Courtney Love Finishes First Album in 16 Years After 2019 Near-Fatal Illness

Q: What mysterious illness nearly claimed Courtney Love's life while she secretly recorded her potential final album?

The illness has not been publicly identified. Courtney Love said she became gravely ill after moving to London in 2019, describing it only as a mystery condition in which her “body just exploded.” What is known from her account is that she was repeatedly hospitalized, lost all her hair, dropped to about 100 pounds, and was told by doctors she might die. She said she kept the illness private at the time and wrote and recorded much of the album while in and out of hospital, at one stage believing it could be her last record. So the direct answer is that the exact illness remains unknown because Love did not disclose a diagnosis in her video or related statements.

3 articles · Updated · Pitchfork · Aug 16

Courtney Love said her next album is complete, setting up her first new release since Hole’s 2010 LP "Nobody’s Daughter."
In an Instagram video, Love said a mystery illness after moving to England in 2019 left her about 100 pounds, cost her all her hair and prompted doctors to warn she would die.
Love said she recovered and is now healthy, adding that the experience and childhood memories of "gaslighting" shaped songs she wrote for what she thought might be her last record.
Billie Joe Armstrong, Will Sargent and Michael Stipe are among collaborators on the album, which still has no announced title or release date.
Love also signaled plans to tour behind the record, marking a fuller return after a decade of sporadic music projects and her Sundance documentary role in "Antiheroine."