Joan Jett

Joan Jett Introduction

Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin on September 22, 1958 in Ardmore, Pennsylvania) is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.

Joan Jett Career

She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit single "I Love Rock N' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard charts for seven consecutive weeks from March 20 to May 1, 1982. Their other popular recordings include "Crimson and Clover", "Do You Wanna Touch Me", "Light of Day", "Love is All Around", "I Hate Myself for Loving You," "Little Liar," and "Bad Reputation" which was also used as the theme song for the TV show "Freaks and Geeks."

Jett has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Her musical and song-writing approach is heavily influenced by the hard-edged, hard beat-driven rhythms common to many rock bands of her native Philadelphia, often featuring lyrics surrounding themes of lost love, criticisms of insincerity, the struggles and resolution of the American working class, and the quest for authenticity.

Joan Jett The Runaways

Joan Jett is one of the founding members of teenage girl punk rock band The Runaways along with drummer Sandy West. Micki Steele (who was later replaced) Jackie Fox, Lita Ford, and Cherie Currie completed the line-up. While Currie initially fronted the band, Jett also shared some lead vocals, played rhythm guitar and wrote or co-wrote a lot of the band's material along with Ford, West and Currie. The band recorded five LPs and toured around the world with bands like Cheap Trick, Van Halen and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. They found huge success abroad, especially in Japan.

While The Runaways were popular in Europe, Japan, Asia, Australia, Canada and South America, they could not garner the same success in the U.S. After Currie and Fox left the band (to be replaced by bassist Vicki Blue and later, Laurie McAllister), the band released two more albums: Waitin' for the Night and And Now... The Runaways. Altogether they produced five albums from 1975 until they disbanded in spring of 1979. Their best known song is probably "Cherry Bomb" which VH-1 named as one of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs of all time.

A film of about the band, called The Runaways (2010), was recently announced. Joan will act as a producer for the movie, and Kristen Stewart has been cast to play Jett.