Courtney Love

Courtney Love (born Courtney Michelle Harrison; July 9, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actress and artist. Love initially gained notoriety in the Los Angeles indie rock scene as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989 with lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. Their debut album, Pretty on the Inside (1991) garnered them critical praise, and they went on to achieve international critical and commercial success for their following albums, Live Through This (1994) and Celebrity Skin (1998).

Love began her project Princess Ai in 2004, a manga co-written by Love with Misaho Kujiradou, and D.J. Milky.

Early life
Courtney Michelle Harrison was born in 1964 in San Francisco, California, to Linda Carroll, now a psychotherapist, and Hank Harrison, a publisher who had some association with the Grateful Dead; consequently, Love was included in a group picture on the back of the band's album Aoxomoxoa (1969). Love's parents divorced in 1969 and she was placed in the custody of her mother. Carroll remarried and moved the family to Eugene, Oregon, giving birth to two more daughters and adopting a son before divorcing and re-marrying once again.

In 1971, Love relocated with her family to a commune in Marcola, Oregon. In 1972, her mother purchased a farm in New Zealand and moved the family there, but left Love in the United States under the care of her former stepfather and various friends due to her increasingly hostile behavior.

Love continued to go from place to place, and frequently relocated herself to various places, such as Japan, Taiwan, and Alaska.

Music career
Love initially began several music projects in the 1980s, first forming Sugar Babydoll, and then having a brief stint as a singer in Faith No More after "demanding" them to let her be in their band. Love later formed the Pagan Babies with friends Kat Bjelland, Jennifer Finch and Janis Tanaka, recording one 4-track demo before disbanding soon after. Love briefly played bass in Bjelland's group Babes in Toyland in 1987 before being ejected from the band

In 1989, Love taught herself to play guitar and moved to Los Angeles, where she placed an ad in Flipside, reading: "I want to start a band. My influences are Big Black, Sonic Youth, and Fleetwood Mac" to which guitarist Eric Erlandson replied. Love then bought her neighbor Lisa Roberts a bass guitar, and recruited drummer Caroline Rue at a Gwar concert. Love named the band Hole.

The band was active until 1999, they became dormant in the following two years, and on May 24, 2002, officially announced their breakup amid continuing litigation with Universal Music Group over their record contract.

Solo career
Love started her solo career in 2002, and began composing an album with Linda Perry. The album titled, America's Sweetheart was released by Virgin Records in February 2004.

In 2006, Love started recording what was going to be her second solo album, How Dirty Girls Get Clean, collaborating with again with Perry and Billy Corgan in the writing and recording. Love had written several songs, including an anti-cocaine song titled "Loser Dust", during her time in rehab in 2005.

Hole reformation
On June 17, 2009, NME reported that Hole would be reuniting. Former Hole guitarist Erlandson stated in Spin magazine that contractually no reunion can take place without his involvement; therefore Nobody's Daughter would remain Love's solo record, as opposed to a "Hole" record. Love responded to Erlandson's comments in a Twitter post, claiming "he's out of his mind, Hole is my band, my name, and my trademark."

Nobody's Daughter was released worldwide as a Hole album on April 27, 2010. For the new line-up, Love recruited guitarist Micko Larkin, Shawn Dailey (bass guitar), and Stu Fisher (drums, percussion).

The album's subject matter was largely centered on Love's tumultuous life between 2003 and 2007, and featured a polished folk-rock sound with much more acoustic work than previous Hole albums. Love toured Europe, Japan, and the United States promoting the album in the spring and summer of 2010, ending the tour at Seattle's Bumbershoot festival in September. In the summer of 2011, the band played at several festivals in Russia, and toured in Australia and Brazil in early 2012.

Other projects
In 2004, Love collaborated with illustrators Misaho Kujiradou and Ai Yazawa to create Princess Ai. The story is based in part on Love's life, and involves the main character's search for her place in the world; it was written by Stu Levy under the name D.J. Milky, and released by his publishing company Tokyopop.

Discography
Hole Courtney Love
 * Pretty on the Inside (1991)
 * Live Through This (1994)
 * Celebrity Skin (1998)
 * Nobody's Daughter (2010)
 * America's Sweetheart