Joan Jett
Joan Jett
Joan Marie Larkin known professionally as Joan Jett, is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and occasional actress, best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, preceded by success with The Runaways, including their hit song "Cherry Bomb". The Blackhearts' record "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982. Their other popular recordings include "Crimson and Clover", "I Hate Myself for Loving You", "Do...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth22 September 1958
CountryUnited States of America
When you're singing songs about love and sex, you want everyone to think you're singing to them. Whether you're a boy, a girl, a woman, a man - whatever you're into, I can be that.
It's very tough to give advice because it's tough out there for everybody but for a girl it's even tougher, because I don't think the glass ceiling has changed at all in the past 30 years. Otherwise the radio would be covered with girl bands, or girls in bands, so I don't think much has changed on that level. But I think that bands can still have a lot of success trying to go another route.
A girl playing rock and roll, it's saying I own my sexuality and I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do. And I think people just find that threatening.
I grew up in a world that told girls they couldn't play rock 'n' roll.
I started The Runaways with Sandy West. We shared the dream of girls playing rock and roll. Sandy was an exuberant and powerful drummer. So underrated, she was the caliber of John Bonham. I am overcome from the loss of my friend. I always told her, we changed the world.
As a kid, in the Runaways, I would see the interviewers start to ask about our personal lives and what we did — and I could see the look in their eyes. They were practically frothing at the mouth. So if I answered these questions, I knew they were never gonna talk about the music. It was like that instinct — don’t go there, man. Have boundaries. Have mystery. You don’t have to let everybody in! I want to be singing to everybody, and I want everybody to think that I’m singing to them. Guys, girls and everyone in between.
I want to be singing to everybody, and I want everybody to think that I'm singing to them. Guys, girls and everyone in between.
The media says that equality for women has arrived, but if you look around, you still don't see girls playing guitars and having success with it.
A girl can do what she wants to do / And that's what I'm gonna do,
That was exactly why people didn't want to give us any kind of life, because we were threatening their status quo, and they just didn't want to have room for girls playing rock 'n' roll. It bothered them. First, people just tried to get around it by saying, "Oh, wow, isn't that cute? Girls playing rock 'n' roll!," and when we said, "Yeah, right, this isn't a phase; it's what we want to do with our lives," it became, "Oh! You must be a bunch of sluts. You dykes, you whores." That's what it became. Then it became a name-calling contest.
Girls see these defined roles they're supposed to follow in life, but when I was a young child, my parents told me I could be anything.
Rock and roll by its nature is sexual. So girls playing rock and roll is saying to the world, "We own our sexuality." I think that pop music is sort of about "you can do what you want to me" kind of energy, while rock and roll is "I'm going to do what I want to you" kind of energy.
Girls have got balls. They're just a little higher up, that's all.
No ones immune now, to a world of problems. No ones exempt now, from a world of pain!