Ask anybody today “Who is Joan Jett?” and you’ll more than likely get the same response. “That ‘I Love Rock n Roll’ one yeah?” More often than not that’ll be the most that people know of her, the one song in the 80s that was actually a cover. But if you look her up, you’ll see she’s so much more than a one-hit-wonder from two decades ago.

The woman has been rocking for years, from the moment she first picked up a guitar and determinedly formed the first all-female rock n roll riot girls, The Runaways, in the mid 70s at the tender age of 17 to now, at the experienced age of 51, still beating the raw riffs from her faithful guitar and being living, breathing proof that some women were just made to rock n roll.

She was born Joan Marie Larkin on September 22, 1958 in Philadelphia, but later relocated to Los Angeles, California where she soon took up the name Jett and began to fall in love with rock music, sparking off a relationship with the guitar that is still blissfully active to this day. Her favourite haunt was Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco where she got to experience the glam rock that was taking Europe and the UK by storm and flavour the music that would sculpt her own musical style later in life. She formed The Runaways with drummer Sandy West (now deceased) and under the guidance of Kim Fowley formed an entirely female rock group with Cherie Currie as front-woman. After she left in 1977, Jett took up the role of lead vocalist but by 1979 The Runaways were no more.

All of this experience at such a young age, and she was only starting in the world of rock and roll. She met Kenny Laguna while working on a film loosely based on The Runaways’ career, and in 1980, after her self-titled solo debut was rejected by 23 major record labels, she and Laguna released it independently on their own label Blackheart Records. Her determination and perseverance paid off. With Laguna’s help, she formed the Blackhearts and in 1982 they re-recorded the classic “I Love Rock n Roll” which is now Billboard’s #28 song of all time.

Needless to say many more good things happened to Jett on her rise to rock and roll legend. She became dubbed the “Godmother of Punk”, signed a number of bands and produced their albums (one such band was the raw, energetic Bikini Kill), worked with bands such as Alice Cooper, Motorhead, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, instigated the explosive arrival of the Riot Grrrrl generation, and in 2003 was placed at #87 in Rolling Stone’s Greatest 100 Guitarists of All Time, quite a feat considering how many choices there must have been.
All in all, Joan Jett was and is so much more than that one addictive, catchy easy-to-sing-to 80s hit that we all know and constantly choose when hammered near a jukebox.

She heralded a massive change in the history of rock and roll; of music. She’s wielded her guitar for decades now, still bringing the insane energy she had from the very beginning and spreading the goodness for everyone to hear and appreciate. I used to never think much of her music as I’d only heard two songs and figured that was the height of it. I was so wrong.

Upon looking her up and listening, my world was opened up to a whole new level of the gritty, raw, sexual side of rock n roll. It’s shown me where the vicious wail of Courtney Love of Hole, the gritty, gravelly growl of Brody Dalle of The Distillers, the giddy, consistent screech of Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill, and the ballsy, F-You instruments belting out the kind of music you want to tear off your clothes, swing your hair and air-guitar to all came from – Joan Jett and her gritty determination to be a chick playing an electric guitar.

She may have been one woman, but she’s the one who kick-started it all, who fought tooth and nail to be recognised not as a female musician but as a musician, as an equal in the world of rock, and she did it without demeaning herself or sacrificing her beliefs. Why do I love Joan Jett? Because she fuckin’ rocks.

If you want to get to know Joan better check out the songs You Drive Me Wild, Bad Reputation, Do You Wanna Touch, Cherry Bomb, I Want You and Love is Pain; or you could grab a copy of her greatest hits.

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