Nirvana members seek to oust 'prima donna' Love

SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) -- Calling her a greedy, volatile "prima donna," the two surviving members of influential grunge rock group Nirvana have sued to have the widow of Kurt Cobain thrown off the board controlling the band's musical legacy.

Cobain's widow Courtney Love last June sued to block the release of a boxed set of Nirvana greatest hits that would have coincided with the 10th anniversary of the band's chart-topping "Nevermind" album.

Now the surviving band members, bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl, have counter-sued, saying Love is incapable of handling her obligations to their three-way partnership controlling the band's music.

In truth, her actions are only about the revitalization of her career motivated solely by her blind self-interest," Grohl and Novoselic wrote in a letter to their fans, which was released to the media.

An attorney for Love, an actress and lead singer with the rock band Hole, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

The court battle includes a fight for control of the song "You Know You're Right," recorded by Nirvana just months before Cobain's suicide in 1994 and originally included in the boxed set.

Grohl and Novoselic claim Love wants to control that potential hit song, which she has performed publicly despite her refusal to allow the release of Nirvana's original version.

Love also may be using the boxed set to bargain with Nirvana's record company, Universal Music Group/Geffen, which she also is suing, Grohl and Novoselic say.

That case is "really about securing more money to support Love's prima donna lifestyle," and just one example of Love's "irrational, mercurial, self-centered, unmanageable, inconsistent and unpredictable" behavior, Grohl and Novoselic allege in court filings.

The filings also paint a classic portrait of the band paying its dues on the road before hitting the big time, often sleeping in Novoselic's van or on friends' couches as they played small clubs for little money.

While they concede that Cobain was a gifted songwriter, lead guitar player and singer, Novoselic and Grohl claim the three men formed an equal partnership, sharing expenses and working on their music together for countless hours.

Originally posted by saoirse
courtney is a psycho who in my opinion probably killed her husband.

Originally posted by Oliver Clothesoff


well, I don't doubt that her personality contributed to him putting a shotgun in his mouth, but I seriously doubt that she had him killed.

The Legacy of the Music of Nirvana at Stake in Washington Court Case

Musicians Grohl and Novoselic Answer Courtney Love's Claims

in December 12 Filing

An Open Letter to Nirvana Fans from Grohl and Novoselic

SEATTLE, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 12, 2001, Corr Cronin, LLP filed
Defendants' Answer, Affirmative Defenses and Counterclaims in response to
Courtney Love Cobain v. David Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Nirvana L.L.C. (No.
01-2-13059-5SEA) filed on May 9, 2001. This answer was filed in the Superior
Court of Washington for King County, Seattle, Washington before the Honorable
Robert Alsdorf.

Corr Cronin represents David Grohl and Krist Novoselic, surviving members of
the music group Nirvana, and Nirvana, L.L.C., a Washington limited liability
company formed in 1997 to continue to nourish the assets of the Nirvana legacy.


What is at issue is the management of the musical legacy of what is considered
the most significant rock group of the 1990's. Another major issue is a boxed
set of Nirvana music, which was set for release in the Fall, 2001. In Courtney
Love's filing of May 9, she sought to terminate the Nirvana L.L.C.

In the Defendants' Answer, it is asserted that Nirvana L.L.C. has functioned
effectively and professionally in releasing two critically acclaimed albums and
in managing the reputation and assets of the band. The release of the boxed
set was agreed upon by all members of the L.L.C. including Courtney Love.
Through her actions, the Defendants Answer asserts that Love blocked the
release of the boxed set thereby forcing the L.L.C. to breach its agreements
with Geffen Records.

Defendants further assert in their Answer that, "Faced with a waning recording
and acting career, and in further violations of her obligations under the
L.L.C. Agreement, Love is using her claims against the L.L.C. and the surviving
Nirvana members to continue to further her own career goals, not to protect
Cobain's legacy as she claims and not to fulfill her obligations as a member of
the L.L.C."

