Joan Jett berates Ted Nugent after he pans her inclusion on greatest guitarists list

She appearing on a Rolling Stone countdown in 2003

Joan Jett and Ted Nugent
Author: Scott ColothanPublished 4th May 2022
Last updated 4th May 2022

Joan Jett has hit back at Ted Nugent after he questioned her inclusion in Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Guitarists list.

During a YouTube livestream shortly before Christmas, 73-year-old Nugent took a rare break from spouting his political views to condemn Rolling Stone for including Joan Jett on their countdown almost 20 years ago.

Joan Jett appeared at Number 87 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists list in 2003, however she didn’t appear on their new countdown in 2015.

"So, I just mentioned some killer, monster guitar players, huh? Some of the best that ever lived,” Nugent said in his video last December. “When you see the Rolling Stone magazine list of greatest guitar players, they list Joan Jett but not Tommy Shaw (of Styx).”

"How do you list the top 100 guitar players and not list Derek St. Holmes? How do you do that? You do that by lying. The same way you get Grandmaster Flash in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You do that by lying. You have to be a liar.

“You have to have s--- for brains and you have to be a soulless, soulless p---- to put Joan Jett (in there).”

Nugent later defended his stance in an interview with Dave Spuria of The Real Music Observer, saying: “Joan's awesome. I mean, The Runaways. Her whole, 'Put another dime in the jukebox, baby.' I mean, she's the real rock and roll McCoy.

“But belonging on the 'top 100 guitar player' list anywhere on planet earth, even 'Boring' Stone before genuine virtuosos of the six-string? That was my statement. I was only using Joan as an example because she happens to be a perfect one."

Joan Jett

In a new interview with NME, the interviewer brought up with Joan Jett the fact that Nugent insisted she shouldn’t be on Rolling Stone’s list.

"Neither should he,” Jett replied. “Is that his implication, that he should be on the list instead of me? Well, that's just typical — it's what I've dealt with my whole life, being written off. Ted Nugent has to live with being Ted Nugent. He has to be in that body, so that's punishment enough."

She added: "He's not a tough guy. He plays tough guy, but this is the guy who s--- his pants — literally — so he didn't have to go in the army."

Nugent regaled to High Times in 1977 the story of how he allegedly dodged being called up for the army: "I just had chips, Pepsi, beer – stuff I never touched – buttered poop, little jars of Polish sausages, and I’d drink the syrup.

“I was this side of death. Then, a week before, I stopped going to the bathroom. I did it in my pants, poop, piss, the whole shot. My pants got crusted up.

"So I went in, and those guys in uniform couldn’t believe the smell. They were ridiculin’ me and pushin’ me around and I was cryin’, but all the time I was laughin’ to myself."

In a 2006 interview with The Independent he redacted the comments, saying: "You've got to realise that these interviewers would arrive with glazed eyes and I would make stories up. I never did crystal meth. And I never pooped my pants."

Commenting on Nugent’s 1977 interview, Joan Jett added to NME: “So this is the tough guy who’s running around America, stirring things up against each other.”

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts perform on the sprawling Stadium Tour with Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe and Poison across North America this summer.

The real names of famous rock stars, including Joan Jett:

Cozy Powell’s real name: Colin Trevor Flooks


Alex Lifeson’s real name: Alexandar Živojinović

'Lifeson' is a semi-literal English translation of the Yugoslavian surname Živojinović, which means 'son of life'

Ginger Baker's real name: Peter Edward Baker


John 5’s real name: John William Lowery


Yngwie Malmsteen’s real name: Lars Johann Yngwie Lannerback


Rudy Sarzo’s real name: Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont


Eric Carr's real name: Paul Charles Caravello


Vinnie Vincent’s real name: Vincent John Cusano


Tina Turner’s real name: Anna Mae Bullock


King Diamond’s real name: Kim Bendix Petersen


Joey Tempest's real name: Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson


Michael Monroe’s real name: Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm


Mikkey Dee’s real name: Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou


Jonathan Cain’s real name: Jonathan Leonard Friga


Nikki Sixx's real name: Frank Ferrano


Steven Adler’s real name: Michael Coletti


Axl Rose's real name: William Bruce Rose


Bon Scott's real name: Ronald Belford Scott


Fish’s real name: Derek William Dick


Eddie Vedder's real name: Edward Louis Severson III


Peter Criss’ real name: George Peter John Criscuola


Freddie Mercury's real name: Farrokh Bulsara


Flea's real name: Michael Peter Balzary


Perry Farrell's real name: Perry Bernstein


Geddy Lee’s real name: Gary Lee Weinrib


Mick Mars' real name: Robert Deal


Tré Cool's real name: Frank Edwin Wright III


Courtney Love's real name: Courtney Michelle Harrison


Pat Smear's real name: Georg Albert Ruthenberg


Gene Simmons' real name: Chaim Klein Witz


Spike’s real name: Jonathan Gray


Iggy Pop's real name: James Newell Osterberg, JR.


