Joan Jett, legendary frontwoman and ex-guitarist of rock'n'roll's pioneering all-girl group The Runaways, has been questioned about her thoughts on touring with bands who have been accused of being historically misogynistic.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Jett discusses the upcoming stadium tour with Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard and Poison that she's undertaking with her band Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. When questioned as to whether she is fazed by the LA band's alleged history of misogyny, she says, "It's very prevalent, all over rock and roll. Look, all I can do as the woman I am is go out there and show an alternative view and do it my way.
"If I had to weed out every band you thought was problematic, I mean, there wouldn't be very many left. And I think everyone's being a little … Chill out, it's music."
When pushed further, Jett addresses whether she believes rock is less misogynistic now than it was in the '80s.
"That's a good question," she answers. "The bands I listened to weren't necessarily at all misogynistic, but I'm talking about guys like Fugazi. I would say [it's] probably not as misogynistic [now], just because of their openness to getting criticised about it, because you get creamed online and people seem to care about that.
"That doesn't mean that it changes who they are, so maybe that's dangerous. It goes underground. But I think things are changing."
Elsewhere, Jett names the young female performers she thinks are "carrying the torch" for rock music. She says, "I know a couple of bands that we work with that are women and are out on the road. Rock & roll punk bands.
"A band called Fea, who is actually on our label [Blackheart Records]. They’re from San Antonio. And Jackknife Stiletto. I don’t see a lot of [solo] artists singing rock & roll, particularly.
"Maybe I’m just defining it more narrowly than other people would. If we’re including pop music, then there’s a lot of people that are out there trying to do something, but that’s not really the music I listen to."
The Stadium Tour will launch on June 16 in Atlanta, Georgia. The 36-date run will wrap up on September 9 in Las Vegas.