Contact: Kelly Corr, Corr Cronin LLC, 1001 Fourth Avenue, Suite 3900, Seattle,
WA 98154, 206-625-8600.

An Open Letter to Nirvana Fans from Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl

Dear Nirvana Fans,

We are writing with a sense of appreciation and thanks to all of you for your
support and enthusiasm over the last decade. As many of you know, for this
Christmas, we had planned to give our fans a wonderful gift -- a boxed set of
the best of Nirvana's music. Released to coincide with the tenth anniversary
of Nevermind, the set was going to include "You Know You're Right," recorded in
1994 just before Kurt's death. This project had been in the works for nearly
five years. But this collection never came out. And there is only one reason:
Courtney Love.

Today, our attorneys went into a Seattle court to stop Courtney from trying to
take control of the legacy of Nirvana. We had no choice but to respond to her
misguided campaign and lawsuits to appropriate the music of Nirvana.

We have been mostly silent for the last few years as she filed lawsuits, waged
a continuous negative campaign in the media, and tried to rewrite history. It
is now time to act and speak out. Here is some background.

When Kurt was alive, Nirvana was an equal partnership of the three of us. After
Kurt's death in 1994, the partnership continued and we fulfilled what we saw as
our obligation to preserve the legacy of Nirvana's music. We oversaw the
releases of Live in New York and From the Muddy Banks of Wishkah, both of which
were critical and commercial successes. We enhanced rather than exploited the
memory and image of Nirvana.

In September, 1997, we decided to set down some rules by which we could make
decisions together. We formed Nirvana L.L.C. ('limited liability
corporation'), with equal representation from Dave, Krist and the Cobain
Estate, ultimately represented by Courtney. Our agreement is structured so
that each of the members can voice his or her opinion on any matter. Courtney's
interest in the L.L.C. is that of representative of the Estate of Kurt Cobain.
The fact is that Nirvana L.L.C. makes the decisions about the band, not
Courtney nor any other individual. Our agreement has served all three parties
well.

In 1998, we decided together to produce a great boxed set and include "You Know
You're Right." All of the members of Nirvana, including Courtney, made and
signed a deal with Geffen Records for its release. This February, Courtney
filed the first of multiple lawsuits against her and Nirvana's label (Geffen
Records / Universal Music Group) over her personal recording contract for the
group Hole.

As for the boxed set, everything was on track, we were very excited and were
busy promoting the release to coincide with the tenth anniversary of Nevermind.
Then, in May, Courtney filed a lawsuit to take over control of Nirvana, then
went to court to block the release of the never before released track, "You
Know You're Right." Courtney claims that her lawsuit is concerned with the
proper management and revitalization of Kurt's legacy. In truth, her actions
are only about the revitalization of her career motivated solely by her blind
self-interest. She couldn't care less about Nirvana fans. She is using
Nirvana's music as a bargaining chip to increase leverage for her personal
gain, without any regard for the Nirvana legacy. Our music is just a pawn in
her endless legal battles and her obsessive need for publicity and attention.

Courtney talks and talks about her "valuable career." As far as we are
concerned, her career is her own affair and of no interest to us. Our concern
is when she pastes herself into music she didn't write or perform. By her
actions, the Nirvana legacy is becoming tangled up in her own ambitious agenda.
We have a simple challenge for Courtney -- play your own music for people.

We miss our dear friend Kurt. We are thankful to have had the opportunity to
collaborate with such a gifted artist. We hope that our actions, in regards to
Nirvana, are befitting of the stature that so many people have granted us.

We will always be proud of the music we made with Nirvana. We were looking
forward to releasing unheard Nirvana material for our personal sense of
closure. As the cycle of life moves forward, we are each living our own lives
and moving on to new things. We only wanted to go on with the assurance of
knowing that all of Nirvana's music is where it really belongs; in the hearts
and minds of millions of people in the world.

We hope that the music of Nirvana will be immortal and, with fans like you, we
are confident our hopes will be realized.

Krist Novoselic & Dave Grohl

December 12, 2001

Originally posted by brianluvdvd
The song must really kick *** since there is so much fighting over it.
It is a shame Courtney was not the one to blow her head off. Crazy bitch...

