Guitar World wants YOUR questions for Joan in their next issue!
Got a question for your favorite guitarist? Let us be your go-between. The concept is easy — you submit your queries and we pass them on to some of the world’s greatest guitarists. Only the sharpest and funniest questions will be used.
This month, we’re giving you the chance to ask guitarist Joan Jett anything you want!
From the Runaways, to the Blackhearts to solo and beyond…no part of her career is off limits!
Just email your questions to dearguitarhero@guitarworld.com and put “Joan Jett” in the subject line. Remember to include your name in the email body, so you can get credited in the magazine, and impress and annoy your jealous friends!
Against Me! is one of my favorite bands, thanks to Joan Jett. In 2006, when Joan had her Sirius satellite radio show, she would talk about them and play their music often. But I really got into them the first time I heard “I Was A Teenage Anarchist,” and then I had to run out and find all of their CDs. Sorry, Against Me!, you’re stuck with me now. 🙂
Laura Jane Grace, Against Me!’s singer, wrote an inspiring story for this month’s issue of Cosmopolitan about her first year as a woman. I’m not surprised that our Joanie is one of her biggest supporters.
My Ally, Joan Jett
One of the first people I received a letter of support from after coming out was Joan Jett, who I knew a little from doing the Warped Tour together in 2006. Joan is a hero of mine and a rock-and-roll pioneer. When she started out, the rock scene was predominantly male. She defied gender stereotypes all on her own. My daughter, Evelyn, is also a huge Joan Jett fan. She asks for Joan’s records to be played and adores her Joan Jett Barbie doll. Against Me! went through New York City on tour with The Cult in June, and I asked Joan if she’d sing a song with us. She and her band had covered The Replacements’ “Androgynous” onstage, and The Replacements are one of my all-time favorite bands. Joan was into the idea! Singing together onstage, I felt so confident and grateful for her support. Back on the tour bus after the show, I watched, astonished, as Joan Jett leaned down and tucked an excited Evelyn, who was supposed to be asleep, into bed.
My heart is breaking for you, Jettheads! The Darkness have canceled their tour with Joan Jett in Australia and New Zealand. Their drummer, Ed Graham, is having health issues.
Here’s the band’s statement, from The New Zealand Herald:
“It is with great regret that we are having to cancel The Darkness’ planned April dates in Australia/New Zealand. As some of you may be aware, Ed has had some prior history with hip problems, which resulted in extensive surgery a few years ago, and caused him to miss some US dates in 2012.”
Over the past few weeks, Graham’s condition had worsened and had been advised to rest and undergo tests before “potentially taking a backwards step and making matters worse”, the statement said.
“I wish Ed a speedy and successful recovery from his injury. I am very disappointed that we will have to cancel the tour and I look forward to rescheduling as soon as possible.” -Joan Jett
According to iTunes, the Australian reissue of The Blackhearts’ Greatest Hits album, including the new tracks “TMI” and “Reality Mentality,” is still on track to be released this Friday, March 15th. PREORDER HERE! I’ll keep checking until then and will let you know if it changes. Meanwhile, our friend Jasmine found the album cover and sent me the image (thanks Jaz!):
[Post updated with track listing screen shot. See below.] The Blackhearts are re-releasing their Greatest Hits package in Australia on March 15th, and it will include BOTH “TMI” and “Reality Mentality.”
The previews of both studio tracks are on YouTube. (Thanks, Jaz. 🙂 ) They sound great, but now I’m foaming at the mouth. I can’t wait to hear the whole songs!
Now the bottom of the Australia tour poster with The Darkness makes sense, although “Any Weather” is not included in this release like the poster promised. (“Any Weather” is the love song that Joan wrote with Dave Grohl.) There is a chance that the track listing will change before March 15th, as iTunes warns: “Please note: The pre-order contents listed here are subject to change without notice and the final product received may differ.” I’ll check back on the 15th and see if anything else was added. Here’s a screenshot of what’s on there now (thanks Jaz!)
