Joan Jett, born Joan Marie Larkin, is an American musician, actress and songwriter best known for her group Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. She didn’t release music under the stage name Joan Jett until 1980, with her self-titled album.
Arguable, Joan Jett has had a very large impact on pop, rock, and modern punk music. The stand that Joan Jett made as a woman opened avenues for future artists to pursue. Joan pursued an intimate, yet powerful and climactic musical style that combined raw punk power with popular melodic structures and feelings. Common lyrical topics consisted of dealing with the world’s issues as a youth looking to make changes. She also covers topics such as Love, authenticity, struggles for resolution and middle class America.
Joan Jett arguably made it possible for later acts to come to fruition, as previously mentioned, opening a pathway for a genre of female power rock/pop to hit the masses. This is evident with musicians such as Avril Lavigne, popular in the early 2000’s who filled a similar niche. Avril Lavigne is a musician I would deem comparable to Joan Jett in a sense that Avril was the 2000’s answer to Joan’s powerful and emotional music of the 80’s. She may have quite possibly never seen much popularity without Joan’s previous effects on the industry,
Another comparable example would be The Pretty Reckless fronted by Taylor Momsen, a recent rock act similar to Evanescense. Again, I feel that this group was made possible by Joan’s actions. Female fronted harder rock bands were jump started by her production and now-famous attitude. Joan didn’t have to reinvent rock, all she had to do was give her own style of furious eye-opening music a chance in the star light.
As a listener I find Joan Jetts music on the top of my playlist and often listen to her older pre-re-master songs. The music is very well produced, had a great one and was mixed spectacularly well; especially for the genre it resided in (Which was not necessarily known for its sonic qualities). As a professional my opinions lie much in the same court, the mix and production was superb. One of the most fascinating things I have found is that she has continued to produce and support her role even to this day in both film and music. She has collaborated with new musicians and even allowed her music to evolve and merge with other genres.
Hi Charles! I agree with your post. Joan had a vision for her sound and her talent. She never stopped. I love listening to her music on vinyl to really hear the raw power of Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. You had some great comparisons and descriptions. Joan Jett was the first woman in rock. She forged the way for the future, even though she wasn't always respected. I'm happy she didn't give up! Where would our culture be now if it weren't for those risks. Thanks for the information and opinions! Overall, great writing.
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