Courtney Love gave fans what they’ve been pining for for more than a decade when she teased a possible reunion for her band Hole on stage in London on Tuesday.
The 59-year-old co-founder of the band was joining Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong for a show at the intimate 600-person venue The Garage, where he was playing with his side project, the cover band The Coverups, according to People.
He shocked audience members when he brought out the widow of Kurt Cobain for a mini set in which she took over lead vocals and belted out several classic rock tunes.
As she was about to leave the stage, Courtney shouted out, ‘Later — I’ll be back in Hole,’ according to a fan-shot video.
Another clip from the venue featured Armstrong’s enthusiastic reaction to her brief statement.
Courtney Love gave fans what they’ve been pining for for more than a decade when she teased a possible reunion for her band Hole on stage in London on Tuesday with Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong (center)
Her alt-rock band Hole (co-founded with Eric Erlandson) was founded in 1989 and disbanded in 2002, before reuniting from 2010–2012 with a new lineup; seen in 1999
‘I told you it was going to be a special night,’ he told the cheering crowd.
Courtney showed an affinity for power pop tunes, including the Cheap Trick classics Surrender and He’s A Whore, as well as the Tom Petty song Even The Losers.
Although Armstrong joined in on backing vocals at time, he mostly let her lead the way, as his vocals seemed to clash with her aggressive, sometimes out-of-tune delivery.
The rocker also referenced her long time away from the stage when she first joined the band.
‘My name is Courtney Love. You may not remember me,’ she joked. ‘I’ve been living in a cave in Birmingham for about nine years. We’ll give this a f***ing try, right?’
She seemed more than ready, though, and she gave an animated performance despite having to read the lyrics off a tablet placed on a music stand in front of her.
‘Grandma did not have her teleprompter,’ she joked.
That wasn’t a problem for fans, who started to chant her name loudly between songs.
‘I will take it,’ she replied affectionately.
Courtney co-founded Hole in 1989 with guitarist Eric Erlandson, and the band released the acclaimed albums Pretty On The Inside (1991), Live Through This (1994) and Celebrity Skin (1998) before disbanding in 2002.
In 2010, she brought back a new lineup of Hole without Erlandson to release the album Nobody’s daughter. That version of the band folded in 2012.
Although Courtney has hinted at reunions in the past and has shared her desire to work again with the original quartet of Erland, drummer Patty Schemel and bassist Melissa Auf der Mauoften, she has more recently shut down the idea.
As she was about to leave the stage, Courtney shouted out, ‘Later — I’ll be back in Hole,’ according to a fan-shot video
The rocker also referenced her long time away from the stage when she first joined the band. ‘My name is Courtney Love. You may not remember me,’ she joked. ‘I’ve been living in a cave in Birmingham for about nine years’
Courtney showed an affinity for power pop tunes, including the Cheap Trick classics Surrender and He’s A Whore, as well as the Tom Petty song Even The Losers; seen in 1994 at the Reading Festival
In a 2021 Vogue interview, Love shut down the possibility of a Hole reunion. ‘It’s just not gonna happen,’ she said, before claiming that original guitarist Eric Erlandson was ‘in Japan literally becoming a monk’; seen in 1995 in Paris
She claimed a ‘proper Hole reunion’ would ‘absolutely not’ come to pass in a 2021 interview with Vogue.
‘And you guys have gotta get over it,’ she continued. ‘Our old manager Peter Mensch calls once a year to ask about a reunion: “Hey, just doing my thing I do every year with you and Jimmy Page.” And I’m so honored to be in that company, but it’s just not gonna happen.’
She suggested that Erland might be the factor making it difficult to reunite, as she claimed in the same interview that he was ‘kinda off the grid right now.
‘I think he’s in Japan literally becoming a monk,’ she said.
