Courtney Love Says Taylor Swift Isn’t ‘Important’ or ‘Interesting’
Courtney Love is certainly not one to hold back on anything, so it should be no surprise that the controversial rock said some controversial things about pop superstar Taylor Swift.
U.K.’s The Standard did a feature piece on Love, who now resides in west London and has a new eight-part series on BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds called Courtney Love’s Women. The series takes a look at the women artists who have influenced Love over the years.
However, a woman that Love doesn’t love is Swift. She says of the massive popstar, “Taylor is not important. She might be a safe space for girls, and she’s probably the Madonna of now, but she’s not interesting as an artist.”
Even Beyoncé wasn’t safe during Love’s interview with The Standard. She said that she appreciates the idea of Beyoncé releasing a country album and taking on a genre that hasn’t been the most welcoming to artists of color. However, Love says, “I just don’t like her music.”
Of course, Love is in the minority when it comes to critiques of Swift and Beyoncé. In fact, plenty of notable rockers have come out in support of both artists. Keep scrolling to see a surprising list of rock icons who have proudly praised Swift in recent years.
PARIS, FRANCE Courtney Love attends the Dior Homme Menswear Fall/Winter 2020-2021 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 17, 2020 in Paris, France. (Francois Durand for Dior/Getty Images)
Courtney Love and Her Attacks on the Rock Hall
The fact Love is doing a radio series about women in music is something that’s clearly up her alley. She, like many other artists and fans, has been unhappy with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and their lack of women inductees.
In March 2023, Love took to Twitter and shared a thread from music critic Jessica Hopper. She shared a link titled “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Celebrates Women Who Rock.” Hopper followed it up with the Rock Hall’s long history of their lack of women artist inductees. Her whole thread is worth a read, but it begins pointing out the massive gender disparity of inducted artists.
“719 inductees to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, only 61 are women,” writes Hopper. “That’s 8.48%. C’mon @rockhall, it’s F—ING GRIM BRO when yr doing worse than women-artists-on-country radio numbers (10%) and women headliners at major music festivals (13%).”
Then, Hopper points out that it has taken women artists much longer to get inducted once they’re eligible. She writes, “Scrolling this inductee tracker via Future Rock Legends, I did v rough math. The avg number of years women artists languish PAST their eligibility year for induction is around 18 YEARS. That Nina Simone, Carole King, Dolly, Joan Baez all took 30+ years drives that up.”
When Love shared Hopper’s thread, she shared in a since-deleted tweet, “@jesshopp DOES THE MATH! 37 years in existence & women make up 8.48% of inductees out of 719. See txt to Grohl. @rockhall ELIGIBILITY is 25 years after 1st release. @foofighters were nominated 4 secs later. @NinaSimoneMusic & Carole King 30 years #fixtherockandrollhalloffame.”
Along with her tweet, Love shared a text she sent to Dave Grohl when the Foo Fighters were inducted in 2021. She texted, in part, “Have fun at rock hall Dave. Make sure and hold the seats of Tina Turner and Carole King, both who have been eligible for over 30 years each!”
Courtney Love performs onstage at amfAR’s Cinema Against AIDS Gala during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Hotel Du Cap on May 19, 2011 in Antibes, France. (Francois Durand/Getty Images)
10 Times Rockers Praised Taylor Swift
Bono
Back in October 2022, U2’s Bono said, “I’m a Swiftie” in an appearance on BBC’s The Graham Norton Show alongside Swift. Host Graham Norton if the two ever worked together before. Swift said, “Not yet. We’re gonna talk about it later.”
Swift added about Bono, “He’s so nice he sent me roses when I played in Dublin. He doesn’t want to take credit … He’s a truly great person. He’s just that great and thoughtful, just the best there is.” Bono coyly responded, “I better have a drink.”
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