Courtney Love's gay friends taught her how to be a rock star.

She told Gay Times magazine: "When I was a kid I was definitely what you would call a fag hag because that's how I learned to dress and be extrovert and walk into a room.

"But at the same time, [musician] Julian Cope taught me a lot about that when I lived in Liverpool and he wasn't gay.

"I would say my freshman year of learning how to be a rock star was just hanging around drag queens, and my sophomore year was going to Liverpool and spending about two years with that crew of people and learning."

Courtney - who was married to late Nirvana rocker Kurt Cobain and has battled drug addiction in the past - believes she is regarded as a "gay icon" because she is a survivor, and also knows how to "clean up nice".

Asked what makes her a gay icon, she said: "I think it's surviving. It has to be. Surviving, and also the ability to do drag, to clean up nice. I might look like s**t this morning, but you know, I clean up nice.

"And also... I've done things other people can't do. I've crossed over, I've been a movie star, I've lived through all sorts of crazy things I shouldn't have lived through.

"I've had huge ups, huge downs, and I've landed on my feet. I think that's what qualifies you."