Joan Jett took time out to slam Ted Nugent, who believes she should not have been ranked in Rolling Stone's “100 Greatest Guitarists” list. Not too long ago, Nugent defamed Jett on his YouTube livestream for her placement on the magazine's list at Number 87 by naming other musicians he would've preferred to see on the list — and hitting below the belt regarding her alleged sexual preferences.
Nugent mocked Jett by saying, “(I) love Joan. Some of my greatest memories include lesbians. I love the lesbians; it's a cocktail of wonderment. (I) love Joan Jett — 'put another dime in the jukebox, baby'; great rock and roller — but as a Top 100 guitar player, but you don't list Rickey Medlocke or Dave Amato. Really? Or Dick Wagner and the Frost from Detroit. Or Mark Farner? Mark Farner from Grand Funk Railroad. Joan Jett is on the list but not Mark Farner? Grandmaster Flash is in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame but not Grand Funk Railroad (laughs)?. . . You have to have sh** for brains, and you have to be a soulless, soulless pr*** to put Joan Jett.”
Jett, who was promoting her new acoustic album, Changeup, countered in NME, saying, “Is that his implication that he should be on the list instead of me? Well, that’s just typical — it’s what I’ve dealt with my whole life, being written off. Ted Nugent has to live with being Ted Nugent. He has to be in that body, so that’s punishment enough. He’s not a tough guy. He plays a tough guy, but this is the guy who sh** his pants — literally — so he didn’t have to go in the Army. So this is the tough guy who’s running around America, stirring things up against each other.”
During her 2015 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, Joan Jett spoke frankly about the passion and promise of true rock n' roll: “I come from a place where rock n' roll means something. It means more than music, it means more than fashion, more than a good pose. It's a language of a sub-culture that has made eternal teenagers of all who follow it. It's a sub-culture of integrity, rebellion, frustration, alienation, and the glue that set several generations free of unnatural societal self-suppression. (Applause) Yeah! Rock n' roll is political! It is a meaningful way to express dissent, upset the status quo, stir up revolution, and fight for human rights! (Applause) Do you think I'm making it sound more important and more serious than it is — it's only rock n' roll, right? Rock n' roll is an idea and an ideal.”
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts will next perform on May 14th at Macon, Georgia's Macon City Auditorium.