"Wedding Day" is a song by the American

alternative 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 mainstream or commerci ...

musician

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as ...

. It is the first single from her upcoming second studio album ''Died Blonde'', and was released on May 4, 2014, packaged as a double A-side single with the song " You Know My Name". 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 California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in early 2014 with producer

Michael Beinhorn Michael Beinhorn is a North American record producer, composer, author and musician. He has produced albums for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Hole, Violent Femmes and Marilyn Manson. Career 1977-1983: Early Years, Material, Herbie Hanco ...

. "You Know My Name"/"Wedding Day" was released on Love's independent record label 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 ''

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'' 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 "like an old-school single" with the recently penned song "California" as a B-side; the plan was later abandoned. Following a short tour of the United States, Love intended to release the single in December and told ''

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

and produced by

, 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 A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

Release and reception

"Wedding Day", along with " You Know My Name", is Loves first solo release in a decade, since '' America's Sweetheart'' (2004) and its two supporting singles: "

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" 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 YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel. "Wedding Day" was released as a double A-side 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 Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

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 rel ...

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 ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

, Alex Young said that it was "another, equally potent piece of rock music" following "You Know My Name", and Exclaim! 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'' 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" #" You Know My Name" (

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...

, Larkin,

Dailey Dailey is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: ;Entertainment *Dan Dailey (1915–1978), American actor and dancer *Irene Dailey (1920–2008), American actress *Peter F. Dailey (1868–1908), American burlesque comedian *Will 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