The singer, 58, recently sat down with Marc Maron for an episode of his WTF Podcast, and she opened up about who she thinks are the “only two true musical geniuses” she’s ever known. The first artist she named was her ex-husband, the late rock legend Kurt Cobain, and the second was none other than the “Summertime Sadness” songstress Lana Del Rey. During the interview, Love revealed that her “actual true, great friend,” Del Rey, possesses similar traits to Cobain regarding her work ethic and the music she creates. She even compared the two musicians to the filmmaker Steven Spielberg, noting, “Lana and Kurt are the only two true musical geniuses I’ve ever known, and by that, I mean they can Spielberg anything.” “She’s a genius, too. She’s got the integrity that Kurt had. The only two people I know that I can say [that about],” she told the comedian. “By the way, [R.E.M.’s Michael] Stipe? Bono? Yes, these are people that I know and love. Billie Joe [Armstrong], sure. But Lana? She’s got a magic thing. And she’s not even f—ed up!” While comparing the two musicians, she noted that Del Rey’s performance of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” reminded her of Nirvana’s covers of three Meat Puppet songs–“Plateau,” “Oh, Me,” and “Lake of Fire”–that they performed during their MTV Unplugged special in 1993.Later in the interview, Love recalled introducing Del Rey to singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell’s music. “She described a record she wanted to make to me, and I’m like, ‘Oh, you mean Hissing of Summer Lawns,’ which, I don’t even like that record,” she said. “She’s like, ‘What’s that?’ I’m like, ‘It’s a Joni Mitchell record.’ She’s like, ‘Who’s that?’” She went on to say that she bought all of Joni’s albums for Del Rey, which inspired the singer to change up her sound. Love previously performed with Del Rey in 2015 for six stops on her Endless Summer Tour. The singer also told Maron she is working on a new album, marking her first release in over a decade.
