Courtney Love: "Lana and Kurt are the only two true musical geniuses I’ve ever known"

In a recent interview with Marc Maron for his WTF podcast, Courtney Love declared Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey to be the only “true musical geniuses” she has ever known.

Love, who is currently preparing to release her first album in 12 years, opened up about her upcoming record and the impact of Cobain’s death on her career.

Speaking of her new record, Love shared that it won't be a rock album: “people aren’t really doing rock anymore,” she said, “rock’s not a thing”. However, she has created a number of “fucked-up guitar songs” with former Dirty Pretty Things guitarist Anthony Rossomando and frequent Del Ray collaborator Justin Parker. Two of these songs, ‘Kill Fuck Marry’ and ‘Justice For Kurt’, are likely contenders for the album, but Love said that the latter would “swallow the entire narrative” and probably won’t make the cut.

Love went on to praise Del Rey as “an actual true, great friend”, comparing her musical talents to those of Cobain and Stephen Spielberg, and referencing Del Rey’s performance of the Allen Ginsberg monologue ‘Howl’. Love shared that she sees a similar integrity in Del Rey that she saw in Cobain, saying: “Lana and Kurt are the only two true musical geniuses I’ve ever known, and by that I mean they can Spielberg anything”.

Love’s upcoming album is rumored to be a solo affair, though she had previously teased a Hole reunion in 2020. Del Rey, on the other hand, is preparing to release her ninth album, ‘Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd’, in March.