20 Years Ago Today, Rock Music Lost the Heart of the Pioneering All-Girl Band That Launched Joan Jett’s Career

Sandy West, co-founder and drummer of the Runaways, died of lung cancer in California on 21 October 2006, aged 47. The band helped establish a place for women in rock, despite being dismissed by much of the US music industry and facing sexist abuse; its influence later reached bands including the Go-Go’s, L7 and the Donnas.

West began playing drums at nine and met Joan Jett as a teenager after producer Kim Fowley introduced them. The Runaways made their live debut in 1975, recorded four studio albums and broke up in 1979. They found greater success in the UK and Japan than in the US; after the split, West’s own band did not take off, and she largely left the music industry.