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Courtney Love reveals why she no longer likes Lana Del Rey’s music

Tue 16 April 2024 11:50, UK

Hole vocalist Courtney Love has never been inclined to bite her tongue and refrain from sharing what’s truly on her mind. However, her latest comments about Lana Del Rey are particularly surprising, considering their friendship.

Love and Del Rey have previously seemed to be kindred spirits. Their relationship truly began in 2015, when Del Rey invited Love to be part of her Endless Summer Tour, and it seemed to be the start of a poignant partnership between two stars from different generations.

Furthermore, in 2017, the duo had a revealing conversation for Dazed, in which Love said, “I think my very, very favourite song of yours – you’re not gonna like this because it’s early – is ‘Blue Jeans’. I mean, ‘You’re so fresh to death and sick as ca-cancer’? Who does that?”.

Del Rey also addressed the comparisons between their styles, noting of her peer, “I just know it’s the kind of music I listen to all the time: when I’m driving, or when I’m alone, or when I’m with friends.”

Meanwhile, in 2022, during an appearance on Marc Maron’s podcast, WTF, Love went as far as comparing Del Rey to her late husband Kurt Cobain. She told the host: “Lana and Kurt are the only two true musical geniuses I’ve ever known. And by that I mean they can Spielberg anything.”

“She’s a genius, too. She’s got the integrity that Kurt had,” the Hole leader added of the ‘Video Games’ singer.

However, now, Love has become less fond of Del Rey’s musical output, and believes the singer-songwriter, whose last album was 2022’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, needs to put her career on pause.

“I haven’t liked Lana since she covered a John Denver song, and I think she should really take seven years off,” Love told the Evening Standard, citing Del Rey’s cover of ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’, released in 2023.

It wasn’t only Del Rey who Love had uncomplimentary remarks for, she also said of Beyoncé: “I like the idea of Beyoncé doing a country record because it’s about Black women going into spaces where previously only white women have been allowed, not that I like it much. As a concept, I love it. I just don’t like her music.”

Additionally, despite Taylor Swift being the biggest artist in the world, Love claimed she is “not important” in a cultural sense. The rock icon elaborated: “She might be a safe space for girls, and she’s probably the Madonna of now, but she’s not interesting as an artist.”

Meanwhile, Love recently hosted the new BBC 6 Music eight-part series, Courtney Love’s Women, which is now available to listen to on BBC Sounds.