Page updated on June 30, 2019
All news is attributed to the source from which it was received so that readers may judge the validity of the statements for themselves.
Have Joan Jett news to report? Email us at jettfc@aol.com, and please include the source of the information so it can be validated. ‘Bad Reputation’ Cements Rocker JOAN JETT’s Legend Once And For All from: decider.com By Benjamin H. Smith
There's a direct correlation between punk rock venues and their bathrooms. The more legendary the club, the worse its bathroom. CBGB? A lone toilet sitting atop a platform at the end of a row of broken urinals in a dank graffiti covered cellar. At The Rat in Boston the toilets regularly overflowed, spewing waste on many a combat boot and sneaker. ABC No-Rio's lavatory wasn't so much a separate room but a corner of the first floor. Instead of a door, a long sheet of plastic hung down. I once walked in on two crusty punks having sex there, a horrific sight forever signed into my corneas and brain.
In the mid-1990s, entrepreneurial punk rockers rented a gymnasium at a People With AIDS Coalition center to put on hardcore shows, which came to be known by the anagram, the P.W.A.C. Their porta potties were almost as gruesome as the venue's location; Lindenhurst, Long Island. Fugazi played there in 1995 and, expecting a huge crowd, the actual coalition center allowed the use of their office bathrooms. My friend Artie hired me to do "security." I was the bathroom monitor. At one point I had to stop a short punker chick in a leather jacket from going in the bathroom while someone else was using it. "You got to wait. Only one person can go in at a time." Then a tall middle aged man behind her leaned over and said, "Come on guy, don't you know who this is? It's JOAN JETT." Regardless, she had to wait her turn like everybody else, which she did, graciously I might add. The 2018 documentary Bad Reputation chronicles Jett's ups and downs over the course of her 45 year career and is currently available for streaming on Hulu.
Like many a rock n' roll dream, Jett's journey begins with her first guitar, a gift for her 13th birthday. She was told "girls don't play rock n' roll" by her guitar teacher but growing up in the wake of ‘70s feminism, Jett refused to believe there was nothing she couldn't do. As a teenager she began frequenting Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, the center of Los Angeles' glam rock scene, and soon fell in with the people who would help her launch her first group, The RUNAWAYS.
After considering enlisting in the military and partying so hard she got a heart infection, Jett partnered up with veteran producer and songwriter KENNY LAGUNA. It's a creative and personal relationship that remains to this day. With her new band The BLACKHEARTS in tow, she relocated to the East Coast in 1980, touring its ample club circuit and selling records out of the trunk of Laguna's Cadillac. Demos sent to 23 labels begat 23 rejection letters so they put out Jett's first album themselves. The following decade would see hit records, label fights, a starring movie role and lots of stupid interview questions about getting married and having kids, questions you can assume few men were ever asked out of context. The ‘90s saw Jett acting as a mentor to a new generation of female rockers and the new century has seen her cement her legend, standing in for Kurt Cobain at Nirvana's induction into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame, a year before getting the nod herself.
At one point, Laguna says that because of his mother, an "outrageous feminist," he never thought The RUNAWAYS were groundbreaking until hitting "brick walls" promoting Jett's career. Likewise, I think we now take the idea of a female rock band or musician for granted precisely because of artists like them who endured indifference, condescension and contempt. Directed by Kevin Kerslake, Bad Reputation is a rare look inside the life of an artist who's often guarded and protective about herself and her legacy. You get the sense that JOAN JETT is telling us her story, how she sees it, which is a tale of self-determination and success despite numerous road blocks and the struggle to be taken seriously. Though Jett would continually buck up against the sexism of the music industry, she didn't waste time licking her wounds, she simply strapped on her Gibson Melody Maker and blew the doors off their hinges. Gibson teams up with JOAN JETT for signature ES-339 guitar from: musicradar.com By Michael Astley-Brown
Will new semi-hollow be a Runaway success?
Gibson has announced the latest in its run of signature electric guitars for 2019, the JOAN JETT Signature ES-339.
Following two years of R&D with Jett, the Runaway's 339 features a thermally engineered chambered maple centre block and Adirondack spruce bracing - the first time this has been featured in a Gibson ES design.
AAA figured maple veneers adorn the guitar's top, and are finished in Wine Red - what, no Cherrybomb Red?
Just 150 JOAN JETT ES-339s will be produced, with the first 50 hand-signed by Jett herself - non-signed models will be $2,999, while signed go for $3,999. See Gibson for more info.
