The long-running debate over who deserves a place among rock’s greatest guitarists has flared up once again, this time with Joan Jett delivering a blistering response to Ted Nugent’s criticism of her inclusion on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
The feud began late last year when Nugent took aim at Rolling Stone for ranking Jett among the all-time guitar greats while leaving him off the list entirely. Never one to hold back, Nugent slammed the publication’s decision, declaring:
“You have to have shit for brains and you have to be a soulless, soulless prick to put Joan Jett [on the list].”
Now, Jett has responded — and she didn’t mince words.
Speaking in a new interview with NME, the rock icon questioned whether Nugent believed he deserved a spot on the list at her expense.
“Is that his implication… that he should be on the list instead of me?” Jett asked. “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.”
But Jett wasn’t finished.
She went on to challenge Nugent’s tough-guy image by bringing up one of the most infamous stories associated with the guitarist: his claims about avoiding the Vietnam War draft.
Referring to a controversial 1977 interview Nugent gave to High Times, Jett said:
“He’s not a tough guy. He plays tough guy, but this is the guy who shit his pants — literally — so he didn’t have to go in the Army.”
During the interview, Jett even turned to her longtime manager, Kenny Laguna, asking him to help recount the story.
In the original High Times conversation, Nugent claimed he intentionally abandoned personal hygiene in an effort to make himself unfit for military service.
“I ceased cleansing my body. No more brushing my teeth, no more washing my hair, no baths, no soap, no water,” Nugent said at the time. He further claimed that he stopped using the bathroom altogether, adding, “I did it in my pants. Poop, piss, the whole shot.”
Jett used the story as a direct counter to Nugent’s public persona.
“So this,” she said, “is the tough guy who’s running around America, stirring things up against each other.”
The story has remained controversial for decades. In later years, Nugent insisted that the account was fabricated and that he had exaggerated the tale. Whether fact or fiction, the anecdote continues to resurface whenever discussions about the guitarist’s outspoken personality emerge.
As for his criticism of Jett’s place on Rolling Stone’s list, Nugent later claimed there was “no hate” behind his remarks. Still, given his long history of provocative statements, many observers remain skeptical.
The exchange serves as another chapter in rock’s never-ending culture wars, pitting two outspoken artists with vastly different public personas against one another. And if Joan Jett’s latest comments are any indication, she’s more than willing to defend both her legacy and her place in rock history.