The City of Brookhaven announced Joan Jett and the Blackhearts as the concert headliner for the 2022 Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival, taking place Saturday and Sunday, March 26 and 27, at Blackburn Park at 3493 Ashford Dunwoody Road in Brookhaven. Admission is free.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will take the stage Saturday, March 26. Additional performers will be announced soon. The 2022 Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival is the first major event of the Metro Atlanta festival season.
“Once again, our partnership with Live Nation in booking another homerun has paid off tremendously,” said Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst. “Stay tuned for more exciting announcements about the concert stage.”
Joan Jett grew up during a time when rock ‘n’ roll was off limits to girls and women, but as a teenager, she promptly blew the door to the boys’ club right off its hinges. After forming her band the Blackhearts in 1979, with whom Jett has become a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, she has had eight platinum and gold albums and nine Top 40 singles, including the classics “Bad Reputation,” “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll,” “I Hate Myself For Loving You,” and “Crimson and Clover.”
With a career that has spanned music, film, television, Broadway, and humanitarianism, Jett remains a potent force and inspiration to generations of fans worldwide. As a producer, she has overseen seminal albums by Bikini Kill, and the Germs’ LA punk masterpiece “GI.” Jett and co-founder Kenny Laguna — her longtime producer and music partner — founded Blackheart from the trunk of Kenny’s Cadillac after countless rejections from no less than 23 labels.
Forty years later, Blackheart is a thriving entertainment company producing music, film and television, and continues to champion emerging bands. Jett and the Blackhearts continue touring the globe with headlining shows alongside fellow rock legends like The Who, Green Day, Heart,and Foo Fighters.
After two COVID-19 postponements, the group will return to the road in summer 2022 for The Stadium Tour with Def Leppard, Motley Crue and Poison. “Bad Reputation,” a documentary about Jett’s life, premiered to critical acclaim at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and is now available for streaming.
“I’m so excited that Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival is returning to Blackburn Park this year,” said District 1 Councilmember Linley Jones. “This event has become a cherished venue for the community to come together, celebrate spring, enjoy the cherry blossoms and listen to great music!”
This year’s festival will also bring back favorites such as the Artists’ Market, Kidz Zone, Pet World, Classic Car Show, and food trucks.
The Brookhaven Cherry Blossom 5K will take place on Saturday, March 19. For more information about the Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival, visit www.BrookCherryFest.org, and Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @BrookCherryFest.