Suzi Quatro believes she deserves a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — and after more than half a century of breaking ground for women in rock, she has certainly paid her dues.
When the 22-year-old Quatro released her first single, “Rolling Stone,” in 1972, she was a rock and roll outlier. Propelled by Peter Frampton’s guitar playing, the song may only have been a commercial success in Portugal, but Quatro was doing something far more significant: beating down a door that had long been locked for women rockers.
The bass player and vocalist, full of rock’s trademark attitude, has been recognized as the world’s first “Rock Chick”, inspiring a generation of female-powered acts to follow in her wake. The Runaways and Heart are two vital examples, while Joan Jett has recalled being inspired by Quatro because “she had the guts to get on stage and play” at a time when women were grossly underrepresented in rock.
Nearly 55 years after “Rolling Stone” introduced her to the world, Quatro is still going strong, as defiantly punk and Detroiter as ever. She has enjoyed — and sometimes endured — a chaotic career, one she was happy to regale in a new interview with the Guardian.
And some of her stories demonstrate exactly the kind of professional resolve that has kept her onstage for more than half a century. For Quatro, the golden rule has always been simple: whatever happens, the show must go on.
“We were doing a show once, going down a storm, and I had a section with the drummer,” Quatro, a trained percussionist, remembers. “Then the P.A. blew, and all the audience could hear were drums. We looked at each other and went, ‘Right, let’s go!’
“So, we did a 15-minute drum solo together, because whatever happens onstage, the golden rule is you have to make it work. Everybody thought it was part of the show.”
She has had to improvise through considerably more embarrassing situations, too. Quatro says most of her fan interactions are great, but there are always exceptions.
“A couple of years ago I was coming out to do my final song, and everybody had their hands up for a high-five,” she recalls. “So did a little bit of that, and one girl grabbed my hand, held on to it with a death-grip, and tried to pull me off the stage. I tried to pull back, and my entire jumpsuit ripped, right across my ass.”
Eventually, she broke free and shuffled back toward her onstage monitor, where she — “very professionally!” — finished the song sitting down.
“As soon as the song was over, the monitor guy came and put a towel around my waist, and I walked off,” Quatro adds. “I wish I could find that girl because I would love to give her a piece of my mind. I was really upset.”
The incidents are funny in retrospect, but they also speak to the attitude that has defined Quatro’s career. She has spent decades proving that she belongs onstage, and she has no intention of stopping until she feels she can no longer deliver at her own standard.
Freedom is her latest studio album. It’s her 18th solo album overall, and her first since Face to Face, a collaborative record with KT Tunstall in 2023. As the title suggests, she isn’t ready to have her wings clipped yet.
“When I was 35, a journalist stupidly asked me, ‘When are you going to retire?’” she remembers. “I said, ‘I will retire when I go on stage, turn my back on the audience, shake my ass, and there’s silence.’”
The sentiment hasn’t truly changed some 40 years later, although Quatro has updated the punchline.
“When I got to 65, I said, ‘I will retire when I go onstage, turn my back on the audience, and my ass shakes by itself’,” she laughs. “I’m 76 now, but at 75 I gave my final quote on this subject, and it was serious — I will retire when I go on stage and do not deliver to my standard. When I feel that, I’m done.”
That distinguished, generation-inspiring career has led many fans to call for Quatro’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Quatro herself says it would be a “no-brainer.” Yet she has never even received a nomination, while Oasis and Iron Maiden were among those getting the nod in the British-heavy class of 2026.
Debbie Harry and Chrissie Hynde are also notable members of Quatro’s fan club, having followed the path she blazed in the 1970s. With more than 55 million albums sold, the case for recognition is one Quatro clearly feels is worth making.
Still, after everything she has endured onstage and off, she isn’t letting the omission stop her.
“It used to bother me, but now I’ve read up on lots of people who aren’t in it, and I’m in good company,” she says. “I just hope they’re not waiting for me to die so they can do it posthumously.”
