Courtney Love took on Jay-Z's "99 Problems" during an appearance at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, last week. And as her own best critic, the rocker warned before starting the song: "It's so genius, it either sucks, or it's genius."
A video of the Jan. 22 performance at the Star Bar has surfaced on YouTube. The former Hole frontwoman and widow of Kurt Cobain puts her own grungy, acoustic spin on the hip-hop classic. And she doesn't take any lyrical shortcuts, singing the N-word a couple times during the 3-minute video.
Comments varied on the YouTube clip, with some taking offense to her use of the N-word and others defending her right to cover the song as it was written.
"She is a very very serious musician ... she's got a great voice and is an incredible writer. Unfortunately (but understandably) people find it hard to look past the way she's portrayed by the media," user dubpsychosis88 wrote.
"Courtney has got to be the worst pop star along with Taylor Swift ... utter crap," wrote Micah Femino.
Hole formed in 1989 and put out the debut album "Pretty on the Inside" in 1991. The band's second album, "Live Through This," came out four days after Cobain committed suicide in Seattle in 1994. The band released "Celebrity Skin" in 1998, and broke up in 2002. Love released a solo album, "America's Sweetheart," in 2004, and she re-formed Hole for 2010's "Nobody's Daughter" with a new lineup of musicians.
Love told Rolling Stone last fall that she teamed with ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha for a single called "This is War," possibly salted for a Feb. 7 release.
Love has long been a magnet for rock 'n' roll attention, from her outspoken Twitter musings to her ongoing feud with the surviving members of Nirvana. She's also had a contentious relationship with her daughter, Frances Bean Cobain.
But in Park City, she put a clever twist on the end of her cover: "I got 99 problems, but being a bitch ain't one."
Check out the video below, but be warned that it contains profane language.
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