Joan Jett jettisons involvement with Rocky Horror CD

Rocker Joan Jett, who wowed crowds as the evil maid Columbia in the revival at Circle in the Square of The Rocky Horror Show, will not be appearing on the cast recording, reports the New York Post. She had initially agreed to do the project with the understanding that she and her manager, Kenny Laguna, would be among the producers of the album. Show producer Jordan Roth, however, shopped the album idea around to several labels and at the last minute signed with RCA, which would have nothing to do with Jett and Laguna as producers. They also wanted to pay her less. RCA states, “We wanted her on the album, but we wanted her to be what she was: a member of the cast. She wanted a lot of money and a lot of creative control for an album on which she would only have three verses and a guitar solo.” A source close to the show says, “You cannot cheapen Joan, disrespect her, go back on your word, or be cavalier about her value to an album and still have Joan Jett.” Jett’s understudy, Kristen Lee Kelly, recorded the album with the cast recently, though there was no report on how she felt about doing so while some of the cast was wearing Joan Jett and the Blackhearts T-shirts in solidarity with the slighted singer.