Joan Jett became a rock ‘n’ roll lifer the moment she cofounded the Runaways at age 16 with drummer Sandy West. Playing a mix of glam, pop, hard-rock and punk, the guitarist and singer was setting a path for the solo career she would launch in 1979 after the Runaways broke up.
A 1980 solo debut, Bad Reputation, made with members of Sex Pistols, got things rolling, but it was the release of her second record, I Love Rock-N-Roll, recorded with her full-time band the Blackhearts, that made her a star.
Thanks to a No. 1 cover of the Arrows’ title tune, and plenty of airplay on MTV during its earliest days as a network, Jett formulated the blueprints that helped her stage an active next few years, combining catchy originals with well-chosen cover songs that fit her band’s straightforward but efficient playing, as you will see in the list below of Joan Jett Albums Ranked.
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Although Jett and the Blackhearts’ early chart singles were covers, she quickly began to declare her own identity in the male-dominated music industry of the ’80s. By the early 1990s, Jett was recognized as a significant influence on the emerging riot grrrl scene, celebrated for her unwavering stance over the years.
Through the decades, Jett has maintained that vision that’s both defiantly original and a nod to the past, including her own; she’s reworked some of her Runaways songs on Blackhearts records, has recorded an album of covers as a solo artist and even revisited her past catalog as part of a 2022 acoustic album, Changeup. It’s all led to a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2015 and the admiration of generations of like-minded, strong-willed artists.
Joan Jett Albums Ranked
From former Runaway to Blackhearts leader, the original riot grrrl has endured over the decades.
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
