Her childhood was problematic. When she was in third grade her mother and her third husband left the United States to live in New Zealand. The child, who had been renamed Courtney Michelle Harrison when she was 3 was left behind to live with her mother's friend. The next several years included several moves back and forth from New Zealand and Oregon. As her physical displacement grew so did her social displacement. She became a shoplifter and otherwise immersed herself in the teenage girl cime circuit. In reflecting upon this period of rootlessness Courtney has said: "The only people that liked me at this time were men: male teachers, male principals, male therapists. Kids hated me."

In 1989 Courtney Love and musician Eric Erlandsen started the music group "Hole". Their first album, Pretty on the Inside was released that year. Love has said her early musical influences included The Pretenders and the Rolling Stones.

Courtney Love was married to Kurt Cobain at the time of his suicide and they had one child, Frances Bean. She is also a believer in the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism.