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Page updated on June 12, 2025
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JOAN JETT remains an unapologetic rocker: 'I'm happy with who I am'
from: usatoday.com
By Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY
She's part of a dwindling species, an unapologetic rock chick more focused on the tone of her guitar than the cut of her hair.
JOAN JETT's fierceness has been splayed across stages for 50 years, first with the all-girl glam-punk pioneers The RUNAWAYS and then through her own 40-plus years of solo stardom with her band, the BLACKHEARTS.
Her ingrained fist pumpers - "Cherry Bomb," "I Hate Myself for Loving You," "Bad Reputation" and the cover song that changed her life, "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" - were sonic wallpaper during MTV's heyday and most still haven't left pool hall jukeboxes.
"It's medicine for the soul. I'm just blessed to be a conduit for it," Jett says.
Jett packed up with the BLACKHEARTS - DOUGIE NEEDLES on guitar, Hal B. Selzer on bass and Michael McDermott on drums - and hit the road with Billy Idol in April. They'll resume the It's A Nice Day to Tour Again! romp Aug. 14, but first, she and the band will park at Las Vegas' House of Blues June 13-14, 18 and 20-21. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
In a recent conversation, Jett and career-long producer, business partner and keyboardist KENNY LAGUNA (who offered some humorous interjections during the call) talked about her Vegas show plans, playing the Nirvana reunion and why she feels wiser than ever.
Question: You're heading to the House of Blues for several shows, you're also touring amphitheaters and arenas with Billy Idol and you've recently been part of stadium tours with Def Leppard and Poison. I get the feeling you prefer the smaller places.
Answer: I do. I like the intimacy and when I can really feel the crowd and get a better sense of everything, that immediate feedback whether good or bad. It's exciting to play to a lot of people, but when you lose that connection with the crowd, it's like a black hole out there.
Are you planning anything special for the Vegas shows?
We'll look through all our records and choose what will work best live. I picked out a bunch of songs from every album and we went into rehearsals (before the Billy Idol tour) and ran through a bunch of them. There were a few I'd never done live, like "Lie to Me," and that's really worked out well.
Have you ever thought of doing one album front to back?
I'm not really into that. I didn't always love every song on my albums and I want to play what I enjoy. And there might be a few fans who might be happy to not hear the hits, but that's not most people. So I want to do what people want to hear and it's going to be fun.
You were part of the Nirvana reunion at the FireAid show in Los Angeles in January. How did that come about and how did you get assigned "Territorial Pissings"?
Dave (Grohl, Nirvana's drummer) called me and asked if I wanted to perform with them and I thought, oh yeah, we'll do "Smells Like Teen Spirit" like we did at my (Rock & Roll) Hall of Fame induction (in 2015). But it was more that Dave picked out the songs they wanted to try and he knew I liked that one.
I recently talked to Billy Idol about touring with you and he said you've known each other since a 1978 Germs/Dead Kennedys show at the Whiskey in LA. Do you remember that night?
Is that the show? I couldn't remember, but I do remember when we met. I I used to live across from the Whiskey. The apartment is still there and I've been dying to knock on the door and see who lives there. But everybody used to come to my house before concerts and party. There's a picture of Billy and me in my living room, sitting and talking with some of my friends. I have a drink in my hand.
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