This week, we are talking with Cherie Currie, the lead vocalist of The Runaways — first and foremost a powerful, hard-rocking in-your-face band from the late 1970’s that spawned classic songs such as “Cherry Bomb” which VH-1 has called one of the greatest hard rock songs of all time. But The Runaways were something more. They were one of the first all-female teenage rock bands that included and launched the careers of fellow future rock icons Joan Jett and Lita Ford. Building on the strength of artists such as Tina Turner, Suzi Quatro, Grace Slick and Janis Joplin, The Runaways looked every sexist stereotype of young women in rock and threw it back in our face as they commanded the stage. And in doing so they helped kick open the doors for every artist who was told they couldn’t succeed, and provided a powerful example to every female artist who was told that women can’t rock.
Their legacy continues as shown in the 2010 movie The Runaways. And Currie continues to work as a musician, with the 2020 digital release of her album Blvds of Splendor on Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records label. The album features performances by Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, Duff McKagan, Slash and Matt Sorum of Guns N Roses, among others. And Currie has expressed her creativity in several art forms, including acting, drawing and chainsaw woodcarving.
How did Currie do it? She shares with us her approach to her creativity and her life – her trust and faith in her “inner voice.” Scientists have long debated whether it is optimal for us to make decisions by conscious and deliberate thought process, or by using what might broadly be referred to as intuition, a more subconscious “gut” reaction. Currie feels that the inner voice is what connects us with ourselves and others. “We all have a connection,” Currie told me. “I’m a very strong believer on listening to that inner voice.” And she explained to us how that inner voice has helped drive her creativity, her connections to her family and friends, as well as her coping with frightening and difficult trauma in her life.
