Joan Jett and her band The Black Hearts will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This past April, she and her band played on stage during Nirvana’s induction at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
“Maybe it reminded people I’m out there,” Jett said on Tuesday about the fact that she received her nomination shortly thereafter.
“It’s a roiling pot of emotions,” Jett said during a recent interview with Billboard. “I’m amazed. I’m happy. I’m honored. I’m flabbergasted. It feels so surreal. It’s kind of still sinking in. When I think about all the musicians in the history of music that have been out there making records and touring, that I get chosen into this elite group of musicians is pretty incredible.”
Joan Jett and her band have been on the ballot for nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before, but this year they were finally voted in.
"I think it's incredible, I'm very proud to be with all these great musicians." – #JoanJett #RockHall2015 pic.twitter.com/GKGdwxikTi
— Joan Jett (@joanjett) December 16, 2014
“I think you don’t think about those things–at least I don’t,” she explains. “You just go out and do your job and make your records, and if something like those accolades get put onto you, then that’s an extra bonus. But I don’t know that you can set out to achieve that; I think it’s a gift, and I don’t think you can sort of expect it. So, no, when I was nominated before and didn’t get voted in, I took it with a grain of salt because that’s the way it is. I did not expect to have it handed to me on a golden platter.”
It was back in 1980 when Joan Jett landed at the top of the record charts with her huge hit ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.’ She sees her impending induction as ‘a total career achievement and her impact in breaking down barriers for women in rock.’
“Certainly I will take that with me to that ceremony,” she says. “I’ll take the view that it’s encompassing my early work with the Runaways, all the various incarnations of the Blackhearts…everything.”
Joan Jett will officially become an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on April 18, 2015. In addition to Joan and her band, the other inductees include Green Day, Bill Withers Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Lou Reed, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.