Courtney Love

Few artists in rock music over the last three decades have been more polarizing and transcendent than Courtney Love, widow of late grunge god Kurt Cobain. A double threat, Love has turned out Grammy-nominated singles that helped define the ‘90s and earned a Golden Globe nod for her acting work in Miloš Forman’s biopic The People Vs. Larry Flynt. While Love established herself as a solo artist more than a decade ago with America’s Sweetheart, she’s still known best as frontwoman for Hole, an LA band that reached stardom at the climax of Generation X. Although it started out with an aggressive sound crossing streams of the Riot Grrrl aesthetic with noise-rock tendencies, Hole adapted to the ‘90s and perfected a signature pop-rock sound befitting a new wave of alternative radio. Love has maintained this sound through her solo career while exchanging throaty vocals with exasperating screams expressing the rage and raw emotion of her lyrics. Her output may have become more sporadic over the last decade, but Love’s influence has been more ubiquitous than ever.