Joan Jett and her band, The Blackhearts, performs at Santos Party House in New York City. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty )
Jett, 55, was immortalized in film by Kristen Stewart in 2010’s “The Runaways,” which highlighted her ground-breaking career with the band.
She later went solo and eventually reformed a new band, The Blackhearts. Along the way she crafted such rock anthems as “Bad Reputation” and “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
Jett calls Unvarnished “a real band album.” There’s no mistaking her hard rock sound. She collaborated with Blackhearts guitarist Dougie Needles, drummer Thommy Price and long-time songwriting partner and producer, Kenny Laguna.
Joan Jett Edgy Guitar-Driven Rock
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Photos by Mike Lawrie/Getty
The album includes signature tunes like “Soulmates To Strangers” written with Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace, and “Any Weather,” which she co-wrote with former Nirvana and Foo Fighters band member Dave Grohl.
Only Grohl and Jett play on their track. Jett handles vocals and ryhthm guitar and Dave plays the rest of the instruments.
Another song, “Make It Back,” was inspired by Joan’s first-hand experience with Hurrican Sandy, and it’s aftermath. Some of her neighbors in Long Beach, NJ, were hit hardest by the storm.
Jett also touched on the new trends in social media with a warning about the dangers of putting out too much information. The song, “TMI,” concerns “everybody throwing every little detail out there,” she says.
“There used to be something called mystique that was a big part of show business,” she told Rolling Stone in a recent interview. “You always wanted to keep something from people that they wanted to know.”
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