’90s Rock Legend Thought She Was ‘Was Going to Die’ During Health Scare

Courtney Love is reflecting on a serious health crisis she experienced while moving from Los Angeles to London in 2019, saying she spent much of the time in hospitals and was told she could die.

The Hole frontwoman, 62, discussed the ordeal Friday while answering questions about her upcoming solo album in an Instagram post. Love said she created much of the record while receiving medical care.

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“I wanted to give you an update on my record,” she wrote in the caption. “When I made it, I believed this was my last record so I made the record I always wanted to make. I was in the hospital mostly but when I wasn’t all I did was write & record it.”

Love then explained why she was hospitalized.

“When I went [to London], my body just exploded. It just exploded. And I was in hospitals a lot. I almost died,” she said. “I lost all my hair. I was about 100 pounds. And they told me I was going to die. I didn’t believe them.”

She said her difficulty trusting what doctors told her was connected to experiences from her childhood.

“When I was a kid – I think this record is about this – I used to, like, pattern-interrupt the adults, and they’d tell me ‘red.’ They’d say ‘red was blue,’ and then I’d see blue, but blue was blue,” Love said.

She described questioning her own perception as a result of those experiences.

“So now that I gaslight myself that maybe they were right and red was blue, and then I would see purple and my head would explode,” she continued.

Despite being told she was in danger, Love said she ultimately recovered.

“I never really lost my ability to see that f—–g red was red, despite them telling me that red was blue,” she said. “And so when they said I was going to die, I just didn’t believe them. And somehow I got better. I’m healthy.”

Love has previously spoken publicly about another health scare. In 2021, she said she nearly died from anemia and claimed she was treated differently by doctors because of her history of addiction, according to PEOPLE.

Her latest update also included a message about her desire to perform again.

“I want to tour more than anything. & I want to sing. That’s what keeps my soul & body happy,” she wrote.

Love’s most recent full-length album was Hole’s Nobody’s Daughter, released in 2010. Her last solo album, America’s Sweetheart, was released in 2004. She has not yet announced the title of her upcoming solo project.