Joan Jett , whose real name is Joan Marie Larkin , born September 22, 1958 in Wynnewood, a suburb of Philadelphia, is an American rock singer.
She is best known for her cover of I Love Rock 'n' Roll in 1982, but also for Crimson and Clover, I Hate Myself for Loving You, Do You Want to Touch Me and Bad Reputation.
Joan Jett moved to Hollywood, California at the age of thirteen, where she became known in the 1970s as a guitarist and lead songwriter for The Runaways, a punk rock and women's glam rock group, which was successful with Cherry Bomb. She also sang the song from singer Cherie Currie. The band has been successful around the world, especially in Japan. Today, she is best known as a pioneer of female rock, for paving the way for many other formations.
Joan Jett is a founding member of Runaways with thresher Sandy West. Micki Steele (who was later replaced), Jackie Fox, Lita Ford, and Cherie Currie round out the group. While Currie is in the foreground, Jett leads some vocals, plays the guitar and writes or co-writes several songs for the band with Ford, West and Currie. The band records five albums, with Live in Japan becoming one of the best sellers in the United States and the United Kingdom. The group travels around the world and gets great success, especially in Japan, with for example Cheap Trick, Van Halen and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