This latest model follows REO Speedwagon man Dave Amato's Les Paul Axcess Standard, which was announced just last week. New women-focused book on D.C. punk adds fresh perspective to music history from: washingtonpost.com By Stephanie Williams
Plenty of documentaries, books and zines tell the stories of D.C. punk from the perspective of men. But why aren't more women involved in the conversation? The question struck local photographer Antonia Tricarico as she was compiling her first book.
"Frame of Mind: Punk Photos and Essays from Washington, DC, and Beyond, 1997-2017," released last week, tells the story of that era of D.C. punk rock through Tricarico's images plus essays written by female musicians.
"While editing the photos, I realized that I had heard a lot about music mostly from men and it was like, what if there is more to be discovered?" Tricarico says about the book, which she'll discuss at Politics and Prose this weekend (5015 Connecticut Ave. NW; Sun., 3 p.m., free).
Concert photos in the book feature seminal local acts including Fugazi, Deep Lust and Priests, along with bigger touring names such as JOAN JETT. Many of the photos were taken at D.C.-area venues, though some were shot in places around the world (including Tricarico's home country of Italy). Adding a personal touch are the 14 essays from punk's trailblazing women â€" including Jett and Kristina Sauvage of Coup Sauvage & the Snips.
"Making music allows us to not only reflect our world but also imagine the world we want to see â€" one that's way more brown, way more feminist, way more queer and way more fierce," Sauvage writes in her essay.
Tricarico will display 32 photographs from "Frame of Mind" at Lost Origins Gallery in an exhibit opening Saturday (3110 Mount Pleasant St.; opening reception, Sat., 6-9 p.m., free). Photo prints and copies of the book will be available for purchase.
"The local music scene wasn't just about music, it was a community of people," Tricarico says. "Its presence was making D.C. a better place to live. Music had a specific message against gentrification, sexism, racism and so on." CMA Fest: Carrie Underwood Brings out JOAN JETT for Surprise Duets from: popculture.com By CMA Fest: Carrie Underwood Brings out JOAN JETT for Surprise Duets
Carrie Underwood had quite the surprise for her fans during her performance at CMA Fest on Friday night. The country superstar and American Idol alum welcomed rock legend JOAN JETT to the stage for a performance.
The duo duetted on a medley of some of Jett's classics, including "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," "Bad Reputation" and "I Hate Myself for Loving You."
Fan at Nissan Stadium performance loved the surprise cameo and quickly spread their elation on social media.
It's not the first time the two have shared a connection in the past few years. "I Hate Myself for Loving You" was reworked and featured as the opening theme to NBC's Sunday Night Football coverage, with Pink, Faith Hill, and Underwood all taking turns singing the tune. It has since been replaced by an original tune sung by Underwood, but it isn't a surprise that the singer would invite the former Runaway to rock Nashville at CMA Fest.
The new theme is based on Underwood's hit song with Miranda Lambert, "Somethin' Bad," and carries the title, "Oh, Sunday."
"It has such a great stomp-clap, a `We Will Rock You' kind of feel to it," Underwood said about the new tune according to the LA Times. "This is such a high energy song." [more] Bikini Kill Returns Just When Women Need Them Most from: motherjones.com By ABIGAIL WEINBERG
Less than a month after a spate of state legislatures voted to enact sweeping abortion restrictions, 3,000 people, mostly women, swarmed Kings Theatre in Brooklyn to bang their heads, shake their hips, and scream. It wasn't a protest, but the audience was angry. Bikini Kill, one of the preeminent feminist punk bands of the riot grrrl movement of the 1990s, was playing one of four sold-out shows in New Yorkâ€"their first since they broke up in 1997, the year that I was born.
Singer Kathleen Hanna and her band filled the venue, an august 1929 movie palace, with raucous noise that seemed more fitting for a garage or an unfinished basement. The band that coined the motto "We want revolution girl-style now!" had returned in all its loud, angry feminist glory. Women's ire was suddenly justified, and riot grrrl was back.
Standing in the audience, I recalled how nostalgic Bikini Kill had sounded when I listened to them in high school. When I first heard them, they sexism they sang of seemed outdated, a thing of the past, a problem that had been solved, at least in the United States. But despite the #MeToo movement, misogyny still thrives. Everyone in the audience understood why women were angry, even if they couldn't discern the words that Hanna screamed into her microphone.
Between songs, Hanna, wearing a sparkly pink dress, spoke to the audience about feminism. At one point, she said that empathy was a superpower that could help women survive attacks on their rights.
