PARK CITY, Utah — Their Order of Canada is probably safe. But Joan Jett says members of Rush were anything but polite Canucks when the Runaways opened for them in the 1970s.
In the new film biopic about the band titled The Runaways, Jett (played by Kristen Stewart) is derided by an unidentified rock group they’re opening for. She later retaliates by breaking into their dressing room and urinating on one of their guitars.
Jett doesn’t hesitate to identify the real-life inspiration for the scene.
“Rush! They sat on the side of the stage and laughed at us,” Jett says. “That sort of stuff pisses me off.”
Of course, plenty of critics and musicians dismissed the Runaways as “jailbait rock” at the time.
Recalls Jett, now 51: “Initially people would laugh at us and go, ‘That’s cute.’ But then when they realized we were serious, they’d get nasty.”
The Runaways, which premiered at the Sundance film festival, opens in theatres in March.
