Throughout the 90s, alternative music hit its absolute peak. With a new hot subculture “grunge” or “Seattle sound” emerging, an overwhelming amount of new bands began to form. This subculture eventually produced bands with a unique murky-guitar sound  forming in Seattle, therefore given the “Seattle sound” name. A few bands grunge birthed are Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins and Foo Fighters. 

There was one person who had a huge impact on all of these bands listed and the subculture as a whole: Courtney Love of Hole, the most successful grunge band fronted by a woman.  

However, Courtney Love may not have the greatest reputation. Media perceives her as a controversial, drama-seeking celebrity. This alleged problematic personality she “possesses” at times shadowed her accomplishments and immense talent.

Love picked up a guitar in 1988 for the first time and Hole formed a year after. In only one year, Love learned to play guitar and formed a successful band. Love wrote most of her songs with help, including her hits “Celebrity Skin,” “Doll Parts,” “Violet,” and “Malibu.” 

What some people don’t know about Love is that she isn’t just a skilled singer and songwriter, but is an actress as well. 

She appears in at least thirteen films with the most popular being a biographical drama film “The People vs. Larry Flynt” (1996). Love played the role of Althea Leasure Flynt and executed Althea’s complex so well she was nominated for both a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama and MTV Movie Award’s Best Breakthrough Performance, and won Most Promising Actress by the Chicago Film Critics Association and Best Supporting Actress by the Boston Society of Film Critics, Florida Film Critics Circle, and New York Film Critics Circle.

Betty Goodwin of The Los Angeles Times wrote, “[Love] was willing to wear certain things we rather forget”… “Like a downright, god -awful rust cowl neck sweater and plaid gauchos, she was fearless.” She isn’t afraid to play a controversial character in a movie and definitely wasn’t afraid of wearing a questionable sweater.  

Love may have criticized and made comments about other artists in the music industry some may consider to be controversial. This attention led to the bands or artists she targeted to write songs about her. Love was the inspiration behind many songs during 90’s grunge.

Starting off with the hit song “I’ll Stick Around” by Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl, singer of Foo Fighters, wrote the lyrics of this song to send a message to Love. Love and Grohl didn’t have the best relationship in the past. The two repeatedly fought over the rights to Nirvana’s final studio recordings after the death of Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl’s prior band member of Nirvana and Courtney Love’s late husband. The rousing lyrics of the song ¨I don’t owe you anything¨ refers to their arguments over Nirvana’s studio recordings and other legal arguments.

¨I should have known, you were better off alone¨, another lyric in the song targets Love and her relationship with Kurt Cobain, and claims he regrets them even being together. Dave Grohl admits to the song being about her in 2009 to his biographer Paul Brannigan stating ¨ I dont think its any secret that I’ll Stick Around is about Courtney, I’ve denied it for 15 years, but I’m finally coming out and saying it.” The two have a good relationship now. They put their fighting behind them and a great song came out of their dispute.

Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins dated Courtney Love for a little while before Courtney met Kurt Cobain. Their relationship led to Corgan allegedly writing song(s) about her. In 2014, a BBC Radio 6 interview, Love listed all the successful Smashing Pumpkins songs that she’s certain Corgan wrote about her. In the interview, Love goes on to say “so many [Pumpkin’s tunes] are about me.” “Most of Siamese Dream is about me… there’s a song called ‘Bodies’ that’s on Melon Collie [and the infinite sadness].” 

Two of Smashing Pumpkins most famous songs “Tonight, Tonight” and “Today” were also listed by Love. After the interview Corgan never confirmed nor denied Love’s assumptions. Although there’s no confirmation, the time frame would make sense with when the two dated in 1991, when the hit song “Today” was released only two years after.

Stone Temple Pilots song “Too Cool for Queenie” was also allegedly written about Love by the band’s lead singer, Scott Weiland. He wrote an insensitive song about a woman who drives a guy in a rock band to unalive himself. In other words Weiland may be suggesting love drove Cobain to end his life.   

One of 2005’s biggest hits by Gwen Stefani, “Hollaback Girl” is a widely known song that was actually inspired by one of Love’s offensive remarks quoted from The Seventeen Magazine of a profile of Courtney. “Being Famous is just like being in high school. But I’m not interested in being the cheerleader. I’m not interested in being Gwen Stefani.¨ Stefani wrote an entire song revolving around Love’s comment and sarcastically presents herself as a preppy cheerleader throughout the music video, strutting around with a cheer uniform and pom poms. 

“Star******* Inc” by Nine Inch Nails, “Professional Widow” Tori Amos, “Kisses” by Tracy Bonham, “You Get What You Give” by The New Radicals, are just a few more songs that are rumored to be written about Love. 

There’s no doubt Courtney Love is talented despite her possibly controversial, inappropriate and problematic image. She deserves credit for the contributions she has made in film and music history.

Love single handedly built her career and is quite possibly the glue that connects grunge and alternative music.