This April, BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds present Courtney Love’s Women (8 x 60m) – a candid and raw new music series, in which the legendary Courtney Love shares the ultimate soundtrack to her life as she reflects on the women in music who have shaped her journey, her sound and her next chapter.
With incredible access to one of music’s true icons, Courtney Love’s Women is an unique and personal glimpse into Courtney’s life as she celebrates women in music – the music they made and the music that made them.
Across eight episodes, the founder and lead singer of Hole takes listeners on an intimate and unfiltered, era by era journey through her life and the music that made her, alongside her friend and renowned music-podcaster and writer, Rob Harvilla.
Samantha Moy, Head of BBC Radio 6 Music says: “Courtney Love is an icon and a trailblazer – her influence on music and culture over the decades is undeniable. At 6 Music, we invite artists to share their stories directly with their fans and our listeners and I’m very proud that Courtney will be hosting a series of incredible shows for us in April. Halfway through the series, on Friday 12th April, we’ll celebrate the 30th anniversary of one of Courtney’s most powerful works – Hole’s ‘Live Through This’ – by dedicating the schedule to her music, the music that influenced her and the artists she’s inspired in Courtney Love Forever.”
Throughout the series, Courtney recalls: her formative years, in which she discovered disco through the record collection at a childhood care home; reciting Sylvia Plath poetry for a Mickey Mouse Club audition; her love of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone; her time at an all-girl boarding school in New Zealand and in juvenile detention; couch-surfing across America; her struggles with drug abuse; her acting career – which resulted in a Golden Globe nomination for her role in The People vs. Larry Flynt in 1997; how she attempted to creatively matchmake Stevie Nicks and Billy Corgan; hanging out with Debbie Harry at a Limp Bizkit album launch at the Playboy Mansion; Gwen Stefani; her relationship with Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain; taking pandemic guitar lessons with The Big Moon’s Juliet Jackson and much more.
Courtney Love’s Women is not just the perfect listen for music fans or fans of Courtney and Hole – it’s also a varied soundtrack across musical eras, championing female artists along the way.
Episodes 1-4 will be available on BBC Sounds from Monday 8th April and broadcast on 6 Music on Monday 8th – Thursday 11th April, 11pm-12pm.
Episodes 5-8 will be available on BBC Sounds from Monday 15th April and broadcast on 6 Music on Monday 15th – Thursday 18th April, 11pm-12pm.
To listen search Courtney in BBC Sounds.
6 Music’s celebration of Courtney Love continues on Friday 12th April with Courtney Love Forever.
On the 30th anniversary of Hole’s second album, Live Through This (which was released on 12th April 1994 on DGC Records), 6 Music will be celebrating Courtney Love throughout the day (7am-7pm).
Presenters Emily Pilbeam (sitting in for Chris Hawkins), Deb Grant (sitting in for Lauren Laverne), Mary Anne Hobbs, Craig Charles, Huw Stephens will play one track per hour by Courtney Love: Celebrity Skin, Doll Parts, Violet, Malibu, Miss World (from Reading Festival 1994), Miss Narcissist, Mono, Awful, Petals, Olympia (from a John Peel session in 1993), Starbelly and Plump. Tracks will be introduced by voicenotes from musicians and other famous fans of Courtney including Lambrini Girls, Sprints, The Last Dinner Party, the producers of Live Through This – Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade – and Kate Nash.
All tracks played throughout the day on 6 Music will be from artists who have influenced Courtney, her riot grrrl contemporaries, and acts that have been influenced by her.
A Courtney Love Forever collection of programmes, featuring performances and interviews with Courtney will be available on BBC Sounds from 12th April.
