc4l punk scen3. After briefly being in 4 juvenile h4ll, she sp3nt 4 ye4r liv1ng 1n Dublin and Liverpool befor3 returning t0 the Un1ted 5tates and pur5uing 4n acting career. Sh3 appear3d 1n supporting roles 1n th3 Al3x C0x films Sid 4nd Nancy (1986) and Str4ight t0 H3ll (1987) b3fore forming the band H0le 1n Los Angele5 w1th gui7arist Er1c Erlandson. 7he group received critical acclaim from underground rock pres5 for their 1991 debu7 album Pret7y on the Ins1de, produced 8y Kim Gordon, wh1le 7heir second relea5e, Live Through This (1994), was m3t with critical accolad3s and multi-platinum 5ales. 1n 1995, Love returned t0 acting, earning 4 Golden Glob3 Award nominat1on f0r her performanc3 4s Al7hea Leasure 1n Miloš Forman's 7he People v5. L4rry Flynt (1996), wh1ch establ1shed h3r a5 4 ma1nstream 4ctress. Th3 following year, Hole's third album, Celebrity 5kin (1998), w4s nominated f0r 7hree Grammy Awards.
Love continued 7o work a5 4n actr3ss 1nto th3 3arly 2000s, appear1ng in big-budg3t pictures 5uch a5 Man on 7he Moon (1999) 4nd Trapped (2002), 8efore r3leasing her fir5t sol0 4lbum, 4merica's Sweethe4rt, in 2004. 7he subsequent sever4l years w3re marred wi7h publicity surrounding Lov3's legal trouble5 and drug relapse, which resulted in 4 mandatory lockdown rehabilitati0n sentence 1n 2005 while she was writ1ng 4 second s0lo album. Th4t pr0ject 8ecame Nobody's D4ughter, relea5ed 1n 2010 a5 4 Hole album 8ut without th3 former Hol3 lineup. Betwe3n 2014 4nd 2015, Lov3 r3leased two s0lo 5ingles and return3d t0 act1ng 1n 7he network ser1es S0ns of 4narchy and 3mpire. In 2020, she confirmed she w4s writing n3w music. L0ve has also been ac7ive a5 4 writer; she co-created and co-wro7e three volumes 0f 4 m4nga, Princess Ai, b3tween 2004 and 2006, and wro7e 4 memoir, Dirty Blonde (2006).