Cherie Currie was born on November 30, 1959, in Los Angeles, California. A pioneering musician, Currie was the front-woman for the seminal girl band, The Runaways, whose hard-charging sound helped define rock ‘n’ roll in the late 1970s.
Currie met Joan Jett and Sandy West when they needed a singer for a band they were forming, and they liked Currie’s looks and her attitude. A short audition followed, and when it was over, the 15-year-old Currie was asked to join the band—The Runaways. After their debut record’s release in 1976, the group’s popularity began to soar, and their influence on female rockers remains evident today.
Faced with this new reality, and the anger and frustration they felt toward their parents, Cherie and her twin sister, Marie, turned to rock music and the scene around it. They found a second home of sorts at a place called the Sugar Shack, a teen-centric club in North Hollywood and landing place for a number of British bands on tour in the U.S.
From there, the story takes a seemingly improbable turn. During one visit to the Sugar Shack, Currie, as the story goes, met Kim Fowley, a record producer and band manager, and Joan Jett, a guitarist and songwriter. Jett and her fellow bandmate, drummer Sandy West, needed a singer for a band they were forming. They liked Cherie's looks and her attitude. A short audition followed, one in which Jett quickly penned "Cherry Bomb", a song that would come to define Currie and serve as an anthem for The Runaways. When it was over, the 15-year-old Currie was asked to join the band.
"I was thrust into fronting a band," she later recalled. "I'd never really sang. I'd never been on stage with a live band. It was like being in the center of a hurricane, everything was moving so fast."
Currie met Joan Jett and Sandy West when they needed a singer for a band they were forming, and they liked Currie’s looks and her attitude. A short audition followed, and when it was over, the 15-year-old Currie was asked to join the band—The Runaways. After their debut record’s release in 1976, the group’s popularity began to soar, and their influence on female rockers remains evident today.
Faced with this new reality, and the anger and frustration they felt toward their parents, Cherie and her twin sister, Marie, turned to rock music and the scene around it. They found a second home of sorts at a place called the Sugar Shack, a teen-centric club in North Hollywood and landing place for a number of British bands on tour in the U.S.
From there, the story takes a seemingly improbable turn. During one visit to the Sugar Shack, Currie, as the story goes, met Kim Fowley, a record producer and band manager, and Joan Jett, a guitarist and songwriter. Jett and her fellow bandmate, drummer Sandy West, needed a singer for a band they were forming. They liked Cherie's looks and her attitude. A short audition followed, one in which Jett quickly penned "Cherry Bomb", a song that would come to define Currie and serve as an anthem for The Runaways. When it was over, the 15-year-old Currie was asked to join the band.
"I was thrust into fronting a band," she later recalled. "I'd never really sang. I'd never been on stage with a live band. It was like being in the center of a hurricane, everything was moving so fast."
