Courtney Love was the lead singer of Hole

She had failed to appear for a scheduled hearing on 11 February to face charges of illegal possession of prescription drugs, which she denies.

Her lawyer had said she did not turn up for "security reasons".

During her appearance on Tuesday at a Los Angeles court, Ms Love, 39, agreed to return to court on 16 March for a preliminary hearing.

Her lawyer William Genego withdrew from the case and was replaced by Ross Nabatoff.

Ms Love has pleaded innocent to felony charges of possessing painkillers hydrocodone and oxycodone.

She has also been separately charged with a misdemeanour offence of being under the influence of a drug.

Radio interview

Both cases relate to her arrest in October 2003 after police said she broke the windows of her boyfriend's house in the middle of the night.

The singer lost custody of her 11-year-old daughter, Frances Bean, after the incident.

Following her non-attendance at court, she telephoned radio shock jock Howard Stern live on air to give her reasons for not showing up, saying she did not have a professional bodyguard.

She also reiterated her intention to plead not guilty to the drug charges.

Ms Love is the widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, who killed himself in 1994.