Courtney Love

In the first of our series of questionnaires based on Marcel Proust’s famous Q&A, the first lady of rock, Courtney Love, shares her thoughts as she prepares for the release of her long-awaited album. Accompanied by an AnOther exclusive shoot by Sam Taylor-Wood and Panos Yiapanis.

What are you thinking of right now?
I’m thinking that I should finish a book called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

What makes you laugh?
Adam Sandler’s At A Medium Pace.

What makes you cry?
Tabloids.

What do you consider to be the greatest invention?
Sex.

Do you have a mentor or inspirational figure who has guided or influenced you?
I have many. Ian McCulloch. Bono. Stipe. Hal Willner, he’s not that well known but he’s big. A woman named Bernadine. A British Buddhist named David. And Micko. Michael Beinhorn. Linda Perry. And Billy Corgan.

Where do you feel most at home?
When I buy a house I’ll feel at home. England. Buckinghamshire or Oxfordshire. Or London.

Where are you right now?
I am pacing back and forth in a loft owned by an English Lord.

What is your proudest achievement in life?
My daughter.

What do you most dislike about contemporary culture?
Tabloids.

What do you most like about the age we live in?
Navigation. The ability to fit in anywhere. Be visible or be invisible be well known or don’t be well known. It depends where you are. I don’t like technology that much, but that’s just me.

At what points do life and work intersect?
It’s all just one thing.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?
“Go where the love is,” that was my friend Bennett last night. And one other one, “stop paying for dinner so much.”

Sam Taylor-Wood is a filmmaker, photographer and conceptual artist