Sony Music Entertainment and Legacy Recordings, a division of SME, have entered into an historic new agreement with Blackheart Records, the groundbreaking American music label founded in 1980 by rock icon Joan Jett, legendary songwriter/producer Kenny Laguna and Meryl Laguna. The new SME/Legacy/Blackheart pact covers the worldwide rights to Joan Jett's recorded music catalog, including indelible classics and global hits such as "I Love Rock 'N' Roll", "Crimson And Clover", "Bad Reputation", "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" and more. Legacy Recordings is making a variety of Joan Jett titles available for the first time on streaming services and digital service providers today, September 7. The first wave of Legacy's Blackheart Records releases includes Jett's studio classics "Bad Reputation", "I Love Rock 'N' Roll", "Glorious Results Of A Misspent Youth", "Sinner", "Pure And Simple" and "Unvarnished"; the compilation albums "Flashback", "Fetish" and "Greatest Hits"; and special editions of "I Love Rock 'N' Roll 33 1/3 Anniversary" and "Joan Jett - The First Sessions". These new releases join Joan's four SME catalog titles already online — "Good Music", "Up Your Alley", "The Hit List" and "Notorious". Under the terms of this historic new agreement, the entire Joan Jett catalog — singles, albums, music videos, concert films, etc. — will be available under the SME/Legacy umbrella and released in digital and physical formats. As part of this unique partnership with Blackheart Records, The Thread Shop, Sony Music Entertainment's in-house merchandising company, will administer Joan Jett's exclusive merchandising rights, retail licensing and e-commerce on a worldwide basis. Carianne Brinkman, vice president, Blackheart Records, said: "Blackheart is excited to be working with Sony Legacy, particularly as we enter into the streaming space with the Blackheart Records catalog, including the JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS catalog in its entirety. They are the best at what they do and understand the brands and artists they work with. We feel it is the perfect partnership." "The music of Joan Jett — raw, real and uncompromising — has been an essential part of the pop culture landscape across four decades," said Richard Story, president, SME Commercial Music Group. "Sony Music and Legacy Recordings are both honored and thrilled to be part of the Joan Jett saga and look forward to bringing her music and attitude to future rockers." Legacy Recordings acquisition and release of the Joan Jett catalog precedes the upcoming theatrical release of "Bad Reputation", director Kevin Kerslake's much-anticipated documentary film, which opened to rave reviews at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The film chronicles Joan Jett's extraordinary life and career, from her arrival on the scene as an iconoclastic punk rock pioneer in the 1970s through her evolution as musical role model/chart-topping hitmaker with THE BLACKHEARTS in the 1980s-1990s-2000s to her induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2015. Distributed by Magnolia Pictures in North America, "Bad Reputation" will play one night only in special theatrical engagements across the country on September 26, and open for full theatrical runs in New York and Los Angeles on September 28, when it will also launch on iTunes, Amazon and On Demand everywhere. Theatrical engagements of the film will feature 10 minutes of never-before-seen bonus footage of Joan Jett that can only be seen in theaters. Under the new agreement, Legacy/Blackheart will release the "Bad Reputation" soundtrack album on September 28. The career-spanning soundtrack premieres a new JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS track, "Fresh Start", alongside definitive live and studio performances by JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS as well as tracks featuring THE RUNAWAYS, BIKINI KILL, members of THE SEX PISTOLS, and more. The album includes "Androgynous", an unreleased track performed by Miley Cyrus, Laura Jane Grace and Joan Jett. In addition to the JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS catalog, titles covered under the SME/Blackheart acquisition deal include recordings by EVIL STIG (featuring Joan Jett), Cherie Curie, FEA, JACKKNIFE STILETTO, GIRL IN A COMA, THE DOLLYROTS, THE VACANCIES, THE CUTE LEPERS and THE EYELINERS as well as "various artists" compilation albums, including "A Blackheart Christmas" and "Laguna Tunes". JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS have created an unforgettable catalog of iconic recordings that can be heard around the world every day on radio as well in zeitgeist — capturing TV and motion picture soundtracks ranging from "Baby Mama", "Kick Ass", "Shrek" and "Easy A" to "Once Upon a Time", "Nashville", "CSI", "The Muppets", "True Blood", "Jessica Jones" and "The Sopranos" to Steven Spielberg's most recent science-fiction feature "Ready Player One". Jett's music has been used in a variety of commercials including campaigns for Target, Volkswagen, Hyundai and others. An archetypal profoundly influential musician who's been called "the godmother of punk" and "the original Riot Grrrl," Joan Jett blew open the gates of rock and continues to inspire new generations of cultural revolutionaries. Photo credit: Roger Erickson
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