After 30 years, Joan Jett won't be grounded

Quick, name this band:

They pounded the club circuit for years and released their first album independently.

They scored a breakthrough single and signed to a major label. This summer they played sold-out shows at small clubs in New York, including the now-shuttered CBGB's and were one of the headliners on the Vans Warped Tour.

It's Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, a group that's been around since the early 1980s. But doesn't Jett's bio sound like that of so many younger bands? At 48, Jett is at least twice the age of the kids she's playing to (and with), but in some ways she fits right in.

"I never subscribed to the idea that punk rock means you have to play fast and scream," Jett said. "To me, it means being a rebel, being an underdog, being outside and doing it yourself."

With a new album, "Sinner," released on her own Blackheart Records label, the time seems right for Jett to reintroduce herself to a generation that probably knows her from "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" back in the early '80s. But Jett was a "woman in rock" long before that term became a catch-phrase. And she was an independent artist years before the indie-rock trend.

"She's a total showman," says Kathleen Hannah, singer for Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, who co-wrote several songs on "Sinner." "Everyone knows she's sung 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' 3,000 times, but she can do it like it's the very first time she's sung it. That's beyond talent."

Jett was 15 when she co-founded the all-girl power-pop band the Runaways with drummer Sandy West in 1975. The Runaways raised eyebrows for their sexually charged songs ("Cherry Bomb") and also for being young females in the male world of rock.

On Oct. 21, West died of lung cancer. "We shared the dream of girls playing rock and roll. Sandy was an exuberant and powerful drummer," Jett said in a statement. "I am overcome from the loss of my friend. I always told her we changed the world."

Jett became involved in the punk scene in 1978, producing the seminal punk album "(GI)" by the Germs. Soon after, she met producer and songwriter Kenny Laguna, and the two formed an unlikely but lasting partnership.

Laguna is an old-school pop musician who worked with Tommy James and the Shondells.

"She was hanging out with Sid Vicious and Darby Crash, and she definitely showed that look," Laguna said. Jett says Laguna's pop sensibility helped temper her hard-rock instincts.

Jett wound up with a string of Top 20 hits, including "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" and "I Hate Myself for Loving You." Her charismatic presence made her a natural for MTV; in an era of dolled-up female singers such as Debbie Harry and Madonna, Jett stood out for her aggressive, masculine swagger.

There's been plenty of speculation about Jett's sexual orientation, and she likes to fan the flames. "Sinner" features a cover of the Replacements' "Androgynous" and a cheeky version of Sweet's ode to bisexuality, "A.C.D.C." (The video features Carmen Electra flirting up a storm with Jett.) And the stickers covering Jett's guitars have offered what could be hints: One was of Tinky Winky, the "gay" Teletubby; another said simply, "Dykes Rule!"

Jett won't publicly discuss her sexuality. "But I do it in my music, and I always have," she said. "If you don't know who I am from listening to my music, then you're not going to figure it out from me talking to you, either."

Includes information from The Associated Press