Long Beach's Joan Jett to Be Inducted to Rock Hall of Fame

A longtime Long Beach resident will soon take her place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, famous for their many hit songs, including “I Love Rock & Roll,” will be inducted in Cleveland on April 18 along with seven other music legends.

“On one hand, it’s kind of thrilling to be chosen -- you know that it’s being done by many of your peers,” she said, according to Newsday. “On the other hand, it’s not why I got into a band -- to win accolades... The accolades come from the audience, from the fans, from how much they get into -- or not -- your music. That’s really been my focus all these years -- making records and playing live. Winning awards was not really part of it. Now that it has become a part of reality, you try to keep it in its proper perspective.”

Jett has called the barrier island home since the late-1970s. She she relocated to work with producer and lyricist Kenny Laguna, who was based in Long Beach.

Other inductees include Ringo Starr, The “5” Royales, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Green Day, Lou Reed, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, and Bill Withers.

“It helps me realize that I really did recognize my dream and make it come true,” she said, according to the report. “I’ll be in this place, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with people I look up to. . . . I don’t think I’ll ever really understand that, that I’m somehow in the same category as all those other people. It’s still hard to rectify it and realize that it’s you. I’d rather be a little bit humbled rather than, ‘Well, of course.’ “

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is celebrating 30 years this year.

“These Inductees epitomize rock and roll’s impact over the past 50 years and continuing through today,” said Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation President Joel Peresman in December.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

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