The rest of the world can’t be far behind, Jettheads! I’ve been Joanzing for new tunes for a while now, although waiting 7 years for a new album is comparatively easy when you remember that we waited 12 years for Sinner. That. Was. Not. Fun. (No jinxes!)
Joan confirmed in a February interview with The New Zealand Herald that The Blackhearts’ new album will be out this year! I’ve heard rumors of March, but they haven’t announced an official release date yet. Crossing all of my fingers and toes that it’s true, though (as soon as I’m done typing this). 🙂
She’s set to release her 12th studio album this year, her first since 2006, having been working up songs during recent tours. They’ve been recording in LA and New York, and Jett is enthusiastic about the songs, some of which they’ll perform at their Auckland show.
“This album probably has some of my own perspective of what I can see going on in society. There’s a song called Reality Mentality, which is a little self-explanatory, with the explosion of reality TV and how real is it, and people playing up for cameras, people wanting to be a star at any cost, so it’s just about taking note of that, not necessarily good or bad, just saying that’s who we are. And there’s one called TMI, shorthand for ‘too much information’, about how everybody goes online and shares everything about everyone.”
There’s also a more serious side to the album. Jett lost both her parents during the past two years, which triggered a couple of different songs – one called Hard To Grow Up (“about realising you have to take responsibility”) and another, Fragile (“you know how we can be so strong, yet things can still be right on the point of breaking”). And there’s also a more straight-up love song called Any Weather, which she wrote with Dave Grohl.
PLUS, Joan debuted two more new songs at the Casino Rama show earlier this month, “Fragile” and “Make it Back”. The audio in the vids below isn’t great. I can’t wait to hear clearer versions so I can hear the lyrics. And I can’t wait to hear all the new songs live!
Joan is listed as playing the role of Detective Pratt in the “Luna’s Revenge” episode of FML the Series, with a release date of March 1, 2013. I found the show’s Twitter account, @FMLTheSeries, but the show has no website, and I don’t know if it’s a web series or on a TV network, or what. Maybe the twitter account will show something soon, or maybe they will take pity on us and give us some inside info? (Pretty please?)
I REALLY want this to be true. This is listed as a short video, to be released on July 1, 2013: “A behind the scenes look at a legendary band”. No website or other info exists.
Cynthia Posner is listed as the director for both items. Does that mean anything to you Hollywood-savvy types?
Verbicide Magazine published a list of cover songs that are better than the originals, and “Dirty Deeds” made the list! “Crimson and Clover” would have been a gimme; so glad they chose something from The Hit List.
Joan Jett Covers “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” by AC/DC
In 1990, Joan Jett released a cover record, The Hit List. And while she certainly compiled a great album, it’s hard to argue that her versions of songs such as CCR’s “Have You Ever Seen The Rain?” and the Sex Pistols‘ “Pretty Vacant” trumped the originals.
The album’s single, however, blows the original out of the water. Jett takes an overplayed, overrated band’s scummiest-sounding hit and turns it into something that is sexy and bad ass. She may be remembered for many other tunes, but “Dirty Deeds” deserves a spot on Jett’s roster of greatest hits.
OK, this is weird: There’s a poster of Joan’s tour with The Darkness floating about, and it looks like Australia is getting a new version of the Greatest Hits package in March that will contain a new “hit” song called, “Any Weather”.
This is from McManus Entertainment’s Facebook page:
Last Thursday, January 31, Joan attended the premiere of Dave Grohl’s Sound City documentary and walked the red carpet. She wore the same black leather jacket with the white lining that we saw her in at the Icons of Music II benefit in 2008 with Les Paul. I love that jacket! (Have you seen it anywhere else?)
From huffingtonpost.com: Dave Grohl, left, and Joan Jett attend the premiere of “Sound City”, on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013 in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP Images)
Lots of other celebrities were there too, I guess. 🙂
Sound City is a documentary directed by Dave Grohl about the legendary San Fernando Valley recording studio, which closed down in 2011. Music for The Runaways movie was recorded there, and the studio scenes in the movie were filmed there.
Visit the official Sound City website HERE. Read Rolling Stone’s review of the film HERE.
