Kurt Cobain’s widow, actress, mother, rock’s first lady… Courtney love is a whirlwind of controversy and contradiction. ELLE's Avril Mair spent the night with her and was rewarded with one of the most compelling interviews we’ve ever printed.
Courtney Love is the world’s most controversial blonde. The evidence is indisputable. Award-winning actress, platinum-selling musician, celebrity widow, tabloid fixture, hell-raiser. Outspoken, unashamed, out of control. She has spent 17 years in the public eye, staggering from the brink of disaster to glorious success, then back to mayhem and madness again. And again. She has been nominated for a Golden Globe and then ignored by Hollywood for her transgressions. She has been hailed as a style icon and then damaged her looks with ill-advised surgery. She has never made a considered career move or done the right thing. She has lived a rollercoaster of drama and nearly destroyed herself along the way. She has unravelled in front of the world. But after drug addiction, arrests, imprisonment, custody battles, jail sentences, rehab, public humiliation and press infamy, at the age of 44, Love is not lost. She has been fat, broke and stoned; now she is remade, remodelled and sober. There will be no more surgery or substances. Courtney Love wants you to take her seriously. Could this be her most controversial move of all?