Courtney Love Rips Through Tom Petty, Cheap Trick Songs with Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day in London

It was just a typical night in Islington, UK on Tuesday (February 27), with stadium-packed Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong taking the stage at the 600-capacity The Garage. with his cover band, The Coverups.

And while that was exciting enough for the lucky fans who scored tickets, in addition to ripping through classics like “A Million Miles Away” (Plimsouls), “I Wanna Be Sedated” (Ramones), “Ready Steady Go” (Generation X ), “I Think We're Alone Now” (Tommy James & the Shondells) and other favorites of Bryan Adams, the Pretenders, the Crickets, Buzzcocks and the Clash, Armstrong had one more trick up his sleeve.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Courtney Love,” Armstrong said midway through the show according to fan footage of the moment the Hole frontman unexpectedly took the stage. “Thank you, Billie Joe. My name is Courtney Love – you may not remember me. I've been living in a cave in Birmingham for about nine years. We're going to try this king, shall we?'

Love then tore through remakes of Cheap Trick's 1977 pop classic “He's a Whore” and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' 1979 “Even the Losers” and, according to NMEreturned for an encore of Cheap Trick's iconic “Surrender.”

The show also included Armstrong and company's takes on David Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust', Nirvana's 'Drain You' and the Strokes' 'Last Nite', as well as a set from the Green Day frontman's side project The Longshot in 2018 “Love is For Losers.”

Love has kept a low musical profile since the release of the album Hole in 2010 Nobody's daughter, which was followed by a string of singles including “You Know My Name” and “Mother”. In Oct. 2023, Love album-apparently-coming-christmastime/news/” target=”_blank”>teased pieces from what she said was the upcoming follow-up to her first official solo album, 2004 America's Sweetheart; at press time he had not provided an update on the release date of this project.

Check out some footage from Love's surprise appearance and other tracks from the Coverups show below.