Videos:
1. Joan interview starting 2:57. Dave Grohl bought Sound City’s board when it closed, and Joan has recorded new material on it recently!
The Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII 34-31. Joan predicted them to win 31-28. Her streak is unbroken for the 8th consecutive year!
Joan’s prediction was close to the actual score, but not close enough to win the Scripps’ Super Sage Award. That honor went to Soprano’s actor Tony Sirico:
I have updated Joan’s winning stats on the following page, Celebrity Super Bowl Poll Results. I’ve also added interesting trivia about her predictions there. Enjoy!
The Baltimore Ravens face off against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII this Sunday, February 3rd. Joan has picked the Ravens to beat the 49ers, 31-28, in the 2013 Scripps Celebrity Super Bowl Poll.
I get excited for this every year because Joan has the longest current unbroken winning streak–she has correctly predicted the last SEVEN Super Bowl winners (eight overall)!
If the Ravens win on Sunday, Joan will have eight consecutive correct predictions, and will tie Haley Joel Osment for the record of longest unbroken winning streak. If Joan’s prediction is closest to the final score, she will also win the Scripps Super Sage Award, which she hasn’t yet won.
I have compiled all of Joan’s predictions and her winning stats on a new page for your eternal reference, Celebrity Super Bowl Poll Results. (Also visible from the menu bar above.) Hope you enjoy it!
Joan Jett has donated another meet and greet to Charity Buzz! This one benefits Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. The winner gets a meet and greet and two tickets to the 2013 show of their choice!
Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. In other words, Healing Musicians in Need. We all have received so much out of music, it’s time to give a little back!
The current bid is $1,450. Bidding ends Monday, February 11, at 3:56 PM EST.
Joan donated another meet and greet in a Charity Buzz auction for the ACLU of Southern California that ended earlier this month. Charity Buzz does not reveal the final winning bid on any auction, according to their FAQs.
Joan Jett is a true sports fan, and on Friday morning she called into the MLB Network to discuss her love for her favorite baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles.
Click below for the video — it includes cool vintage clips of Joan.
😀
Back in October, Joan wrote a love letter to her team. Read about it here.
It’s 2013, which means we haven’t had officially released new music from Joan Jett and the Blackhearts in seven years. That may sound like a long time to wait, but it’s nothing compared to the TWELVE years we had to wait between 1994’s Pure and Simple and 2006’s Sinner.
Fortunately, The Blackhearts have been slowly unveiling new tracks for us at their live shows since 2011. The wait is nearly over! I THINK they are still planning to release something this year. *crosses fingers*
The cool thing about hearing new music like this is that we get to hear the way the songs evolve over time. If you find all the recordings of each of these songs on YouTube, you’ll find many instances where the lyrics have changed.
Here are the four new tracks I’ve heard so far. (Thank goodness for YouTube!) Pick your favorites in the poll at the bottom of the post.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are supporting The Darkness (@TheDarkness) on their headlining tour in Australia this April! Read more here. (But ignore the title of the article for now–I don’t think Lady Gaga will be there, although if I hear differently I’ll let you know).
I’ll post the details about the Melbourne show when they are announced. I hope they add more dates!
Joan was recently interviewed by fashion designer Norma Kamali as part of an empowerment special on Sirius XM. The full special will air on Wednesday, December 5 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM EST on Sirius XM’s Stars channel 107.
Scripps Howard released their Annual Celebrity Super Bowl Poll today! Joan has picked the New York Giants to beat the New England Patriots, 38-35, in Super Bowl #46.
Joan has correctly predicted the last six Super Bowl winners, with seven correct predictions overall since Super Bowl #35, when she started participating in the poll. She has the longest unbroken winning streak, a title she took from Bill O’Reilly in Super Bowl #44. If Joan’s prediction is closest to the final score, she will also win the Scripps Howard Super Sage Award.
We’ll find out Joan’s fate when Super Bowl XLVI airs on NBC this Sunday, February 5, at 6:00 PM EST. GO JOAN!!
Here’s Joan’s full list of predictions and results:
Born to be Jetthead 