Joan Jett

The Runaways, created to be the female version of the Ramones, featured both Lita Ford and Joan Jett.

Despite being big in Japan and recording a Rock version of Martha and the Vandella’s “Nowhere To Run,” the Runaways didn’t live up to expectations.

Jett fared far better fronting The Blackhearts… but it was a slow start.

After being rejected by numerous labels, Jett landed with Boardwalk Records.

The debut album was titled “Bad Reputation,” referring to the “bad reputation” she had as a former member of The Runaways.

Interestingly, it was the album’s fourth single, and title track, that broke through.

Back in ’09, the song was named the 29th best Hard Rock song of all time by VH-1. It was the highest-ranked song by a woman on the list and has remained one of Jett’s signature songs.

While Jett was a songwriter, she also had great success with covers. Of course, the original’s groove got jacked up.

She added a highly suggestive tone to her version of Gary Glitter’s “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah). ” For Tommy James & the Shondells’ dreamy psychedelic “Crimson and Clover” Jett gave it a harder edge while still retaining the ethereal feeling.

Joan Jett

Like The Pretender’s Chrissie Hynde, Jett was neither victim nor fool. Dressed in black leather she was a force to be reckoned with.

One of her best was “I Hate Myself For Loving You.” Not only was this a great guitar driven track it also showed off Jett’s raw-passion vocals.

The song was reworked into “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” to open the NFL’s Sunday night games.

For the first season, Pink sang the song during the opening but was replaced the following year by Country singer Faith Hill. Carrie Underwood became the performer of the theme song for the 2013 season.

Jett, a Rock icon often referred to as the “Godmother of Punk,” is best known, “I Love Rock And Roll.”  She saw The Arrows perform the song on their weekly TV series while she was touring England with The Runaways.

Jett’s version, backed by the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones and Paul Cook, went nowhere. But three years later Jett took another stab at the song with the Blackhearts. 

“I Love Rock N’ Roll” went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 becoming the band’s only #1. Jett’s version is the best-known rendition of the song, which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016.

After an extended hiatus, Jett (and the Blackhearts) returned in ’06, with “Sinner,” led by the single “Riddles.” Seven years later “Unvarnished” dropped. It peaked at #47 on the Billboard 200, becoming Jett’s first album to chart in the U.S. since “The Hit List” (1990).

Once the pandemic lifted (in ’22) Jett & The Blackhearts joined Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard on The Stadium Tour which grossed a total of $173.5 million with 1.3 million tickets sold for 36 tour dates.

Four years later, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts launched their first U.K. headline tour in 16 years. It was prompted after a tour with Sammy Hagar was downsized from arena concerts to smaller venues, and they pulled out as an opening act.