Joan Jett

Jett is, for lack of a better word, an icon. An icon of rock ‘n’ roll. An icon of Americana. An icon of the guitar, and known the world over for it.

So, do we really need to splay her accolades and reasons why she’s awesome on these pages? Of course we bloody do!

At the helm of Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Jett would pen songs that became nothing less than immortal. “I Love Rock ‘N Roll” is an anthem of the genre – one of those songs many know without even knowing who’s playing it. It’s a staple; a classic; an absolute blessing in music history. Similarly, “I Hate Myself For Loving You” – with its raw, rampant, unpurged delivery of sexual promiscuity and bad girl antics across some truly gritty riffs and howling guitar lines – is equally as important in the discography of essential rock music.

Jett’s mezzo-soprano range could get as wild and raspy as it could be sweet and sultry. Many of her songs displayed a certain kind of spikiness in her guitar work, the hard-driving tempos stirring up just the shocking and adoring reaction Jett was aiming for.

“Bad Reputation”, “Crimson and Clover”, “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)”, “Dirty Deeds” – Jett is behind so many amazing, wild, and flabbergasting songs that have stood the test of time. To boot, she initiated a domino effect of female guitarists that has yet to stop tumbling over.