‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’ Songwriter Alan Merrill Died of COVID-19
We’re so sad to report that singer, guitarist, and songwriter Alan Merrill has died in New York at the age of 69 as a result of COVID-19 complications.
Of course, Alan was best known for writing the track “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” which became a huge hit for Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, who topped the charts with the song in 1982.
Apparently, Alan was inspired to write the song as a reaction to the Rolling Stones’ single “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It),” as pointed out by PopCulture.com.
“I’d met Mick Jagger socially a few times, and I knew he was hanging around with Prince Rupert Lowenstein and people like that — jet setters,” he told songfacts.com. “I almost felt like ‘It’s Only Rock and Roll’ was an apology to those jet-set princes and princesses that he was hanging around with — the aristocracy, you know. That was my interpretation as a young man: Okay, I love rock and roll.”
We’re going to miss you, Alan.