When Joan Jett & the Blackhearts arrive at House of Blues Las Vegas this week, the city will be welcoming one of rock’s most enduring forces. The series of shows marks the band’s return to the Mandalay Bay venue following a successful June 2025 run.
Jett grew up during a time when rock ’n’ roll was largely off-limits to girls and women, a reality she rejected almost immediately. As a teenager, she didn’t wait for permission to play loud, aggressive music. Instead, she helped redefine who was allowed to make it. That defiance has fueled a career spanning more than four decades, eight platinum and gold albums, nine Top 40 singles, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
What makes Jett’s longevity remarkable is the intensity she maintains with her audience. “To me, it’s really about connection: musician eyeballs to audience eyeballs,” Jett has said. “You connect. You see each other… There’s understanding.” That philosophy remains the backbone of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ live shows, which are high-voltage and intensely personal.
Few artists can open a set with a song that begins with “I don’t give a damn ’bout my reputation” and have it land as both a throwback and a present-day mission statement. “Bad Reputation” still resonates because its sentiment hasn’t aged out, especially in an industry that once rejected Jett outright. After forming the Blackhearts in 1979, she and longtime producer and creative partner Kenny Laguna were turned down by 23 labels before launching Blackheart Records from the trunk of Laguna’s Cadillac. Forty years later, Blackheart has grown into a thriving entertainment company producing music, film and television while continuing to champion emerging artists.
As a producer, she helped preserve punk history, overseeing albums by Bikini Kill and producing the Germs’ landmark GI. “We’ve become so conditioned to measuring our music’s impact in dollar signs,” Jett has said, “that we can forget what it’s really about: emotion, expression, giving a voice to those that aren’t satisfied fitting into whatever box they were given.”
That mindset continues to shape her recent work. Changeup (2022), the band’s first acoustic album, stripped familiar songs to their emotional core, while 2023’s Mindsets EP offered new material forged by reflection and resilience.
Onstage, the Blackhearts still deliver the hits with ferocity. “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” ignites the room the moment Jett sings, “I saw him dancing there by the record machine,” while “I Hate Myself for Loving You” offers a sonic catharsis with its instantly recognizable opening. The group continues to tour worldwide, sharing stages with fellow rock icons including The Who, Green Day, Heart, Foo Fighters and Alanis Morissette. The band’s story was captured in Bad Reputation, the acclaimed documentary that premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
When Joan Jett & the Blackhearts take the House of Blues stage this month, audiences can expect more than a greatest-hits set. They’ll witness an artist who still believes rock ’n’ roll is about honesty and connection, and who has spent a career proving that rebellion is a lifelong practice.
Mandalay Bay. 8:30 p.m. Feb. 13-14, 18 and 20-21, starting at $76.50 plus tax and fee. mandalaybay.mgmresorts.com
Feel like a true Vegas insider with the free Vegas2Go app! Discover the best of Las Vegas—right at your fingertips. From must-try restaurants and top shows to nightlife, attractions, and offers, Vegas2Go puts the city’s hottest experiences in the palm of your hand. Download for free on either the Apple Store or Google Play Store today.
