As a producer, she has overseen albums by Bikini Kill, Circus Lupus, as well as the Germs. At a very young age, I decided I was not going to follow womenвЂ™s rules.вЂќД«ut JoanвЂ™s success is not isolated to herВ being aВ legendary frontwoman, musician, and songwriter. вЂњI figured out it was a social thing, what women were allowed to do. Joan recalls sending the same four songs to each of the record labels she approached (вЂњI Love Rock вЂN Roll,вЂќ вЂњCrimson and Clover,вЂќ вЂњDo You Wanna Touch Me,вЂќ and вЂњBad ReputationвЂќ) and receiving rejections from every one of those labels.вЂќ

But when it came time to find a distributor, she had the proverbial door slammed in her faceВ by 23 different record labels.В According to a recent Inquisitr article, вЂњIn those early days, Jett remembers having to defend her gender to everyone in the music industry and, at times, even to would-be fans. When the Runaways completely disbanded in 1979, Joan refocused and got to work on a solo album. вЂњGirls see these defined roles theyвЂ™re supposed to follow in life, but when I was a young child, my parents told me I could be anything.вЂќ As WYSK noted in a November 2014 piece, вЂњTheir fandom was sometimes called the next Beatlemania.вЂќ Joan eventually took over as the Runaways frontwoman after Cherie and Jackie left. She also wrote most of the bandвЂ™s songs, including their 1976 hit вЂњ Cherry Bomb.вЂќ The group recorded four albums between 19, and also went on tour. It is the only thing I can do and IвЂ™m glad to do it.In the early 70s, when she was just 15-years-old, Joan foundedВ the trailblazing, all-girl, punk rock fivesomeвЂ¦В the Runaways (JoanВ Jett вЂ“ guitar/vocals Sandy West вЂ“ drums Cherie Currie вЂ“ lead vocals Jackie Fox вЂ“ bass guitar and Lita Ford вЂ“ guitar). I will not allow anyone to throw me under the bus and accuse me of such a foul act. I will make public the questions, answers and results of that test. When I return from Sweden I will seek a qualified polygraph examiner to put to rest any and all allegations. There are so many excuses I could make being only one month into my sixteenth year at the time that people would understand but I am innocent. I have never been one to deny my mistakes in life and I wouldnвЂ™t start now. вЂњOf looking into the dead yet pleading eyes of a girl, unable to move while she was brutally raped and doing nothing. вЂњI have been accused of a crime,вЂќ Currie added the following day.

вЂњAll I can say is if Joan, Sandy and I saw an unconscious girl being brutally raped in front of us, we would have hit him over the head with a chair,вЂќ she first said, referencing the late Runaways drummer Sandy West. Obviously JackieвЂ™s story is extremely upsetting and although we havenвЂ™t spoken in decades, I wish her peace and healing.вЂќД¬urrie, 55, was referenced in the original story as claiming that вЂњshe spoke up and stormed out of the room,вЂќ and wrote multiple of her own Facebook posts. вЂњFor a group of young teenagers thrust into 70s rock stardom there were relationships that were bizarre, but I was not aware of this incident. вЂњAnyone who truly knows me understands that if I was aware of a friend or bandmate being violated, I would not stand by while it happened,вЂќ Jett, 56, wrote on her official Facebook page. Joan Jett and Cherie Curri of The Runaways The two women responded to the allegations in separate statements following the storyвЂ™s publication. вЂњI remember opening my eyes, Kim Fowley was raping me, and there were people watching me,вЂќ Fox added, telling HuffPost that she saw bandmates Jett and Currie staring at her. She told HuffPost that Fowley undressed himself and Fox, and proceeded to rape her as the partygoers watched, inspiring some to get up and leave and others to вЂњpretend like nothing was going on.вЂќ The roadie allegedly turned down Fowley, and one of FoxвЂ™s friends, Helen Roessler, recounted what happened next. But I know what was going on inside and it was horror.вЂќ вЂ¦ I donвЂ™t know what it looked like from the outside. All I can do is look him in the eye and do the best I can do to communicate: Please say no. вЂњYou donвЂ™t know what terror is until you realize something bad is about to happen to you and you canвЂ™t move a muscle,вЂќ she told HuffPost. PHOTOS: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Read article

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