It was just a typical night in Islington, U.K. on Tuesday (Feb. 27), with the lead singer of stadium-filling Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong, taking the stage at the 600-capacity venue The Garage with his side-project covers band, The Coverups.
And while that was thrilling enough for the lucky fans who scored tickets, in addition to ripping through such classics as “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 by 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 halfway through the show according to fan video of the moment the Hole singer 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’ll give this a f–king try, right?”
Love then crashed through revved-up takes on Cheap Trick’s 1977 power pop classic “He’s a Whore” and the 1979 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers tune “Even the Losers” and, according to NME, came back 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 run through the Green Day singer’s side project The Longshot’s 2018 song “Love is For Losers.”
Love has kept a low musical profile since the 2010 release of the Hole album Nobody’s Daughter, which was followed by a series of one-off singles including “You Know My Name” and “Mother.” In Oct. 2023, Love teased tracks from what she said was the imminent follow-up to her first official solo album, 2004’s America’s Sweetheart; at press time she had not provided an update on a release date for that project.
Check out some footage of Love’s surprise appearance and other tracks from Coverups’ show below.
