Courtney Love took aim at Taylor Swift’s artistic merits in a new interview, saying the wildly-popular musical artist ‘is not important’ nor ‘interesting as an artist.’
The Hole singer, 59, speaking with The Evening Standard Friday, ‘Taylor is not important. She might be a safe space for girls, and she’s probably the Madonna of now, but she’s not interesting as an artist.’
The Doll Parts vocalist, who has been based out of London since 2019, appears to have changed her tune about Swift, who she previously praised on multiple occasions via her Facebook page.
In a February 29, 2016 post, she posed between Swift and Royals songstress Lorde, 27, after attending the Grammys in Los Angeles.
‘Lovely ladies @taylorswift @lordemusic these two win the Oscar for art, talent, voice and astonishing beauty, hands down! #oscars #vanityfair,’ Love said in the caption.
The Malibu artist again paid homage to Swift in a December 22, 2021 post wishing Swift a happy belated birthday.
The Celebrity Skin performer, who reposted the pic they took at the Grammys five years earlier, called Swift an ‘aspirational huge role model for many young women.’
Swift – who was pictured at the Coachella Music Festival over the weekend with beau Travis Kelce – was not the only musical artist Love took shots at in the interview, as Lana Del Rey, 38, and Madonna, 65, and Beyonce, 42, also were the target of the grunge artist’s ire.
The San Francisco native told the outlet of Del Rey: ‘I haven’t liked Lana since she covered a John Denver song, and I think she should really take seven years off.
‘Up until Take Me Home Country Roads, I thought she was great. When I was recording my new album, I had to stop listening to her as she was influencing me too much.’
As for Madonna, Love made clear there was a personal element to the discord between her and the Vogue artist.
‘I don’t like her and she doesn’t like me,’ Love said of Madonna. ‘I loved Desperately Seeking Susan, but for the city of New York as much as her.’
Love also mentioned she wasn’t a fan of Beyoncé’s catalogue.
‘I mean, I like the idea of Beyoncé doing a country record because it’s about Black women going into spaces where previously only white women have been allowed, not that I like it much,’ Love said. ‘As a concept, I love it. I just don’t like her music.’
The singer-songwriter, who was married to late grunge icon Kurt Cobain from February 24, 1992 until his April 5, 1994 death, invoked the name of the late Nirvana front man in contrasting their personalities.
‘People used to say that I was so difficult,’ Love told the outlet. ‘They said I was disagreeable. Yes, I am completely disagreeable and I’m never going to apologize for that. I always wanted to be known as a b****. Being liked was never my thing.
‘Kurt wanted to be liked but not me. He was able to hide behind me, but then I got hated. Then Kurt died, and the hatred towards me reached a completely new level. I did not plan for that.’
She cited Bob Dylan and the 1967 documentary about his 1965 English tour, Don’t Look Back.
‘I had a b**** capacity and I was cool with not being liked,’ Love said. ‘I saw Bob Dylan in Don’t Look Back and he didn’t want to be liked and I thought, yeah, I want to be like that.’
The interview naturally drew a variety of passionate responses on social media, many of them challenging Love for her nasty remarks about her peers.
One user said that Love ‘publicly puts down fellow female artists like its a national sport’ while another said, ‘New Courtney love interview? I’m sure she’ll have nothing but beautiful and generous things to say about her industry peers 🙂 Courtney is so kind.’
Some social media users said that Love’s relevance in the music industry ended decades ago, while others said her work in the 90s stood on its own merit.
‘Guys, I love Taylor the most, but ridiculous to call Courtney Love a nobody,’ one user said. ‘She’s an icon. And to say she’s just a famous guy’s ex-wife is wrong and misogynistic. Give the Hole album Live Through This a listen. Pitchfork gave it a 10 for a reason. Masterpiece.’
