Courtney Love: ‘Lana Del Rey and Kurt Cobain are the only two true geniuses’

In an interview with Marc Maron on Monday (December 26), Courtney Love revealed that Lana Del Rey and Love’s late husband, Kurt Cobain, are the only “true musical geniuses” she has ever known. She also spoke about the plans for her upcoming record as part of the podcast recording “WTF with Marc Maron Podcast” (episode 1395).

“But Lana? She has something magical”

On the podcast, Love called Del Rey, with whom she also toured as a support act for ULTRAVIOLENCE (2014), “a really true, amazing friend.” Comparing the dream pop magnate’s musical talents to those of Cobain and Stephen Spielberg, she continued, “Lana and Kurt are the only two true musical geniuses I’ve ever known, and by that I mean they, like Spielberg , really can do everything.”

Love also enthusiastically recalled Del Rey’s version of the Allen Ginsberg monologue Howl for her short film Tropico (2013), which she did with the three Nirvana Meat Puppet covers for the 1993 MTV Unplugged session compared. “She has the integrity that Kurt possessed. Those are the only two people I know who I can say that about. (…) By the way, Stipe? Bono? Yes, these are people I know and love. Billie Joe sure. But Lana? There’s something magical about her. And she’s not even fucked up!” Our ranking of all Lana Del Rey productions can be found here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrK_wU62xVw

Conspiracy Theories and Johnny Depp: Courtney Love’s forthcoming record

Love also revealed that her next release – the first in more than 12 years – won’t be a rock album. She recently released the record NOBODY’S DAUGHTER (2010) with her band Hole. Her only solo record AMERICA’S SWEETHEART (2004) was released six years earlier, which she said last year was one of the “great shames of her life”.

“People don’t really make rock anymore because that’s not a thing anymore,” she explained to Maron. Nonetheless, she and co-workers concocted a few “fucked-up guitar songs”: the preliminary opener “Kill Fuck Marry”, which was inspired by the drama between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, and “a catchy tune” called “Justice For Kurt”. The third rock number, which Love says is unlikely to make the upcoming album, is said to be about the conspiracy theorists promoting a narrative that Love was responsible for Cobain’s death in 1994. It remains unclear whether the announced production is a solo project or the Hole reunion that has been hinted at since 2020.

Lana Del Rey’s ninth studio production DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE’S A TUNNEL UNDER OCEAN BLVD is also scheduled for release on March 10, 2023, and the single of the same name has already been released.

Listen to Monday’s (December 26) full podcast episode here:

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