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Joan Jett music biography continued...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jett moved to Los Angeles after high school to pursue her musical career. Soon after, she founded a band called The Runaways, for which she took over some lead vocals, played rhythm guitar and wrote or co-wrote a lot of the band's material. The band recorded five LPs, with Live In Japan becoming one of the biggest-selling imports in U.S. and U.K. history, though overall they did not break into the American market in a big way, and disbanded in 1979. Jett moved to New York to start a solo career and teamed up with producer/manager Kenny Laguna, to independently release her self-titled debut album in 1980. Bad Reputation soon rose to #51 on the charts. In between solo efforts Jett put together another band called the Blackhearts. the group included guitarist Ricky Byrd, bassist Gary Ryan, and drummer Lee Crystal. Backed by these musicians, Jett would release her most successful record at the end of 1981—"I Love Rock-n-Roll"—which peaked in the Top Ten. The follow-up single, a version of Tommy James & the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover," went Top Ten as well. A single of Gary Glitter's "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)," taken from the Bad Reputation album, reached number 20 in the summer of 1982. Album, released in 1983, also went gold, solidifying Jett's place at the forefront of punk rock.



Jett starred in Paul Schrader's 1987 film Light of Day, which featured the Top 40 title song, yet she didn't have another Top Ten hit until 1988, when "I Hate Myself for Loving You," taken from the Up Your Alley album, hit number eight; the album became her second platinum record. After the album's success, her career had another dry patch, but during this period new generation of female rockers came of age and everyone from hard alternative rockers like L7 to the minimalist, riot grrrl punk rockers like Bikini Kill claimed Jett and the Runaways as an influence. Not to be dusted off and forgotten, Jett reunited with the Blackhearts for the 1999 album Fetish, and in 2006 Sinner, a return to her punk roots. Jett may be the elder statesman, but she remains a bad girl of rock to this day.