Why John Lydon thought Courtney Love was a “cheap fake”
As the frontman of the Sex Pistols, John Lydon burst onto the scene as one of music’s most acerbic and complex figures, carving out a unique space outside the punk genre, from which he is inextricable. Sneering, ironic and a touch peculiar, the vocalist has always kept commentators on their toes.
Lydon and his band were revolutionaries. Whether you enjoyed their heavily marketed melee of rebellion or believed their songs to be scratchy, mawkish attempts at genuine anarchy, it’s hard to ignore the wave of influence their cannonball into the music’s swimming pool started. Without the Sex Pistols, there is a good chance that half of the punk bands we know and love today simply wouldn’t have existed.
While Lydon’s efforts with the Sex Pistols rank among some of the most culturally significant of their era, despite having such a small oeuvre, his critiques of other artists have had a considerable hand in establishing the controversial and somewhat comical character that he is regarded as today.
It seems that Lydon has never been afraid to speak his mind. After all, he was spotted by the other members of the Sex Pistols as a spotty teenager strolling down London’s Kings Road wearing a ripped Pink Floyd T-shirt that had “I hate” scribbled above the band’s name. In the spirit of punk, that was enough to hire him, and what a decision that risk proved to be.
From that moment on, Lydon would be the tip of the band’s spear, musically and publicity-wise. From leading the notorious, profanity-riddled insurgency against Bill Grundy on the Today programme to provocative lyrics about the dear late Queen, it is safe to say that without the flame-haired scoundrel, the quartet wouldn’t have risen so meteorically and caused such a stir in doing so.
Since those days of railing against the establishment amid a sclerotic Britain, Lydon’s character has become more pronounced, and he’s provided many harsh critiques of fellow musicians. One of the most incendiary was regarding grunge band Hole and their own contentious leader, Courtney Love. While the American outfit is hailed as one of the ultimate alternative rock acts, with three celebrated albums to their name and no end of anthems, this doesn’t make a difference to Lydon. He thinks Love is nothing more than a “cheap fake”.
Speaking on television in the 1990s, Lydon launched into a scathing review of Love and her person. Referring to her husband, the Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, he said: “Courtney Love Kurt’s money”.
The punk icon continued: “You love the idea of being a rebel, but you haven’t proved to me – or anybody – exactly what being a rebel is; what are you rebelling against? You’re just a pile of confusion. Ya cheap fake.”
Now, there are two reactions that could have happened if these comments had ever reached Love. The grunge artist has long suffered similar attacks throughout her career, so there is a good chance this would have rolled off her back like a drop of rain hitting a duck’s back. But there is also a good chance that Love would simply yawn at yet another Lydon remark, jabbed out without much thought. But, knowing Lydon, it won’t be the last person he throws a verbal punch at.
Watch the interview below.