Alice Cooper's real name: Vincent Damon Furnier


Slash's real name: Saul Hudson


Mike Dirnt's real name: Michael Ryan Pritchard


Ronnie James Dio's real name: Ronald James Padavona


Brody Dalle's real name: Bree Joanna Alice Robinson


Skin's real name: Deborah Anne Dyer


Nicky Wire's real name: Nicholas Jones


Amy Lee's real name: Amy Lynn Hartzler


Bill Wyman's real name: William Perks


Izzy Stradlin's real name: Jeffrey Isbell


Paul Stanley's real name: Stanley Eisen


Vince Neil's real name: Vincent Neil Wharton


Duff McKagan's real name: Michael McKagan


Jack Black’s real name: Thomas Jacob Black


Lemmy's real name: Ian Fraser Kilmister


John Paul Jones' real name: John Baldwin


Joan Jett's real name: Joan Larkin


Eric Clapton's real name: Eric Patrick Clapp


Siouxsie Sioux's real name: Susan Janet Ballion


Rachel Bolan’s real name: James Richard Southworth


David Bowie's real name: David Robert Hayward Stenton Jones


Little Richard's real name: Richard Wayne Penniman


Sid Vicious' real name: John Simon Ritchie


Ace Frehley's real name: Paul Daniel Frehley


Lou Reed's real name: Louis Firbank


Joe Strummer's real name: John Graham Mellor


Marc Bolan's real name: Mark Feld


The Edge's real name: David Howell Evans


Meat Loaf's real name: Marvin Lee Aday


Steven Tyler's real name: Steven Victor Tallarico


Ozzy Osbourne's real name: John Michael Osbourne


Jon Bon Jovi's real name: John Francis Bongiovi


Joey Belladonna’s real name: Joseph Bellardini


Jack White's real name: John Anthony Gillis


Bono's real name: Paul David Hewson


Sting's real name: Gordon Sumner


Billy Idol’s real name: William Michael Albert Broad


Geezer Butler’s real name: Terence Butler


Pat Benatar’s real name: Patricia Mae Giraldo


Bo Diddley’s real name: Ellas McDaniel


Muddy Waters’ real name: McKinley Morganfield


Stevie Nicks’ real name: Stephanie Lynn Nicks


Doro’s real name: Dorothee Pesch


Sebastian Bach’s real name: Sebastian Philip Bierk


Joe Perry’s real name: Joseph Pereira


Jimi Hendrix’s real name: James Marshall Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix)


Zakk Wylde’s real name: Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt


Maynard James Keenan’s real name: James Herbert Keenan


Blaze Bayley’s real name: Bayley Alexander Cooke


Biff Byford's real name: Peter Rodney Byford


M. Shadows' real name: Matthew Charles Sanders


Syd Barrett's real name: Roger Keith Barrett


Chris Jericho's real name: Christopher Keith Irvine


Ginger Wildheart's real name: David Leslie Walls


Paul Di'Anno's real name: Paul Andrews


Phil X’s real name: Theofilos Xenidis


Peter Green’s real name: Peter Allen Greenbaum


Nicko McBrain’s real name: Michael Henry McBrain


Noddy Holder’s real name: Neville John Holder


Steel Panther’s real names

Michael Starr: Ralph Michael Saenz, Satchel: Russell John Parrish, Stix Zadinia: Darren Leader, Spyder: Joe Lester.

Lexxi Foxx’s real name: Travis Haley


Jet Black’s real name: Brian John Duffy


Buddy Holly’s real name: Charles Hardin Holley


Elvis Costello’s real name: Declan Patrick McManus


Rikki Rockett’s real name: Richard Allan Ream


Blackie Lawless' real name: Steven Edward Duren


Maxim's real name: Keith Andrew Palmer


Rat Scabies' real name: Christopher John Millar


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