Week in Rock History: Led Zeppelin and the World Mourn John Bonham

September 25, 1995: Courtney Love receives a one-year suspended prison sentence for assaulting Kathleen Hanna
The first day of the 1995 Lollapalooza Festival was a combative one: Courtney Love punched Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna in the face, resulting in a legal case between the two.

After Hanna allegedly made a heroin joke about Love's daughter with Kurt Cobain, Frances Bean, Love threw herself onto Hanna, as well as pelted her with hard candies and a lit cigarette. Bodyguards intervened before the fight could escalate, and Hanna pressed assault charges. Love received a one-year suspended prison sentence and was forced to enroll in anger management classes.

Hanna's interaction with Love may have been contentious, but she had a much more creative past with Love's late husband: she once spray-painted "Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit" on the Nirvana frontman's wall, inspiring the band's seismic hit.

September 29, 1997: Don Henley is awarded a National Humanities Medal
President Bill Clinton must've really enjoyed "Life in the Fast Lane." In the fall of 1997, he honored Eagles singer Don Henley with the National Humanities Medal for contributions to American popular culture.

Henley was honored at the White House for his contributions to rock music and also for his work with two environmental organizations, the Walden Woods Project and the Thoreau Institute. He shared the Humanities prize with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel, Latin percussionist Tito Puente and jazz singer Betty Carter.

The National Humanities Medal may have proved an unexpected catalyst for Henley's political future. In 2000, the raspy singer co-founded the Recording Artists' Coalition, which later caused him to testify on behalf of musicians' rights at California State Senate hearing – with, of all people, Courtney Love.

LAST WEEK: Jimi Hendrix Dies

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Song Stories

“Youth Knows No Pain”

Lykke Li | 2011

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”

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