September 22, 1958– Joan Jett:
“I am all-inclusive. These days, everybody writes about everything. They feel they have the right to know. It goes back to that thing about not being bullied, not being told what to do. In fact, if you tell me what to do, I’m gonna put up a wall just because you tell me to do it.”
There is power in coming out of the closet. The chance to finally live your life with honesty & dignity, coming out also gives energy to the Gay Rights movement as more & more people have friends, family & co-workers who are LGBTQ. It is more difficult to be a bigot when the gay person is your own child, parent, sibling & friend.
Jett is both obtuse & coy about her sexuality. I always got the vibe that she was a lesbian or at least bisexual. In her early recordings, Jett would freely use of the pronoun “her” where “him” was expected. In her cover of Tommy James & The Shondell’s 1968 hit Crimson & Clover, she sings the original lyric: “I don’t hardly know her, but I think I could love her.”
Jett went out of her way to remind the press her sexuality was her own business. But in 2012, she put herself out there as “The Out Lesbian Rocker” at the Dinah Shore Weekend, the annual girly event in Palm Springs. She was romantically linked to sex symbol Carmen Electra. They never shacked-up, but were often seen hanging out, although neither would confirm or deny anything about their relationship.
“Anyone who wants to know who I am can just read my lyrics. I’ve always written about who I am. But that’s not what I want people to focus on. I want people to focus on the music. & if they want to know who I am, I write about who I am in the lyrics, so don’t be lazy, read the lyrics & figure it out for yourself. I sing to everyone, that’s the bottom line. You don’t want to say: ‘All right, you guys, you can’t be involved in this.’ You want everybody to be involved. You want everybody to want you.”
Jett gave the world a rather unique version of the simple, stripped-down, 3-chord Rock sound. Her solid, spirited music is loud, raw, & performed with a defiant attitude. She combines the swaggering of the Rolling Stones with the thundering power chords of AC/DC, mixed with the trash attitude of 1970s Glam, along with a big dash of punk, with a result that is very much her own sound. Jett helped prove that rock music is not just a man’s world. She made gender a non-issue by ignoring it.
Born Joan Marie Larkin in suburban Philadelphia, she moved with her family to LA when she was 14 years old (is there anything as tender as a 14 year old girl?). She had formed her first band in 1973, when she was 15 years old, & started playing gigs around LA. They soon found management who gave the all-girl group the name The Runaways.
The band released 3 albums on the Mercury label with little success in The USA. The Runaways were successful as a live act on the Punk scene. The girls were also hot in Japan before breaking up in 1979.
Jett relocated to NYC to begin a solo career. She made the rounds, but was rejected by every record company. The best labels were afraid of her reputation for playing & partying with the most noted punk musicians & gaining a reputation for being tough to control. Plus there were those pesky rumors that she was a lesbian. The subject of Jett’s sexuality shadowed her for most of her career.
She did find the perfect producer in Kenny Laguna, who released Jett’s self-titled album in 1980, which Laguna financed by using the money from his daughter’s college. They sold the records out of Laguna’s automobile. Jett became one of the first women to start her own label, Blackheart Records.
That album was a big success, especially for an independent release. Jett formed her band The Blackhearts, & released another album in 1981, I Love Rock & Roll. The title track went to #1 on the charts.
Jett gave acting a try with a good role in Light Of Day (1987) with Michael J. Fox. She had a hit with the theme song, a Bruce Springsteen cover. She had a pair hits the next year, I Hate Myself for Loving You & Little Liar from the album Up Your Alley.
Jett has never stopped recording & touring. Jett:
“I love playing fairs. I think they’re great, because you get out & you see America. We always have wonderful, very boisterous crowds. You see families; you see lots of kids. It’s great.”
She executive produced the biopic The Runaways (2010) & assisted actor Kristen Stewart with her portrayal of Jett, teaching Stewart her distinct Philadelphia accent & swagger.
Jett devotes much of her time to social causes including the animal rights organization The Farm Sanctuary. Like me, she is a vegetarian & a spokesperson for PETA. In 2013, Jett was to appear on the South Dakota tourism float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. But some ranchers from the state complained & she got the boot.
Earlier this year, Jett was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This summer she & The Blackhearts toured with the Foo Fighters to sellout crowds.
“It’s beyond just the music. It’s about performing live, having that connection with the audience, looking in people’s eyes & seeing them smile & knowing that maybe they’re going to remember that for the rest of their life, that little moment they had with me, just like I might remember a little moment I had, stealing David Johansen‘s beer bottle off the stage when I was 14.”
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