Being in an all-girl rock band in the mid-70s was almost seen as a death trap since there wasn’t strong support for female bands. They were young and toured the world unsupervised while opening for male acts like Cheap Trick, Van Halen, also Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
The Runaways (lead singer Cherie Curry, guitarists Lita Ford and Joan Jett, drummer Sandy West) all fought for equality while learning how to be professional musicians on the job as teenagers. Her legacy as a rebel and a fighter for women’s rights was cemented long ago, but continues to live on through the numerous female artists she’s influenced and worked with even to this day. It was during this time that she started to gain respect as a songwriter and musician with songs about female empowerment, sexuality, and independence. She took that experience to parlay that into forming her own band, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, which achieved great commercial success. Joining The Runaways at 16 years old, Jett grew up fast, having to learn how to handle herself in an adult world while enduring the sexism of the male-dominated rock scene of the 70s. If there was one woman who represents the bad-girl image of rock-n-roll, it has to be Joan Jett.