Joan Jett & The Blackhearts are the latest band to decide to pack up their road gear and wait out the pandemic. Yesterday (September 22nd) — which was incidentally Jett's 63rd birthday — she posted a message to fans announcing the Blackhearts were postponing their upcoming gigs.
Jett will now close out 2021 next Tuesday, September 28th in Huntington, New York at The Paramount. She'll be back on the road starting June 22nd, 2022 as part of “The Stadium Tour” with Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, and Poison, when the jaunt kicks off at Atlanta's SunTrust Park.
Joan Jett posted on Facebook:
It’s been a thrill to be back on tour recently. We all missed being on the road, playing for the fans and playing together again. The continuing surge of COVID cases due to the Delta variant should be of concern to all of us. While we are fully vaccinated, we are still being extremely cautious to protect our fans, our crew and everyone else that work so hard to put on our shows.
For that reason, we have decided to postpone the remaining performances that were planned for 2021. We’re disappointed to have to take this step but we feel it is necessary to protect the health of everyone.
Joan Jett feels that after all this time, there's too much novelty placed on the fact that female rockers exist in a male-based industry: “I don't find that there's any difference whether or not you're female or male — that has nothing to do with whether or not you can play music! I mean, girls play cellos and violins in symphony orchestras — so why can't a girl play a guitar? We try to put out the best values for kids to pick up on; hard work, y'know, determination, do what you believe in doing, don't let people push you around. Y'know, things like that.”