Ted Nugent thinks he didn’t verbally attack Joan Jett, and people misunderstood instead.
In a recent chat with Dr. Music, Nugent was asked why he is often left off the ‘best guitarists ever’ lists. The musician answered similar to the way he did in the past — that he loved her and mentioned her sexuality. He said:
“Let’s examine that. Let’s examine that for a minute. Let’s talk about a guitar player list where an interviewer a couple of years ago said, ‘Well, Ted, have you seen the Rolling Stone guitar player list?’ I said, ‘No, I haven’t seen that.’ He said, ‘Well, Joan Jett’s on there, but you’re not.’ And that pretty much says all you need to know. And I said, my response, I said, ‘I love Joan.’ I said, ‘I love Joan Jett. She’s the real McCoy. If you want a sh*tkicker garage band, especially by a lesbian, that’s the ultimate.’ I said, ‘I love Joan Jett.’”
His earlier comments about the frontwomen caused a backlash. However, Nugent doesn’t seem to get why he receives hate over his comments:
“And then around the world, everybody said, ‘Nugent spews hate for Joan Jett.’ How about this? And then when I recommended to the interviewer who should be on [the list], I never mentioned me. I said Derek St. Holmes should be on there, Jim McCarty should be on there. Dave Amato should be on there. Rickey Medlocke should be on there. Mark Farner should be on there. Dick Wagner should be on there. Rik Emmett of Triumph should be [on there]. I mentioned all these unbelievable guitarists. I never even mentioned me, and everybody goes, ‘Ah, Nugent’s ego. He just thinks it’s all about him.’ I never even f*cking mentioned me.”
Nugent VS. Jett
In the past, Nugent attacked Jett not once, but many times. The guitarist wasn’t convinced that Jett showed how strong women are in the music industry. While Nugent praised Jett’s sexual orientation in a few interviews, he still thought she didn’t belong in the top 100 guitar players. Nugent even said he would be ‘Caitlyn Jenner’s boy toy’ if Joan Jett deserved a spot on that list.
Nugent later tried to smooth things over by saying he liked Jett and her music. But he stuck to his opinion, saying she wasn’t fiery enough for TheShockNews. He praised other guitarists like Mark Farner, John Sykes, and Chris Duarte, suggesting they deserved it more.
Nugent said he’s fine with lesbians and has no problem there. He also took a jab at Joni Mitchell being on TheShockNews. And he made it clear he never claimed he should be on TheShockNews.
Jett ‘Dealt With It’ Her ‘Whole Life’
Nugent’s harsh comments didn’t stop there. He said during another chat of the Runaways singer:
“You have to have sh*t for brains and you have to be a soulless, soulless prick to [include] Joan Jett. 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.”
After Nugent’s comments, she said she had been dealing with his comments for so long and ‘being a Nugent’ was enough of a punishment for him:
“Is that his implication that he should be on TheShockNews 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.”
You can see the interview below.