Courtney Love Says Kurt Cobain and Lana Del Rey Are the Only 'True Musical Geniuses I've Ever Known'

Courtney Love thinks Lana Del Rey is the only musician who holds a candle to her late husband, Kurt Cobain.

In a new interview with Marc Maron on his WTF podcast, Love opened up about creating her first new album since 2010 and declared Del Rey and the Nirvana frontman as the "only two true musical geniuses I've ever known."

Love, 58, who previously toured with Del Rey, 37, described the "Born to Die" singer as "an actual true, great friend" while speaking with the 59-year-old comedian and likened her talents to both Cobain and filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

"Lana and Kurt are the only two true musical geniuses I've ever known, and by that I mean they can Spielberg anything," she said, comparing Del Rey's take on Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" for her 2013 film Tropico to Nirvana's cover of three Meat Puppets songs during the band's iconic MTV Unplugged special.

"She's a genius, too. She's got the integrity that Kurt had. The only two people I know that I can say [that about]," continued the Hole musician. "By the way, [R.E.M.'s Michael] Stipe? Bono? Yes, these are people that I know and love. Billie Joe [Armstrong], sure. But Lana? She's got a magic thing. And she's not even f---ed up!"

Elsewhere during the interview, Love told a story about introducing Del Rey to Joni Mitchell's music for the first time.

"She described a record she wanted to make to me, and I'm like, 'Oh you mean Hissing of Summer Lawns,' which, I don't even like that record," recalled the "Celebrity Skin" singer-songwriter. "She's like, 'What's that?' I'm like, 'It's a Joni Mitchell record.' She's like, 'Who's that?'"

After the conversation, Love said she bought "all the Joni" albums for Del Rey, which seemingly inspired the musician to change "her f---ing whole thing" — and soon led to a newfound respect for her among Love's crowd.

"My boomer rock critic friends are calling after Norman Rockwell, 'Hey your friend, she's pretty good…' And I said to her, 'Welcome to the Thunderdome, Ms. Del Rey.' Even Springsteen! He goes, 'She's our greatest songwriter,'" she recalled, citing a comment the "Born In the U.S.A." musician made on a 2020 episode of his SiriusXM series, From His Home to Yours.

Love also recalled telling Del Rey, "Don't go insane," and said she thinks the Grammy nominee has maintained her sanity ever since: "She got out of the overculture. She deleted all her social [media platforms]. F--- that s---."

Her praise for the "Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd" musician is especially fitting, as Love is currently working on her first album since Hole's Nobody's Daughter in 2010 alongside Anthony Rossomando of Dirty Pretty Things and Justin Parker, who worked extensively on Del Rey's major label debut, Born to Die.

Previewing the forthcoming project, Love told Maron that it's not a rock record, but a couple of "f---ed up guitar songs" were made in the process. One, which will likely become the opening track, is titled "Kill F--- Marry," inspired by the highly publicized Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial.

The other rock-leaning song was written as a response to conspiracy theorists who believe Love was responsible for Cobain's 1997 death at age 27. Titled "Justice for Kurt," she said the song probably won't make the album because "it would swallow the entire narrative."