Courtney Love on why she and Marianne Faithfull disliked comparisons

Courtney Love and Marianne Faithfull were always united in one belief.

Over a year following the passing of Faithfull, who was known for her relationship with Mick Jagger, at the age of 78, the previous frontwoman and guitarist for the alternative rock band Hole, now 61, reflected on how "they genuinely disliked being compared to one another" during a recent chat with The Times.

"Marianne was the thinker, and I'm not," Love, who was once famously wed to Nirvana's leading man Kurt Cobain until his 1994 passing, elaborated. 

"She explored Dante’s Inferno, while I’m all about a simple thrill and a Beatles rhythm. But I remember her expression, ‘They wanted me weakened!’ From what I've experienced, she's right."

Prior to joining forces with Suki Waterhouse, Tilda Swinton, George MacKay, and others in narrating Faithfull’s journey in the upcoming documentary, Broken English, Love shared that her first encounter with the British singer and actor’s tunes happened at an "all-ages gay disco" in Portland, Oregon.

"The top albums at that time were [David] Bowie’s Scary Monsters and Broken English," she reminisced. "There was a particular track where she used the word ‘c---,’ which I thought was incredibly edgy."

Love also recalled being mesmerised by one of Faithfull’s live shows in 1988.

"I watched Marianne Faithfull perform ‘Times Square’ in New York, 1988," she reflected on the event that eventually turned into the 1990 live album Blazing Away. "I found it hard to focus because Sally Grossman, the woman from Bob Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home cover, was nearby, but anyway, there was this woman who returned after being ‘broken,’ delivering an outstanding performance with her co-writer Barry Reynolds, with whom she was clearly involved. And, well, it was truly phenomenal."