Cherry Bomb (The Runaways song)

"Cherry Bomb" is the debut single by the all-female band The Runaways from their self-titled debut album, released on March 16, 1976 through Mercury Records. "Cherry Bomb" was ranked 52nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs and peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.

About the song
Rhythm guitarist/backing vocalist Joan Jett composed the song with Kim Fowley, the band's then-manager. In the documentary Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways (2005), Fowley and former Runaways lead singer Cherie Currie claimed that "Cherry Bomb" was quickly written just for Currie to audition for the band because the band members could not perform the song she originally chose to sing.

The song was included in the soundtrack for the made for the TV movie: "Dawn Portrait of a Teenage Runaway" starring Eve Plumb, in 1976. The song was also included in the film Dazed and Confused (1993), the film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), in the second episode of the Amazon Prime series The Boys (2019), in the seventh episode of the FX/Hulu miniseries Mrs. America (2020), and in the Netflix film Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (2021).

Jett re-recorded the song with her band the Blackhearts for the album Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth (1984). Cherie Currie also re-recorded "Cherry Bomb" with Marie Currie, her twin sister, on their 1997 re-released version of the album Messin' with the Boys (1980).

Personnel
The Runaways:
 * Cherie Currie - lead vocals
 * Lita Ford - lead guitar
 * Joan Jett - rhythm guitar, backing vocals
 * Sandy West - drums, backing vocals

Additional musician:
 * Nigel Harrison - bass guitar (uncredited)