Joan Jett — Cherry Hill, New Jersey Origins

Joan Jett was born Joan Marie Larkin on September 22, 1958, in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, before her family moved to the Los Angeles area when she was a teenager. She taught herself guitar at thirteen, absorbed the glam rock of David Bowie and T. Rex, and by fifteen was part of the nascent Sunset Strip scene. Kim Fowley spotted her and recruited her as a founding member of the Runaways — the all-teenage girl band that recorded 'Cherry Bomb' in 1976 and toured Japan to near-Beatlemania before imploding in 1979.

Jett formed the Blackhearts after the Runaways disbanded, and after being rejected by dozens of record labels she released I Love Rock 'n' Roll independently in 1981. When it was picked up and re-released it became one of the best-selling singles in history, and the album of the same name established her as a solo force. Her aesthetic — leather jacket, black hair, three-chord directness, zero apology — was as important as the music in shaping what female rock could look like. Her cover of 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' (originally by the Arrows) and 'Bad Reputation' are defining songs of the era.

Cherry Hill, New Jersey, is a suburban township across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. There is no formal Jett landmark there, but the town is part of the South Jersey musical geography that also produced various members of the E Street Band and the broader Philadelphia music scene.