"The scary thing is it's really relevant right now," she said. "I can't sit here crying and smoking cigarettes and saying, ‘There goes Roe v. Wade. There goes Roe v. Wade.'" [more] Watch JOAN JETT play 'Rebel Girl' with Bikini Kill in Brooklyn from: nme.com By Rhian Daly
The iconic musician previously collaborated with the band on their 1998 album 'The Singles'
JOAN JETT joined Bikini Kill onstage in Brooklyn last night (June 4) to perform the band's track 'Rebel Girl'.
The reunited riot grrrl group were performing at Brooklyn's Kings Theatre as part of their reformation tour, which has seen them play in Los Angeles and New York so far.
Jett made her appearance for the final song of the main set, with frontwoman Kathleen Hanna introducing her by saying: “Please welcome to the stage JOAN JETT!" The former RUNAWAYS member played guitar on 'Rebel Girl' â€" watch fan-shot footage of the moment below now.
Jett collaborated with Bikini Kill on the studio recording of 'Rebel Girl' and two other tracks from their 1998 compilation album 'The Singles' â€" 'New Radio' and 'Demirep'. She produced the tracks as well as playing guitar on them and contributing vocals.
Bikini Kill will bring their reunion tour to the UK next week when they play two dates at London's O2 Academy Brixton on June 10 and 11. Their remaining confirmed live show at present is a headline slot at Chicago's Riot Fest in September.
It has yet to be confirmed whether the group will write and record any new material, or if they will play any further shows together. Their last studio album, 'Reject All American', was released in 1996. They split the following year.
Original guitarist Billy Karren has not featured on the reunion tour, with new guitarist Erica Dawn Lyle filling his spot.
Courtney Love previously slammed Bikini Kill's reunion, calling it “the biggest hoax in the history of rock & roll." Without specifying who she was referring to, Love said, “Two of the band are total amateurs", before calling Hanna “a good hypeman, but her persona is such a DIY nonsense dilettante." Live: JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS, Elle King, Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, May 26 from: cvindependent.com By Brian Blueskye
JOAN JETT may be 60-but she didn't show any signs of slowing down in the slightest when she rocked the Fantasy Springs Event Center on Sunday night, May 26.
Jett's attire-a black bodysuit with bedazzled stars, leaving her arms and shoulders exposed-made her resemble a female pro-wrestler. But she's an ass-kicker in rock 'n' roll-so it wasn't a bad look for her.
After starting with "Victim of Circumstance," she immediately went into "Cherry Bomb," the 1976 song made famous by her previous band, The RUNAWAYS. She followed that up with her cover of Gary Glitter's "Do You Want to Touch Me."
Toward the middle of her show, she talked about the 1987 box-office bomb of a film she did with Michael J. Fox, Light of Day. She mentioned that Bruce Springsteen wrote the title track, which is performed by Jett and Fox at the end of the film-and then said she was going to play it. Her version of the song, combined with the talents of the BLACKHEARTS, was a treat to hear.
The show came during Memorial Day weekend. While Jett has supported anti-war presidential candidates in recent years, she is a staunch supporter of American service members, and she dedicated the night to all of the active and retired members of the military, which earned her loud applause.
She mentioned a documentary that she took part in about her career, Bad Reputation, and played a song from the film, called "Fresh Start."
Jett briefly discussed Hurricane Sandy, which ravaged the East Coast in 2012. Like everyone else, she said, she had a hard time not being able to run out and simply buy essentials, like normal-but that there was a network of people sharing what they had with others. She said to remember people who have survived any kind of disaster and to help them, before playing "Make It Back."
Of course, no JOAN JETT set is complete without "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," "Crimson and Clover" and "I Hate Myself for Loving You," and those were the last three songs in the regular set. When she came back out for the encore, she played another song I considered a treat-a cover of the Replacements' "Androgynous." She also added her cover of the Dee Jays' "Real Wild Child (Wild One)," and then closed with her rad cover of Sly and the Family Stone's "Everyday People."
The BLACKHEARTS roster appears to change regularly, given I couldn't find a current roster-and Jett did mention that her keyboard player couldn't make the show. Regardless, the guys she had for Sunday's show played her songs beautifully and kept the energy levels high. Oh ... and a shout-out to Jett for the leather pride sticker on one of her guitars.
Country singer/songwriter Elle King was the opening act-which seemed like a strange pairing, but the audience loved her. King's voice is sort of an acquired taste, but she's a smart songwriter and a talented multi-instrumentalist-and sometimes, a gritty voice can work in your favor. She played a good mix of material from her 2015 album, Love Stuff, and her 2018 album, Shake the Spirit, which goes into detail about her failed marriage, substance-abuse problems and spiritual awakenings. Of course, she closed her set with her 2015 hit, "Ex's and Oh's."
