She was a founding guitarist of Seventies teen girl group the Runaways and rose to stardom fronting the long-running rock act the Blackhearts. But what Guitar World...
She was a founding guitarist of Seventies teen girl group the Runaways and rose to stardom fronting the long-running rock act the Blackhearts. But what Guitar World readers really want to know is ...
The new Joan Jett and the Blackhearts album [Unvarnished, released in October] deals with some really personal themes. Did writing these songs help you gain a new or different perspective on life? — Mikey Nichols
Absolutely. It’s like do-it-yourself psychology. [laughs] This is my most personal album in the sense that it directly points to events or things I’ve gone through. This last decade I’ve lost a lot of people, including my parents, who I was very close to. It’s been a really formative, eye-opening and hard time for me.
The song “Fragile” is specifically about my mother, and losing love. You think love is so strong—and it can be—but it also can be so fragile and broken just like a stick. Our music always focused on personal things like falling in love, falling out of love, having sex, not having sex and partying. I’m not saying nothing was ever serious or had messages. But this album’s subject matter is certainly more diverse and these news songs have a deeper personal relationship to me than my other albums.
You’ve had an amazing career. What is the one piece of advice you wish you were given back when you first got into the business with the Runaways? — Hank Tomesco
Wow… I guess my only advice is to pay attention, because everything goes so fast. Nobody gave me that advice. The Runaways was three and a half years, but it seemed to go very quickly. Just really embrace the moment, especially the special ones. And even the bad ones, because things always change.