October 2024 News

By Tom Szaroleta | Photo by Fran Ruchalski




JOAN JETT and CeeLo Green will play free beachfront concerts in early November as part of a women's surf competition.

JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame act, will play at Seawalk Pavilion in Jacksonville Beach at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at the end of a full day of surfing and live music. Green, one of the original coaches on "The Voice," will play on the same stage at 6:45 p.m. the following night.

The performances are part of the U.S. Air Force Super Girl Surf Pro contest, which runs Nov. 8-10 on Jacksonville Beach and is billed as the world's largest female surf event. It's a World Surf League event and competitors can qualify for next year's Women's Championship Tour. Competitors will be in the water by 8 a.m. on Friday and Saturday of the event, 8:30 a.m. on the final day.

The festival also includes beach soccer, beach volleyball, flag football, lifeguard and lacrosse competitions for women and a cheerleading showcase.

The entire festival, including concerts, is free. Here's the concert schedule:
Saturday, Nov. 9
Noon: HoneyWhat
1 p.m.: Super Girl Sound Session Female DJ Contest
3:15 p.m.: McKenzi Brooke
4:30 p.m.: Hello Sister
5:45 p.m.: Hannah Wicklund
7 p.m.: Artikal Sound System
8:30 p.m.: JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS

By Hannah Dailey | Photo by London Entertainment/Getty Images




The 66-year-old rock star has partnered with PETA for a new commercial calling on women's rights proponents to include animals in their advocacy. Premiering Monday (Oct. 21) during The Rachel Maddow Show, the ad begins with a close-up of Jett's face before it morphs into headshots of a cat, fox, cow, monkey, dog, sheep and other human women.

"We are all sisters under the skin," the "I Love Rock 'N Roll" singer says in the video. "End speciesism!"

Of partnering with the organization, Jett tells Billboard, "I want to do everything I can to help animals, and this campaign resonated with me because female animals, in particular, are some of the most abused animals on the planet."

"As women, our empathy cannot stop at the human female," the legend continues. "We must oppose the exploitation and abuse of all females, because every animal is someone, and we are all animals."

Jett, who is vegan, has been working with PETA for well over a decade. In 2012, she declared her vegetarianism in her first-ever print ad for the non-profit, which read: "A meatless diet saves animals from suffering, combats environmental destruction and is better from my health."

In 2022, Jett spoke on PETA's behalf at SeaWorld's virtual annual shareholders meeting to advocate for an end to the theme park's "sordid breeding program." "SeaWorld has caused public outrage by continuing to forcibly breed bottlenose dolphins and beluga whales in order to create generations of animals who then suffer in cramped tanks, deprived of any semblance of a natural life," she said at the time.

Watch Jett's PETA ad below.

By Lucy Harbron




There are certain central figures that instantly spring to mind when thinking of rock music: Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, George Harrison, and Jim Morrison perhaps. Among them, there are The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger for sure, and JOAN JETT, the pioneering player who set the world on fire in The RUNAWAYS and kept the flame burning with her solo career. But beyond being a music maker, Jett is a fan too as Jagger especially stands out as a key influence.

Jett's music tastes were the start of it all in her career. Back in California in the mid-1970s, she was just another rocker, keen on the likes of David Bowie, the early punk scene with the Ramones, and then the classic rock and roll leaders like The Rolling Stones. When she met the controversial producer Kim Fowley when she was only 16, it was her teenage angst and musical influences that set the tone for The RUNAWAYS, the all-girl rock band that took the world by storm and shot her to fame.

Since then, Jett has endured as one of the genre's most iconic faces, voices, and guitar players. She's the artist who launched a thousand bands, and because of her influence, countless young women have picked up a guitar or started a rock troupe. After spending her youth looking up to rock legends, she's undeniably become one herself.

At her core, Jett has always maintained the youthful excitement that got her started down the rock path. "I got turned on to music because there was something about the way it touched me. Listening to the guitar really took over and made me feel great," she said to her fan club during a Q&A.

That memory of being moved and excited by the guitar makes perfect sense when it comes to her favourite The Rolling Stones album. In a list of her favourite records of all time, she picked out "Let It Bleed by The Rolling Stones".

Released in 1969, it was the first album where Mick Taylor had replaced Brian Jones on guitar. In the years prior, Jones' position in the band was getting weaker and weaker, and their founder spiralled further into addiction, abusive behaviours and unreliable nature. It hit a point where during the Let It Bleed sessions, their producer would lock Jones in a separate studio and turn all the mics off to allow the rest of the Stones to actually get some work done without distraction or any damage being done by their old leader.

However, with Taylor on board, it allowed them to build their sound. Now, the band had both Keith Richards and Taylor playing guitars, meaning the album was rich with electric riffs, slide guitar details, acoustic guitar foundations and all kinds of catchy and exciting moments. They had two capable and talented players again, allowing them to write anthems like ‘Gimme Shelter' and have the instrumental power to pull it off.

For Jett, a young music fan with an early interest in rock music, the album was astonishing. If it was guitar music that moved her, Let It Bleed was a treasure trove.