Joan Jett.
This young lady is one of rock and roll’s most legendary women, Joan Jett. The picture is of her in 1977 during her time with the Runaways.
Jett was born in 1958 as Joan Larkin but utilized this stage name to sound cooler. It was in 1975 when she was invited to join the newly forming all-female rock band that would be known as the Runaways. After a fantastic audition, she was hired on to play rhythm guitar, do vocals from time to time, and be the band’s cowriter with bandmate and front woman Cherie Currie.
The band amassed quite a bit of success with the song “Cherry Bomb,” which made it to number one and was especially popular in Japan. Capitalizing on this success, the band would go on to tour Japan multiple times, still making time to return and tour Europe and North America. After the recognition from this song, they were selected to open for such acts as Van Halen, Cheap Trick, and Ramones.
After the group disbanded in 1979 due to creative differences, Joan Jett went on a solo path to keep their rock/punk style alive. Realizing that she would need a band to back her up, she formed Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. This band was quite popular among the punk scene of the eighties because of their audacious and unrelenting style that can be heard in such hits as “Bad Reputation,” and “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Jett was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 and is still playing to this day.
Writer / Quiz Creator
Andrew Nicholas is a passionate reader and writer on the subjects of history and mankind. He is a published author, critic, and poet who grew up in the friendly scenery of rural Ohio. He is a graduate of Wright State University and a regular student of historical curiosities.