Originally posted by Slug
What happened to the 4th member... There was 4 right?

Originally posted by demonio


You must be thinking of Pat Smear (I think thats his name), he was backup guitarist for Kurt, and not really a member of the band......he was a member of the Foo Fighters though I believe, well WAS, I think he quit.

Originally posted by Slug


Thats wierd, I could have swore that Pat was in the band. Ohwell.

Grohl and Novoselic are also asking the court to declare that "Love, under the terms of the LLC Agreement, has become incapacitated and that her rights to vote should be assigned to a designated representative." In addition to the counterclaim, Grohl and Novoselic -- long silent publicly on that matter -- have lashed out against Love in a letter addressed to fans and released to the media. The letter blames Love for holding up the box set, blaming the Hole/Bastard singer's "own ambitious agenda" and "blind self-interest" for the stall.

The letter reads, in part, "[Love's] actions are only about the revitalization of her career motivated solely by her blind self-interest. She couldn't care less about Nirvana fans. She is suing Nirvana's music as a bargaining chip to increase leverage for her personal gain, without any regard for the Nirvana legacy. Our music is just a pawn in her endless legal battles and her obsessive need for publicity and attention."

In response to the letter and the idea that [Love] is using Nirvana to revitalize her own career, O. Yale Lewis, Love's attorney, called the notion "truly preposterous." "I think that her career is getting stronger as an actress, a musician, and a political and social activist," Lewis told allstar. "It was surprising that they would raise that in their letter because I think the comparison between their independent careers and her independent career does not favor them."

Grohl and Novoselic's counterclaim, citing tortious interference with contract, breach of contract/fiduciary duty, abuse of process, trademark infringement, and declaratory relief, calls Love "irrational, mercurial, self-centered, unmanageable, inconsistent, and unpredictable" in her professional dealings.

At the center of the battle is a song called "You Know You're Right," a reportedly genius work that was recorded just months before Cobain's suicide in 1994. Love filed a complaint in May seeking to halt the song's inclusion in the box set, citing an aversion to the marketing strategies (i.e., an alleged exploitation of Cobain's death) behind the song.

"Love now claims she wants to protect the legacy of Cobain and Nirvana by withholding approval of the public release of Nirvana sound recordings, including Nirvana's previously unreleased recording of the Cobain-authored song 'You Know You're Right,'" reads the counterclaim. "Yet, Love felt no such protectiveness when it came to her own career, exploiting the cache surrounding Cobain's death for her own benefit by performing the song on MTV after introducing it as Cobain's last song."

Originally posted by Sierra Disc
Grohl was more a latecomer but that's besides the point.

Originally posted by Mafia81RCV

But he is one hell of a musician in his own right and was an equal partner. I hope they win this suit quickly, because I really want to hear this new song.

Originally posted by Sierra Disc

*You all should read the excellent Cobain biography "Heavier Than Heaven." I was surprised how sympathetic Courtney actually was in it; anyway, anyone who thinks Love "pushed" Cobain into death doesn't have a clue, that poor man had more demons in his head than almost anyone and his fate was probably set from the day he was born. Read the book, it's excellent.

Originally posted by Gallant Pig
There's a good documentary on the murder topic. Spoiler:

Spoiler:

The director comes to the conclusion that Kurt did himself in at the end.

Originally posted by Oliver Clothesoff


I've read the book, and the only reason that it's sympathetic to Courtney is because the author wanted unprescendented access to Cobain's notes and journals, and she was the one in possession of all that stuff. That's the reason he goes easy on her and paints her in a good light. Do you really think she would have given him any kind of information if he planned to use that against her?

She's a greedy twat. Plain and simple. She'll manipulate whatever she has to in order to get what she wants.

She's a greedy twat. Plain and simple. She'll manipulate whatever she has to in order to get what she wants.

Originally posted by Applejack


It's called Kurt and Courtney

It is available on DVD for cheap