Courtney Love is not a Swiftie.
The Hole frontwoman sat down for an interview with UK journal The Standard recently, where she opened up about which female musicians she loves (Patti Smith, Nina Simone, PJ Harvey and Debbie Harry) and which ones she doesn’t, beginning with Taylor Swift.
“Taylor is not important. She could be a safe zone for ladies, and she’s definitely the Madonna of today, but she’s not exciting as an artist,” Love told the outlet, before adding that she’s growing tired of Coachella 2024 headliner Lana Del Rey. “I haven’t liked Lana since she covered a John Denver song, and I think she should really take seven years off,” she stated. “Up until ‘Take Me Home Country Roads’ I thought she was great. When I was producing my new album, I had to stop listening to her since she was affecting me too much.”
Lastly, Love remarked that she’s not a fan of Madonna either. “I don’t like her and she doesn’t like me. I adored Desperately Seeking Susan, but for the city of New York as much as her,” she said.
While Love is quick to attack the ladies she doesn’t like, she also has a history for speaking up for women in music. Back in March 2023, the 59-year-old singer published an op-ed for the Guardian targeting at the dearth of female presence in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The essay, headed, “Why Are Women So Marginalised by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?,” began with Love expressing her lifelong fascination with rock n’ roll by claiming, “I got into this business to write great songs and have fun.”
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Love noted that the 2023 nominations gave another reminder of “just how extraordinary a woman must be to make it into the ol’ boys club,” adding that more women were nominated this year than at any point in the organization’s 40-year existence. That trio includes Kate Bush, Cyndi Lauper, Sheryl Crow and Missy Elliott, as well as the White Stripes’ drummer Meg White and New Order keyboardist Gillian Gilbert.
“If the Rock Hall is not willing to look at the ways it is replicating the violence of structural racism and sexism that artists face in the music industry, if it cannot properly honour what visionary women artists have created, innovated, revolutionised and contributed to popular music – well, then let it go to hell in a handbag,” Love concluded the piece.
