"Wedding Day" is a song by the American alternative rock musician Courtney Love. It is the first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from her upcoming second studio album ''Died Blonde'', and was released on May 4, 2014, packaged as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

single with the song "

You Know My Name "You Know My Name" is the theme song of the 2006 James Bond film '' Casino Royale'', performed by American musician Chris Cornell, who wrote and produced it jointly with David Arnold, the soundtrack's composer. The film producers chose Cornell bec ...

". Originally intended for release as a single backed with the song "California", "Wedding Day"s lyrics explore the end of a relationship. It was written by Love and guitarist

Micko Larkin Michael "Micko" Joseph Larkin (born 13 October 1986) is an English musician, most notable as the lead guitarist of the indie rock band Larrikin Love and reformed Hole. Biography 1986–2006: Early life and career Larkin was born in Hammersmith ...

and recorded alongside "You Know My Name" at Atrium Studios in Calabasas, California in early 2014 with producer Michael Beinhorn. "You Know My Name"/"Wedding Day" was released on Love's

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Cherry Forever Records, under license to

Kobalt Label Services Kobalt Music Recordings is a division of Kobalt Music Group. KLS provides record label services to artists, receiving a share of revenues, while allowing artists to retain ownership of their master recordings. The company was founded in 2012 wh ...

, and was supported by a well received eight-date tour of the United Kingdom. Critical reception to "Wedding Day" was also largely positive and the single placed in the Independent Singles Chart in the UK upon its release.

Origin and recording

Love first mentioned "Wedding Day" in an interview with '' BUST'' in May 2013 where she described the song as "impeccably great as a slab of really raw rock with an insane hook". Love intended to release the song within two months on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

"like an old-school single" with the recently penned song "California" as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

; the plan was later abandoned. Following a short tour of the United States, Love intended to release the single in December and told ''

Fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

'' magazine that "Wedding Day" was written after the frustration and anger of a recent break-up, explaining: "I got dumped, and

he lyric He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

'Break my neck on my wedding day' just came out of me. I wondered about getting married. I’ve been asked twice before and said no. I just haven’t made that Jackie ennedy Onassismove yet." "Wedding Day" was written by Love and guitarist

. It was recorded in early 2014 at Atrium Studios in Calabasas, California and produced by Michael Beinhorn, who had previously produced ''

Celebrity Skin ''Celebrity Skin'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before the ...

'' (1998) and ''

Nobody's Daughter ''Nobody's Daughter'' is the fourth and final studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 23, 2010, by Mercury Records. The album was initially conceived as a solo project and follow-up to the Hole frontwoman Courtn ...

'' (2010) by Love's former band Hole.

Release and reception

"Wedding Day", along with "

", is Loves first solo release in a decade, since '' America's Sweetheart'' (2004) and its two supporting singles: "

Mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...

" and " Hold On to Me". The song premiered on Anja Casparys radio programme ''Radio Affair'' on Radio Eins in Germany on April 28, 2014 and was later made available for stream on Love's official YouTube channel. "Wedding Day" was released as a

single, also featuring "You Know My Name", on May 4, 2014 on Cherry Forever Records, under exclusive license to

. It was made available worldwide as a digital download on iTunes, and a neon pink 7" limited to 3,000 copies was released in the United Kingdom on May 26, 2014. Love supported the release of "You Know My Name"/"Wedding Day" with an eight-date tour of the United Kingdom, beginning at the O₂ Shepherds Bush Empire in London on May 11 and concluding at Think Tank in Newcastle upon Tyne on May 22. On the opening night of the tour, Love debuted "Wedding Day" live—performing it as the opening song—and received warm reviews from various publications. "You Know My Name"/"Wedding Day" entered the

UK Independent Singles Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

at number 34, as well as the Independent Singles Breakers Chart at number 8. Critical response to "Wedding Day" was largely favorable. Writing for Consequence of Sound, Alex Young said that it was "another, equally potent piece of rock music" following "You Know My Name", and

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

writer Alex Hudson described the song as being "filled with barbed

alt-rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

riffs, and Love's vocals switch between a sneer and a raw scream". Chris Martins of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' referred to "Wedding Day" as "a curdled bowl of snarled vocals, grinding guitar, and pounding rhythm" in which Love "sounds plenty authoritative".

Track listing

;Digital download and 7" #"

" ( Love, Larkin, Dailey) – 2:44 #"Wedding Day" (Love, Larkin) – 3:03

Chart positions

Release history

References

External links

* {{Courtney Love, state=collapsed 2014 singles 2014 songs Courtney Love songs Song recordings produced by Michael Beinhorn Songs written by Courtney Love Songs written by Micko Larkin Songs about marriage