An artist has claimed Courtney Love owes him thousands of dollars for designing merchandise for her tour.

Greg Frederick, a long-time fan of the 50-year-old singer, has said he was promised a percentage of the money made from the sale of his T-shirts at her concerts.

He told the New York Daily News newspaper: ''It's been devastating.

''My biggest dream has turned into my biggest nightmare. It has sunk me very low.''

The New York-based artist explained he has yet to receive any money from the merchandise sales, despite his designs being sold on four of Courtney's tours, including one with Lana Del Rey.

Frederick first started working with the singer when he contacted her on social media, saying his ''wildest wish'' would be to ''work with Courtney Love and design her next concert tour T-shirt''.

And in an email written in June 2013, Courtney described his designs as ''amazing'', adding: ''We could make up to 5k a night if it's done right.''

The 'Hold On to Me' singer also addressed the issue of paying the artist in an email exchange to her team.

She described the designer as ''gay superfan kids, he'll do it for free/very little and i'm all for it (sic).''

However, the contract states Frederick would ''receive 7 percent of the gross merchandise sales ... and 30 percent of the gross merchandise sales for his limited-edition prints''.

The artist claimed to have paid out of his own pocket to deliver the goods to concerts, while he also worked the merchandise stand at shows.