{"id":547950,"date":"2026-04-24T08:42:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T08:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/547950\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T08:42:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T08:42:22","slug":"i-hate-to-see-whats-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/547950\/","title":{"rendered":"I hate to see what’s coming"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Don't<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ Joan Jett)<\/p>\n

Thu 23 April 2026 14:47, UK <\/p>\n

Joan Jett<\/a>. Joan fucking Jett. Is there any one name as powerfully associated with rock? Even saying it captures the feeling. It\u2019s punchy, it\u2019s fun, it\u2019s fiery, it\u2019s literally everything rock and roll is, and everything Jett herself is. Still is.<\/p>\n

In this day and age, though, rock fans have had to become accustomed to being let down. So often, the icons who were once beacons for rebellion and liberation, who built a legacy off outspoken activism, have fallen into nothing but apathy. Case in point? John Lydon, Roger Daltrey, Gene Simmons. Get some money into an ageing rock star, and all too often the anarchy falls away.<\/p>\n

But despite her hard-earned success<\/a> in a hyper-male-dominated industry at a time when misogyny, exploitation and mistreatment were commonplace, Jett remains open, vocal and connected.<\/p>\n

Jett\u2019s passion hasn\u2019t faded; it has only been rearranged. There are moments where the 16-year-old version of herself that first launched with The Runaways<\/a> appears, especially when discussing her upcoming shows in the UK, which will be her first in over 15 years. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we always had great shows there,\u201d she said of the band\u2019s 1976 tour of the UK<\/a>, adding, \u201cThey could be pretty boisterous, which is good, you know, as long as nobody gets beat up,\u201d daring to admit that maybe she always preferred UK crowds, that they seemed to simply \u2018get it\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"Don't<\/a>(Credits: Far Out \/ Joan Jett)<\/p>\n

But in other moments, she appears analytical, like a historian for herself, as she contemplates in equal measure to reminiscing. \u201cThe Runaways had a different career in the UK than we did in the States,\u201d she tells me. \u201cI think in the States, we had an OK career, but the record industry didn\u2019t want to know. In England, I felt that the music scene was much more aware of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something that I always noticed from my time in The Runaways, or just being a music fan, that in the UK, it seems like the kids, certainly during the early punk rock stuff<\/a>, were much more plugged in to politics than American kids were.\u201d In these chaotic and divided times, many of Jett\u2019s old peers prefer to avoid political topics, but she goes straight to the point. <\/p>\n

She speaks with a sense of responsibility for her younger self, her present self and the broader world around her, knowing there is no separation between art and the world we are living in \u2013 just as The Runaways arrived in the UK when punk was emerging and rallying against classism, economic struggle and the incoming era of Thatcherism<\/a>, she is equally aware of the climate she is making music in today. A few days before our conversation, an ICE agent shot and killed civilian Ren\u00e9e Good. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith American kids, it wasn\u2019t really about politics initially, but it became that. Now I think that people are having that same thing, where politics is becoming all-encompassing,\u201d she said. At a time when you have Kiss\u2019 Gene Simmons outright saying \u201cDo your art and shut up\u201d,<\/a> Jett is a vital antidote.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if you aren\u2019t a political person, or don\u2019t want to be a political person, it is forcing its way into people\u2019s lives,\u201d she declared, stating that things need to reach a breaking point, but for that to happen, people have to start paying attention and stop pretending it does not affect them. \u201cIt still needs to reach a critical mass to make anything change, which I think is a scary proposition because it\u2019s still a while away, and I hate to see what\u2019s coming.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Don't<\/a>(Credits: Far Out \/ Joan Jett)<\/p>\n

With genuine fear for her country in her voice, she adds, \u201cThat\u2019s what we have to wait for. I don\u2019t even know how to speak about it yet, but it\u2019s pretty, pretty horrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s not all talk. Jett is as actively involved in the fight now<\/a> as she always has been, using the platform for good as she said a while back on the Music Makes Us Podcast, \u201cSaying \u2018shut up and sing\u2019 has never really been what musicians or artists do, from way on back.\u201d In fact, politics and the state of the world are her main inspirations right now. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really do anything specific to stay inspired. I just stay plugged into life,\u201d she said, \u201cIt\u2019s kind of crazy to put today\u2019s stuff in context, so that\u2019s been inspiring to want to get back to the music and do things that are joyful, even if sometimes they\u2019re about heavy subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s also what has drawn her back onto the road, as if to check in on everyone. \u201cTo be part of people\u2019s interior dialogue is pretty special and a unique thing,\u201d she offered, recalling all the times people have said, \u201c\u2018Your music has got me through the worst times of my life\u2019, or some of the best, most beautiful times of people\u2019s lives.\u201d Decades on, Jett is still enamoured with her view from the stage, \u201cThat\u2019s what I love most, is to be out on stage visibly seeing people enjoying themselves, and I\u2019m looking forward to it very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Usually, when asked the question of whether performing still feels the same after so many years, a familiar reply rolls around: that the energy and the thrill never fade. Instead, Jett grows serious: \u201cI know too much now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Don't<\/a>(Credits: Far Out \/ Joan Jett)<\/p>\n

While her career could have made her cold, she\u2019s simply allowed it to make her wise and forthcoming with that wisdom, telling me, \u201cThere\u2019s just a thing that comes when you\u2019re young, and I was definitely naive about a lot of things.\u201d She distils her experience into advice with sincerity, continuing, \u201cYou know, you got to have common sense, and you got to be able to take care of yourself. I wish I knew then what I know now, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jett has a clear determination not to do what some of her peers have \u2013 she refuses to grow cynical. She said, \u201cI want to believe, because what else is there to be? You know, otherwise you\u2019re just a nihilist and waiting for everything to just be destroyed, and that\u2019s not any fun.\u201d With politics floating back in as it lingers on her mind, she adds that it would also be adding to a wider, dangerous issue \u2013 \u201cWe\u2019re getting a taste of that now, and nobody likes it.\u201d<\/p>\n

So rather than nihilism or pessimism, Jett happily takes on her role as a sage. She offers wisdom in abundance \u2013 \u201cI think you\u2019ve got to stay in the moment. All our brains race ahead or race to the past. You know, you\u2019re worrying about the future, or going, \u2018Oh shit, what just happened?\u2019 Or, \u2018Oh, I wish I could do that again\u2019. If you\u2019re never right here, right now, then you miss all the great shit when it happens,\u201d she revealed as life lesson one. <\/p>\n

For the second, \u201cIt\u2019s just really important to be present and be kind. I\u2019ve learned you don\u2019t get anywhere by being anywhere else, or at least I wouldn\u2019t want to be anywhere else. Kindness goes a long way. Even if you don\u2019t notice its effects right away, it lasts. The other way, hate, it just burns you up like acid inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a time when \u2018don\u2019t meet your heroes\u2019 is growing more apt with each sigh-inducing headline, Joan Jett is a figure who restores faith, urging her fans to carry it forward and keep on going with wisdom and passion as their guard and sword.<\/p>\n

Joan Jett will be arming those fans during her first UK tour in 16 years this summer. <\/p>\n

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