Courtney Love has had her fair share of feuds over the years, including those with Marilyn Manson, Candle Box, former members of Nirvana, the makers of Guitar Hero, Gwen Stefani and Kathleen Hanna.
“I’m not interested in being Gwen Stefani.” – Courtney Love
In August of 2004, in an issue of 17 Magazine, Courtney Love seemed to fire the first shots, telling the publication, “Being famous is just like being in high school but I’m not interested in being a cheerleader. I’m not interested in being Gwen Stefani. She’s a cheerleader and I’m out in the smoker shed and plenty of you are out there in the smoker’s shed too. When it comes to rock n’ roll, it’s just like high school.”
It was during the same year that Gwen Stefani was in the studio working on her debut solo album, Love Angel Music Baby. Stefani wanted to record an attitude song for the record that would serve as a shot at Courtney Love. The resulting track was “Hollaback Girl”.
“You want me to be a cheerleader, well I’ll be one then and I’ll rule the whole world, just you watch me!” – Gwen Stefani
In the March 2005 edition of New Musical Express, Gwen Stefani’s solo album had just hit the streets and she fired back at Courtney Love stating, “You know someone one time called me cheerleader negatively and I’ve never been a cheerleader so I was like okay FU. You want me to be a cheerleader, well I’ll be one then and I’ll rule the whole world, just you watch me!”
The feud seemed to be reignited in 2010 when Courtney Love appeared on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM radio show, stating that she had slept with Stefani’s husband, Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale. Courtney Love claimed she was in a relationship with Rossdale while he was dating Gwen Stefani. Love claimed that Stefani knew the pair were sleeping with one another.
Dramatic Lollapalooza 1995
Of all the artists on the bill for Lollapalooza 1995, Courtney Love and her band Hole seem to attract the most media attention. From the beginning of the tour in George Washington, there was drama amongst the bands.
The internet was in its infancy for the general public in 1995 but it created a new way for fans to get closer to their favorite artists. Spin magazine teamed up with some of the artists on the bill who wrote tour diaries to be published online.
“Everyone is disgusted and grossed out.” – Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth published an entry calling out Courtney Love. “Everyone is disgusted and grossed out. Perry Farrell is bummed. Everyone’s bummed.” He went on to reveal that Courtney Love, during a stopover in Vancouver, Canada, “yelled at the audience something about how she was wearing a cast on her arm because she punched some [expletive] in the face.” He revealed that Courtney Love “sucker punched Bikini Kill frontwoman, Kathleen Hanna and she in turn, filed criminal charges against Love.”
Courtney Love also published some online posts about her experience on that tour. She called out Kathleen Hanna, saying, “Kathleen Hanna was my husband’s worst enemy in the world. Someone who would stop at nothing to aggravate us.” She also referred to Hannah as “rat face”.
To get the real story of what went down between Courtney Love and Kathleen Hanna, you’ll get a different story depending on who you ask and what you read in the press.
Hole guitarist Eric Erlinson recalled to the Washington Post, “We had bulk candy backstage. I go, Courtney, there’s Bikini Kill frontwoman, Kathleen Hannah. You should offer her some candy. She grabbed the candy and just threw it at her. Everybody was like, oh my god, she punched her in the face but from what I saw, she threw the candy and kind of slapped her in the direction of her face. I don’t know if she actually hit her or what. It doesn’t matter. It was not cool. The whole tour started on that note.”
“…Next thing you know there’s an explosion of arguing, maybe a shove…” – Melissa Auf der Maur
Hole bassist, Melissa Auf der Maur revealed, “Courtney did a fake cat hiss, like a joke, like word war kind of thing. Making a weird joke in passing. Next thing you know there’s an explosion of arguing, maybe a shove. I can’t remember. Kathleen Hanna screamed at the top of her lungs, ‘I challenge you to a feminist debate in any university in America.’ I was like, what is this? It was hilarious.”
Entertainment Weekly covered the incident, publishing a report on July 28, 1995. “Just hours into the Alterna Fest, July 4th debut in George Washington, Love started a fight backstage with Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna, a guest performer of Sonic Youth. While the brawl was brief, it was just the beginning of Love’s feuding.”
Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel reported something completely different, claiming the scuffle happened on stage. “Kathleen Hanna of the band Bikini Kill told investigators that Love punched her in the face when she was on stage July 4th in George Washington. Love was given a criminal citation, similar to a traffic ticket.”
“I actually punched Kathleen Hanna and paid thirty grand for that too but that punch was so well deserved.” – Courtney Love
Courtney Love looked back at the incident telling the LA Weekly in 2013, “You know I actually punched Kathleen Hanna and paid thirty grand for that too but that punch was so well deserved. I wouldn’t take it back for anything.”
“Courtney was terrifying to me.” – Stephen Malcomus
It wasn’t just the punch that read people the wrong way on that tour but Love’s overall behaviour. Pavement’s Stephen Malcomus told the Washington Post, “Courtney was terrifying to me. I remember scolding her one time. She threw a temper tantrum in the dressing room. She took 2 jars of salsa and threw them against a concrete wall and I just had enough. I went in there and yelled at her. I was like, some poor person’s gonna have to clean that up. Everybody was concerned about her. That kind of brought everybody together. It was kind of a really nice group.”
“Everybody I clock gets famous.” – Courtney Love
Entertainment Weekly published a report in 1995 that read, “For The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ lead singer, Ducky Barrett, the Love bite came backstage at the Polaris Amphitheater in Columbus, Ohio on July 14th. He was midway through a live phone interview on Chicago’s WLUP FM when Love took the receiver to offer, among other thoughts, that she had clocked 4 people since achieving star status.
“Everybody I clock gets famous,” she said. When LUP DJ Liz Wild jokingly offered herself up for punching, Love responded, “I wouldn’t because you haven’t been bugging me and Kurt for the past 5 years.”
In 2019, it was revealed that Bikini Kill would be reuniting for some concerts. Bust Magazine raving about the news on instagram but Courtney Love wasn’t. She responded to Bust Magazine’s posts.
“Speak for yourself. Biggest hoax in the history of rock n’ roll. Yeah, it’s worse when I speak truth to the rock male industrial complex, but at least I have the best view. Two of that band total amateurs. Hannah is a good hype man but her persona is such a DIY nonsense dilettante. A big idea they cannot convey because they suck. That’s all. Back to the Paris Couture because frocks don’t trigger me.”
What may have triggered this lifelong feud? There’s a couple theories. Courtney Love used to be close friends with Sonic Youth vocalist and bassist, Kim Gordon but apparently the pair had a falling out and Kathleen Hannah supposedly became Gordon’s new best friend. Bikini Kill drummer, Toby Vale also used to date Kurt Cobain before he met Courtney Love.
“I really liked Toby Vale and Kathleen in the beginning but then I just thought they were hypocrites.” – Courtney Love
In 2005, Courtney Love was interviewed by Spin Magazine. She was asked about a relationship with Hannah. “I still don’t like her. She still bugs me. Kathleen Hannah runs that ship,” referring to her relationship with Beastie Boys member, Adam Horowitz, “In a way, that’s far more Yoko than I’d ever be. I really liked Toby Vale and Kathleen in the beginning but then I just thought they were hypocrites.”
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