In October, Taylor Swift praised Lana Del Rey as “one of the best musical artists ever.” The next icon to praise her is Courtney Love, who went on the road in 2015 on The Endless Summer Tour.
In her appearance on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, the Hole bandleader said, “Lana and Kurt are the only two true musical geniuses I’ve ever known. And by that, I mean they can Spielberg anything.” By “Spielberging” it, she was referring to Lana’s recitation of Howl by Allen Ginsberg and Nirvana’s cover of The Meat Puppets on MTV Unplugged In New York.
She continued, “She’s a genius, too. She’s got the integrity that Kurt had. The only two people I know that I can say… By the way, Stipe? Bono? Yes, these are people that I know and love. Billie Joe, sure. But Lana? She’s got a magic thing. And she’s not even f*cked up!”
She also talked about showing Joni Mitchell to the Born To Die performer. “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. She’s like, ‘What’s that?’ I’m like, ‘It’s a Joni Mitchell record.’ She’s like, ‘Who’s that?’” Love said she got Joni records for Lana, and then Lana “changed her f*cking whole thing.” She added, “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.’”
Listen to the podcast episode below.
