How did your favourite female rock stars get their start?

Can I get your number?

JOAN JETT received her first guitar as a Christmas present from her parents when she was 13. She began writing music immediately, took guitar lessons, but quit after her teacher kept trying to teach her folk songs. It wasn’t until her family moved to L.A. that Jett was finally able to fully pursue her music career. In 1975, Jett formed The Runaways with drummer Sandy West after they had both introduced themselves to record producer Kim Fowley - Fowley gave Jett’s phone number to West and thus, music history was made.

When Harry met Stein

DEBBIE HARRY began her music career in the late 60s, performing with the folk rock group The Wind in the Willows. She then joined The Stilettos in 1974 where she met guitarist Chris Stein. Harry and Stein eventually left the group to form their own band Angel and the Snakes, later called Blondie. The name came from Harry’s nickname.

Keeping it in the family

Throughout her childhood, ANN WILSON was extremely shy due to her stutter and so she found solace in music. In the early 70s, she joined the band White Heart. The group was eventually renamed Heart in 1974, the year that Ann’s sister Nancy joined the band. Nancy had been playing solo gigs before dropping out of college and moving to Canada to join her sister in the band.

What’s in a name?

STEVIE NICKS received her initial musical training from her grandfather Aaron Jess Nicks, a struggling country singer. They were performing duets together by the time little Stephanie Lynn Nicks was four years old. As a young child, Stephanie had difficulty pronouncing her name properly, saying “tee-dee” which evolved into “Stevie”, her nickname. On her sixteenth birthday, Nicks received a guitar and began writing her own music.  During high school she met Lindsey Buckingham who asked her to join his band Fritz. They continued working together for a number of years before joining Fleetwood Mac in 1974.

No Business Like Show Business

PAT BENATAR got involved in musical theatre in high school, playing Queen Guinevere in her school production of Camelot. With her classical music and theatre training, Benatar surprised her family and friends when she decided not to pursue classical music or musical theatre as a career but, instead, went into health education at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She eventually dropped out of the program to marry her high school sweetheart Dennis Benatar. In 1973, Benatar began pursuing her singing career after being inspired by a Liza Minnelli concert. She began working as a singing waitress at a nightclub called the Roaring Twenties before joining the band Coxon’s Army. She then became a regular performer at the Catch a Rising Star amateur night before signing a solo record contract.