Ted Nugent Reacts To Backlash Regarding Joan Jett Being Listed As One Of The Best Guitarists

After claiming that Joan Jett doesn’t belong to Rolling Stone’s list of the top 100 Guitar Players of All Time, Ted Nugent received backlash from rock and roll fans. In a recent interview, he addressed this backlash and stated that he didn’t hate on Joan but even praised her sexual orientation.

In a previous live chat on his Facebook account, Ted Nugent stated that he is the biggest music fan and addressed the Rolling Stone magazine’s ‘Of All Time’ lists. He named a few guitarists like Tommy Shaw, Derek St. Holmes, Ricky Medlocke, Dave Amato, and Dick Wagner who didn’t make it to the list and criticized the magazine for putting Joan Jett’s name before theirs.

Joan Jett has been regarded as the Queen of Rock and Roll since her emergence with The Runaways in 1975, and many think that she deserves the spot. Nugent, however, still doesn’t agree with that, and although he believes that the rocker is important for the rock and roll world, she isn’t a good enough guitar player to be put on such a list. For someone who doesn’t trust Rolling Stone’s take on rock, he still thinks she shouldn’t have made it to any list, especially when so many including himself, haven’t.

In the interview with David from ‘The Real Music Observer,’  Ted Nugent addressed his earlier comment and stated that he actually praised Jett, and he doesn’t understand why people thought he was hating on her. Nugent replied by stating that there was no hate whatsoever. While he has no problems with Jett, he repeated his previous statements by saying that ‘Put another dime in the jukebox baby’ is cool, and her sexual orientation is appreciated, but her guitar talents are not good enough.

Here is what Nugent stated about Joan Jett:

“David, are you telling me that you actually witnessed and are admitting that I started by praising Joan Jett’s genuine, shit-kicker, down-to-earth, all-American rock and roll credentials? I started by praising her, I even saluted the lesbian thing but, here’s the question David.

How on God’s green earth could someone listen to what I say and then claim it’s about hate, and about knocking and belittling. I pray. Joan’s awesome. The Runaways,I mean her whole, ‘Put another dime in the jukebox baby.’ She’s the real rock and roll McCoy. But belonging on the top 100 guitar player list anywhere on planet earth, even Boring Stone before genuine virtuosos of the sixth string… That was my statement, I was only using Joan as an example because she happens to be a perfect one.”

While opinions are welcome, especially in a creative industry like music, Nugent was criticized for favoring male guitarists and disregarding Jett’s musical capabilities while praising her for an unrelated topic such as her sexual orientation.

You can watch the interview below.