CANNES — Courtney Love believes she’s worth more dead than alive.
The 49-year-old widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain claims that rock stars and artists — unlike actors — earn more from posthumous fame.
“You have to be earning or everyone will want you dead,” Love said Wednesday at the Cannes Lions advertising festival, adding that aging and failure are the things that scare her most.
The former Hole singer, who won praise her acting turn in “The People vs. Larry Flint” in 1996, has had a lot of money troubles in recent years, including a whopping $320,000 tax lien in April.
Finances must have been on her mind when interviewer Tor Myhren, the chief creative officer for ad agency Grey Worldwide, showed her a series of photos and asked her to give a one-word answer.
When Madonna popped up, Love blurted out, “Very good with money.”
After admitting she blew her early chances to succeed in film, Love said she’d like to get back to acting but that it was hard work and required “killer shark” agents.
She also poked fun at actors who have to say nice things about their colleagues and peers, while rock stars can be more honest and get into brawls.
“When you’re a rock star, you can be an a—hole,” she said. “But when you are a movie star, if you work with the biggest tool, you have to say, ‘I love him.’”
Love also revealed that she’s pals with Gwyneth Paltrow and said the actress was always there when she had a problem. She also named U2 frontman Bono as another friend.
When asked about what advice she had for the crowd, she quipped, “You have to think like a man, or at least a gay man.”
Love busted out a guitar at the end of the interview, waking up the audience at the sparsely attended lunchtime session.
Love also hung out at the Medialink Clear Channel party at the Hotel Du Cap on Tuesday night, where Mariah Carey grew irked at the talkative crowd during her performance.