This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the seminal grunge album Celebrity Skin, written and recorded by Courtney Love’s band Hole. While it’s true that Love has almost certainly performed the iconic title track from that record more times than she can probably count at this point, a performance a few months back in July will certainly standout forever. Recently, the singer was joined onstage by a group called Rockin’1000, who count 1,500 members playing a variety of different instruments at the at Florence’s Artemio Franchi Stadium for a singular run-through of “Celebrity Skin.”
Love first caught wind of the Rockin’1000 after they played “Learn To Fly” with her buddy Dave Grohl’s band Foo Fighters back in 2015. “The first time I saw the Rockin’1000 video, I thought, I want to do that,” Love says at the beginning of the film of the performance. “The sight and sound of a thousand musicians connecting with their audience in this open, transcultural way was incredible. It reminded me of the early punk scene, with its community centered around diversity and acceptance.”
Despite having nearly as many members onstage as Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band — I kid, I kid, — the results are actually quite tremendous. But don’t just take my word for it, check it out for yourself above.
