exploremusic

It took a while—okay, I waited more than six hours through a string of broken appointments—but Courtney Love is finally ready to see me. I’m ushered into her high-ceilinged dressing backstage at the Sound Academy in Toronto where Hole has just played to 2,000 or so adoring fans. I watched the gig from a balcony where I had a good view of the crowd, which consisted of everything from 90s-era Alternative Nation people (many now with grey hair) to riot grrl refugees and wannabes, many in outfits that would put a J-pop fan to shame.

Courtney is curled up in a make-up chair, still shagged out from the show and whatever celebrating she had done the night before in Ottawa on the occasion of her 46th birthday. I congratulate her on managing to stay upright on the ultra-high-heel thigh-high boots she wore onstage.

“Well, I didn’t stay on them for the full show,” she says, alluding to the part of the encore where the sky-high YSL pumps where discarded. “It’s hard to play chords and stay up there the same time.”

Earlier this year, Courtney and I spent hours talking about Nobody’s Daughter, the new record from Hole v2.0 (featuring an all-male supporting cast, including “Invisible Dave” on guitar and keyboards. “You’re not supposed to notice him,” she says. “He’s supposed to be invisible. But he’s there to help me. It’ll take a while for me to get my chops back.”)

Instead of going through all that again—you can hear some highlights of that conversation here –I instead wanted to talk about her legal crusade and her near-financial ruin. Both, she says, are the result of massive fraud against her and the estate of one Kurt Donald Cobain.

Our talk was very casual and lasted for nearly an hour as she walked around the dressing room, removed her make-up and shouted over her shoulder from the bathroom sink or as she sorted through the rack of haute couture awaiting her inspection. Later, she munched on a pink-frosted cupcake that I brought in lieu of a birthday cake.

For the entire time, she was focused, articulate and highly engaged. This wasn’t the Courtney I met in the post Live Through This and Celebrity Skin era. The woman is wicked smart. She was great company and an excellent conversationalist. Beware any preconceptions you may have had about Courtney Love because there’s a good chance they’re now 100% wrong.

As she outlined her case, she mentioned some very big and powerful names from the music industry—names I’d never mention unless I had a billion dollars in the bank, diplomatic immunity and powers of invisibility. I don’t need to be sued to death or quietly disappeared. But here’s what I can tell you…

Part 2…