Courtney Love Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
Here is a look at the life of Courtney Love, singer, songwriter and actress.
Personal
Birth date: July 9, 1964
Birth place: San Francisco, California
Birth name: Love Michelle Harrison
Father: Hank Harrison
Mother: Linda Carroll
Marriages: Kurt Cobain (1992-1994, his death); James Moreland (1989-1989, divorced)
Children: with Kurt Cobain: Frances Bean
Other Facts
Widow of Kurt Cobain, former lead singer of Nirvana.
Has made news for her multiple drug arrests and stints in rehabilitation programs.
Nominated for four Grammy awards.
Timeline
1965 – After her parents’ divorce, Love’s mother takes her to live in New Zealand.
1970s-1980s – Returns to the United States and lives in Oregon and California. Is arrested for shoplifting and is sent to reform school.
1980 – Declares herself an emancipated minor.
1980s – Travels to Taiwan, Japan, England, and Alaska on her trust fund. Finds work as a stripper and sings with various rock bands. Forms her own group, Sugar Baby Dolls, with singer Kat Bjelland.
1986 – Appears in a small role in the film “Sid & Nancy” as Nancy Spungen’s friend.
1989 – Forms the rock group “Hole” in Minneapolis with Kat Bjelland.
1990 – Hole’s album “Rat Bastard” is released.
1991 – Begins dating musician Kurt Cobain.
1991 – Hole’s album “Pretty on the Inside” is released.
February 1992 – Marries Cobain in Hawaii.
September 1992 – A Vanity Fair profile alleges Love took heroin while pregnant. Love first denies the charges, then later admits she took heroin early on in her pregnancy.
April 5, 1994 – Cobain dies by suicide in their Seattle home.
April 12, 1994 – Hole’s album “Live Through This” is released.
1996 – Plays Larry Flynt’s wife, Althea, in the film “The People vs. Larry Flynt.”
1997 – Is nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by An Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for “The People vs. Larry Flynt.”
February 27, 1998 – “Kurt and Courtney,” a documentary that raises questions about Love’s potential involvement in Cobain’s death, is released.
1999 – Stars in the film “Man on the Moon” with Jim Carrey.
December 2000 – Files a lawsuit for stalking and harassment against Lesley Barber, the ex-wife of Jim Barber, Love’s manager and ex-boyfriend. The case is eventually settled out of court.
February 2001 – Sues her record label, Universal Music Group, accusing them of unfair accounting practices.
May 2002 – Hole breaks up.
October 2002 – Settles the lawsuit with Universal.
February 4, 2003 – Is arrested at Heathrow Airport in London for disruptive and abusive behavior aboard a Virgin Airlines flight.
October 2, 2003 – Is arrested for disorderly conduct outside Jim Barber’s house after smashing his windows. After a possible drug overdose, she is arrested on two counts of felony drug possession. Temporary custody of daughter, Frances Bean, is given to Cobain’s mother.
February 10, 2004 – Releases her first solo album “America’s Sweetheart.”
March 17, 2004 – Bares her chest on The Late Show with David Letterman.
April 2004 – Max Wallace and Ian Halperin’s book, “Love and Death,” supports the conspiracy theory that Love was involved in and responsible for Cobain’s death.
May 13, 2004 – Pleads not guilty to charges of assault and reckless endangerment for a March 18th incident at a concert where she allegedly threw a microphone stand that hit a fan on the head.
May 25, 2004 – Pleads guilty to a misdemeanor count of being under the influence of a controlled substance and agrees to enter a drug rehabilitation program.
June 9, 2004 – Is charged with assault with a deadly weapon for an April 2004 incident in which Love allegedly attacked a female with a bottle and metal flashlight at Jim Barber’s house.
October 1, 2004 – Love is sued by New Act Travel, a travel agency that claims she ordered nearly $50,000 in airline tickets, but wouldn’t pay.
October 20, 2004 – Pleads guilty to disorderly conduct for the microphone stand incident in March. She is fined and ordered into a drug rehabilitation program.
November 10, 2004 – Pleads not guilty to the assault charges for the April 2004 incident at Barber’s home.
January 11, 2005 – Is granted full custody of her daughter.
February 10, 2005 – Love enters plea deals with prosecutors for the assault and drug charges. She must take anger management classes and is sentenced to three years probation.
September 16, 2005 – Is sentenced to 180 days in a live-in drug treatment center for violating her probation.
November 19, 2005 – Judge Rand Rubin permits Love to enroll in an outpatient rehabilitation facility, orders her to undergo drug testing, and extends her probation to March 2007.
April 13, 2006 – Sells interest in the music publishing rights of her late husband for $50 million.
December 11, 2006 – Judge ends Love’s probation early in the drug and assault case.
March 1, 2007 – A lawsuit is filed by Beau Monde, the drug rehabilitation center where Love stayed in 2005, claiming Love has not paid her $181,000 bill for treatment. A year later the case is settled out of court.
March 8, 2008 – Love reports the loss of millions of dollars in an identity theft scam where thieves used her late husband’s identity to purchase a multi-million dollar home in New Jersey.
March 2009 – Fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir sues Love for libel, accusing the singer of posting disparaging remarks about her on Twitter and MySpace.
December 11, 2009 – Temporary guardianship of her daughter is given to Cobain’s mother and sister.
March 3, 2011 – As part of a legal settlement for the 2009 Twitter defamation case, Love agrees to pay fashion designer Simorangkir $430,000.
May 4, 2015 – “Montage of Heck,” a documentary on the life of Cobain airs on HBO. The documentary is authorized by both Love and Frances Bean.
September 8, 2019 – The New York Post’s Page Six reports that Joss Sackler, a member of the family that owns Purdue Pharma, allegedly offered Love $100,000 to attend her brand’s Fashion Week show. Love, who is open about her struggles with opioid abuse, rejects the offer and tells Page Six she won’t “sell out” to Sackler.
March 14, 2021 – In an Instagram post, Love reveals that she “almost died” from anemia in August 2020.
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