Updated

Super-skinny rocker Courtney Love has a secret gastric band, a "friend" reportedly told News of the World.

The widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain had the operation two years ago, the tabloid says. At the time, she claimed on her blog that she was inspired by Oprah Winfrey, who used a slimming drink to get thin.

A friend of Love, 44, told the News of the World: "Courtney keeps laughing to her friends and saying, "Everyone thinks I've had hypnosis but why bother with all that effort? All I did was check myself in and have a fat band fitted.

Click here to see a photo of Love looking super-skinny

"Courtney has always had problems with her appearance and is convinced she is ugly and fat. Two years ago she had a gastric band fitted at a surgery in Beverly Hills. Lots of doctors refused to do it as she was nowhere near obese, just a little overweight, but eventually she found one. And as soon as she had the operation the excess weight started to drop off her. Now she is just skin and bones and looks terrible."

Last year, Love said on my MySpace blog she said: "I lost weight the hard way and people can't accept it. Whenever ANYONE loses weight by determination and grit, it's suspect. I got my inspiration from Oprah losing so much weight on Slim Fast, that's how I did it."

But later, on stage in New York, she told her audience she "had to take care of my eating disorder."

Click here to read more in News of the World