Courtney Love: “Later… I’ll be back in Hole”
Courtney Love has reignited speculation about a Hole reunion, telling a crowd in London that she will be returning with the band “later”.
The moment took place last night (February 27), when the ‘90s icon made a surprise appearance with Green Day‘s Billie Joe Armstrong as he performed an intimate show in the capital with his covers band The Coverups.
The gig was the first of two surprise gigs in the capital that Armstrong announced last week, and saw the group – who are famed for their impromptu gigs – deliver renditions of rock and punk staples at The Garage in Islington.
Around halfway through the gig, the Green Day frontman announced to the crowd that Love would be joining them for a special appearance. From there, the singer helped belt out covers of ‘He’s A Whore’ and ‘Surrender’ by Cheap Trick, and ‘Even The Losers’ by Tom Petty.
“My name is Courtney Love – you may not remember me. I’ve been living in a cave in Birmingham for about nine years,” she said upon walking onto the stage. “We’ll give this a fucking try, right?”
It was towards the end of her performances, however, that the singer dropped a bombshell for the audience – revealing that she would be “back” at a later date as part of her previous band, Hole.
Speaking directly to the crowd, she thanked fans for having her, before promising: “Later… I’ll be back in Hole”. She then left the stage, while Billie-Joe Armstrong announced: “I told you it was going to be a special night!”
Check out fan footage of Love’s appearance with The Coverups below.
A special night. Billie Joe Armstrong’s ‘The Coverups’ with a special appearance by Courtney Love. So much fun pic.twitter.com/rRIogwsZwT
— Charlie Robery (@CharlieRobery) February 28, 2024
The apparent reformation of Hole comes after the singer has shared mixed messages about whether or not she’d be open to a reunion.
Back in 2019, Love first entertained an idea during an interview with The Guardian, telling the outlet: “We are definitely talking about it. There’s nothing wrong with honouring your past.”
This coincided with later comments she’d tell NME the following year, when she revealed that she had “had a good session” at a rehearsal with ex-bandmates Patty Schemel and Melissa Auf der Maur. When NME asked her if the band would be coming back officially, she responded: “It’s something I’d love to do and I’ve been taking guitar lessons over Zoom during lockdown and I’m writing again so we’ll see!”
However, during a discussion with Vogue in 2021, Love went on to put a dampener on the prospect, saying that fans shouldn’t get their hopes up for an announcement coming any time in the foreseeable future.
“A proper Hole reunion will absolutely not [be happening],” she said at the time.“You guys have gotta get over it. Our old manager Peter Mensch calls once a year to ask about a reunion. I’m so honoured to be in that company, but it’s just not gonna happen.”
She added: “We’re all really good friends and Melissa and I are especially close – we talk every day. But Eric [Erlandson] is kinda off-the-grid right now – I think he’s in Japan literally becoming a monk.
“I’m not even kidding. Melissa, Patty and I think he’s become a monk or something on that level of aestheticism.”
The ‘90s band first delivered a comeback show in 2012. Two years later, it was confirmed that Love was in the process of rehearsing with Erlandson, Schemel and Auf der Maur.
In 2016, Love posted a photo with Schemel and Auf Der Maur which was captioned: “with the girls, serving up a Hole lot of something. maybe,” although no reunion happened.
Back in 2020, Courtney Love spoke with NME after picking up the Icon Award at the 2020 NME Award. As well as confirming that the members were in the process of rehearsing together during the discussion, the frontwoman also opened up about her time living in the UK, and the reason why she chose to settle down in London.
“When I arrived in London from Liverpool aged 16 in the early ’80s, I ended up staying at the Columbia in Bayswater – the scene of so much decadent rock and roll activity. My knowledge of London literally became the tube from Bayswater to Oxford Street – that’s literally all I knew,” she explained.
“You haven’t got nearly the Thought Police you think you do compared to in Portland or parts of LA. I’m allowed to dissent here, which I haven’t felt comfortable doing recently elsewhere. Being able to have a real dialogue and read all sorts of opinions… it made me fall in love with the UK even more.”
In her time outside of Hole, Love has gone on to pursue a solo career – releasing her debut LP ‘America’s Sweetheart’ back in 2004. The album was recorded when Love was struggling with drug addiction, and during her appearance at the 2020 NME Awards, she declared it as one of her “life’s great shames”.
In an interview with NME the following year, she hinted that she was working on more solo material, but a follow-up album has yet to be released.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
