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Joan Jett

Singer-guitarist Joan Jett blazed a trail for women in rock with a three-decade career devoted to high-voltage, glam-inspired music like "I Love Rock 'n Roll," "Bad Reputation" and "I Hate Myself for Loving You." She rose to fame in the mid-1970s as bassist for the Runaways, a teenaged girl glam act assembled by notorious impresario Kim Fowley that drew more notice for its jail bait image than for amped-up tracks like "Cherry Bomb." When the group imploded in 1980, Jett released a self-titled solo LP on her own label, Blackheart Records, which earned a contract with Neil Bogart's Boardwalk Records. She quickly established herself as a fervent devotee of '60s garage punk and '70s glitter rock, which she proselytized through such hook-heavy originals as "I Love Rock 'n Roll" and covers of Gary Glitter's "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)." Jett's grip on the pop charts loosened in the mid-1980s, though she made a well-regarded acting debut in Paul Schrader's "Light of Day" (1987), which also brought her a Top 40 hit with Bruce Springsteen's title track. She rebounded briefly in the early 1990s with the high-gloss hit "I Hate Myself for Loving You" before serving as godmother to the riot grrl movement, whom she embraced with critically acclaimed collaborations with alt-rock acts like Bikini Kill and the Gits. Joan Jett's fiercely independent attitude and belief in the gospel of three-rock chord rock-n-roll made her one of the most celebrated women in pop music history, culminating with her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the 2014 class.