Former Hole frontwoman Courtney Love has opened up about a serious health scare she kept private for years, addressing it in a new video shared on Instagram. The singer revealed that she nearly died after relocating to England in 2019. She chose to keep her illness out of the public eye until now.
In the caption accompanying her video, Love explained the personal circumstances behind the making of her upcoming record.
“I wanted to give you an update on my record. When I made it, I believed this was my last record so I made the record I always wanted to make,” Love wrote. “I was in the hospital mostly but when I wasn’t all I did was write and record it.”
In the video itself, Love went on to share more details about the project and the health crisis that unfolded alongside it.
“Hey, so I’m gonna get off social and stuff because I gotta do some analog stuff for a few weeks. And a lot of you were asking where my record is at. It’s done. My record’s done. It’s kind of been done. It’s a really good record. I put a lot into it,” she said.
She then described the severity of her illness after moving abroad.
“And I went to England in 2019. And when I went there, you know, my body just exploded. It just exploded. And I was in hospitals a lot. I almost died. I lost all my hair. I was about 100 pounds. And they told me I was gonna die. And I didn’t believe them,” Love said.
Reflecting on her mindset throughout the ordeal, she connected her resilience to a trait she said she has carried since childhood.
“And when I was a kid, and I think this record is about this, I used to like pattern interrupt the adults. Anyway, I never really lost my ability to see that f*cking, that red was red, despite them telling me that red was blue. And so when they said, you’re gonna die, I just didn’t believe them. And somehow I got better. I’m healthy, which is amazing,” she continued.
Love also looked back on a rocky period in her career, drawing a comparison to her current outlook.
“And so, you know, 2009, I put a record, it flopped. I mean, spectacular. Humbly, humbling. Like, playing a place called Pizza Hut Park at 11 a.m. while Limp Bizkit was headlining with 30 Seconds to Mars. That shit’s humbling. But, you know, I’m just tapping in, figuring out how to roll this out. Things are great right now,” she said.
She closed her message with an optimistic note about her band and a request for patience from fans.
“There’s so much spectacular stuff. People sound great live. The girls are amazing. Yeah, shit’s amazing. Like, I just need to like, understand how to do this. Anyway. Yeah. And I will be back. And, you know, I just wasn’t public about being sick. I don’t want to be public. You know, I’m fine now. And thank you for waiting. Just bear with me. You could be a little more patient. Thank you,” Love said.
Love’s decision to speak out now fits into a broader timeline that has been coming into focus in recent months, filling in the years she spent largely out of the spotlight.
The 2019 move to England was not just about chasing a new sound for her record. Love relocated to London that year seeking a fresh start. She arrived with little more than a winter wardrobe and her dog, stepping away from her old life in Los Angeles.
She has remained based in London ever since. She is now sober, a state she has maintained through the years that included her hospitalizations and recovery.
That sobriety and her return to public life became the backbone of an intimate new documentary titled “Antiheroine.” The documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
Love has described those early days abroad in stark terms, capturing just how disorienting the transition was.
“I was two and a half sober, over here for a winter, and I was removed from everybody. I didn’t know if what I had was rational or not,” she said, reflecting on the isolation that colored her first months in England before her health crisis fully took hold.
The documentary and her own account together trace a years-long, quiet rebuilding process. That process ran parallel to her hospital stays and the writing sessions that ultimately produced her long-awaited new record.
Love did not specify a release date for her new record. Further updates on the project are expected in the coming weeks.
