Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Courtney Love has sold a portion of the rights of Nirvana’s publishing, according to a story on NME.com. Love has had a controlling interest in the publishing rights of Nirvana’s music since the 1994 suicide of Kurt Cobain and has now sold a 25 percent share of those rights to Larry Mestel.
“I took on a strategic partner, Larry Mestel, to help me co-manage the estate because it was overwhelming,” Love said. “The affairs of Nirvana are so massive and so huge, and they’ve all fallen on my lap. I own almost all of [the publishing] and it proved to be too much for me. I needed a partner to take Kurt Cobain’s songs and bring them into the future and into the next generation. And this guy’s the guy to do it.”
—Courtney Love as quoted in the NME
Love is also quoted as saying in that same article:
“We’re going to remain very tasteful, and we’re going to (retain) the spirit of Nirvana and take Nirvana places it’s never been before.”
The ominous nature of that last sentence is likely going to send Nirvana fans over the edge.
Love has sued and been sued by former Nirvana bandmembers over how to present the band’s unreleased music in the years following Cobain’s death. After years of court wrangling, a single-disc compilation and a box set were released, as well as a one-disc sampler of the box set.
The decision to sell a portion of the rights will bring her cash, which according to various news reports she is in need of, as well as howls of derision from many Nirvana fans. Love has long been seen as a villain in the Nirvana saga, with some of the loonier fans actually claiming she hired a hit man to kill Cobain. This latest move is not likely to change the perception that she had a negative effect on the band and their legacy.
