As the music industry reels over a bombshell lawsuit accusing Bob Dylan of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old, some can’t help but recall the infamous, horrific rumors about many a rock star whose alleged dirty deeds destroyed the lives of star-struck young girls.
“These [rock stars] have exceptional privilege and are used to getting what they want — when they want,” Jackie Fuchs, the former bass guitarist in Joan Jett’s all-girl teenage band the Runaways, exclusively told The Post.
Fuchs — whose stage name was Jackie Fox when she strummed the bottom line on “Cherry Bomb” with the band unethically marketed as “jailbait rock” in the mid-’70s — said the sense of privilege can often extend to sex with vulnerable underage girls and those barely above the age of consent.
“They see a cute girl and think ‘I need this to happen’ because their every need is fulfilled. They’re attracted to their innocence and it’s easy as they’re not going to get challenged,” Fuchs, now 61, said.
‘They see a cute girl and think “I need to this happen” because their every need is fulfilled. They’re attracted to their innocence.’
Jackie Fuchs
“They’re going to take their pleasure and not have any demands placed on them.”
Dylan, whose representatives deny the claims, has been accused of plying an unnamed tween with drugs and alcohol ahead of the alleged assault in 1965.
Now an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles, Fuchs noted that, while unproven, the alleged actions of the “Blowin’ in the Wind” crooner can’t help but draw attention to a sickening aspect of the music scene.
Fuchs, who claimed in 2015 that she was raped at the age of 16 by the Runaways’ now deceased manager, Kim Fowley, said exploitation of young fans has been common for decades — along with other demands.
“They can be in the middle of nowhere at 3 a.m., tell someone they’re in the mood for a New York pizza and the person is expected to make that happen,” Fuchs said.
She praised Dylan’s accuser for coming forward after 56 years due to New York’s 2019 Child Victims Act. The law allows sexual assault survivors with long-ago claims that have passed the statute of limitations to take legal action and hopefully achieve some closure.
‘The music industry has not yet had its day of reckoning by the #MeToo movement, but it is going to happen.’
Jackie Fuchs
But Fuchs warned that victim shaming remains an issue as defense lawyers for the wealthy and powerful ask questions in court including why the girl “put herself in that position,” what she was wearing and, outrageously, whether she was a virgin.
“You’re allowed to be star-struck and swayed by the charisma, which probably propelled [the rock musician] to fame in the first place, but you also have the right to say no [to sex],” Fuchs said. “When someone is underage, they might not have had the emotional maturity to even know they could say ‘stop.’”
Still, she hopes the publicity surrounding the Dylan suit will inspire exploited women to expose ruthless male performers who believe they are above the law.
“The music industry has not yet had its day of reckoning by the #MeToo movement, but it is going to happen,” said the attorney.
Fuchs would not comment on the specifics of Dylan’s case — fans claim he was touring England at the time of the alleged assault of the minor — but stressed that the predatory behavior of rock ‘n’ roll’s elite can wreck lives.
Here, The Post presents boldface names whose allegedly shameful sexual proclivities have inspired many a chorus of “It Ain’t Me Babe” across the decades.
Elvis Presley
Throughout his career, the King from Memphis, Tennessee, tried to hide his interest in underage girls as much as his drug use and wacky food choices. One of his first girlfriends was a minor called Dixie Locke, who was seven years his junior at 15. Then, in 1959, when he was 24, he ditched his more age-appropriate love, Hollywood starlet Anita Wood, to date his future wife Priscilla Beaulieu, then 14. The pair began to co-habit two years later but Priscilla claims they didn’t have sex before their marriage six years later in 1967. Priscilla told interviewer Barbara Walters: “I can only go back to his concept of what he wanted in a woman. Somewhere in his past, he wanted a virgin.”
It’s been reported that Priscilla and Dixie weren’t the only teens Elvis was attracted to. In his book “Elvis Presley: A Southern Life,” author Joel Williamson claims the star brought three 14-year-olds on tour with him. He supposedly encouraged them to wrestle, tickle and kiss him.
Jerry Lee Lewis
One of the most shocking scandals involving cradle-snatching rock stars was the marriage of the “Great Balls of Fire” singer to Myra Gale Brown, the daughter of his cousin and bass player, J.W. Brown. Myra’s dad was unlikely to have been thrilled at the time, in 1957, since the bride was only 13, some nine years younger than the groom.
The union was discovered almost by accident after a curious British reporter asked Myra who she was during Lewis’ first-ever tour when she was part of his entourage. She replied: “I’m Jerry Lee’s wife.”
The brouhaha about the underage marriage drastically affected Lewis’ career. He was booed off stage while performing in New York and his record sales stalled. Soon, he was blacklisted. But he eventually revived his career and regained much of his popularity. The musician, now 85, divorced Myra, his third wife, 12 years after their wedding and went on to tie the knot no fewer than four more times.
David Bowie
Lori Maddox has repeatedly claimed that she lost her virginity to the late megastar at the age of 14. The Ziggy Stardust singer was 22 at the time in the early ’70s. Maddox — then known as Mattix — was involved with the so-called “Baby Groupies” of Los Angeles and met him at one of the nightclubs they frequented.
According to the now-62-year-old, Bowie pursued her but she initially rejected him. However, despite her young age, she maintains they had sex a few months later when she ended up in his hotel room. This led to an alleged threesome with another underage girl, Sable Starr.
In an interview with Thrillist in 2015, Maddox said she had no regrets about her early encounter. However, she was less sanguine when quoted in a 2018 article in the Guardian when the #MeToo movement was at its peak. She said: “I don’t think underage girls should sleep with guys … I wouldn’t want this for anybody’s daughter. My perspective is changing as I get older and more cynical.”
Jimmy Page
In 1972, when he was 28, the Led Zeppelin guitarist had sex with Lori Maddox, then 14, the same teen who allegedly lost her virginity to Bowie, per a 2015 NPR article.
According to an article earlier this year in the Phoenix New Times, Maddox claims Page had band manager Richard Cole “kidnap” her and later present her to him like a gift. She said they were at a glitzy restaurant when Page told her he was “going to be with me.” When she said no, Cole bundled her out of the venue and told her to “get in the bloody car and, if you move, I’ll have your head.”
According to Maddox, she was driven to a hotel where she was pulled into one of the rooms where Page was waiting. “I told you I’m gonna have you,” she claims he told her. The musician’s alleged controlling nature continued and Maddox later said that Page would often keep her locked in a room with a security guard watching her. “I wasn’t really allowed to go to very many places with him,” she said.
Bill Wyman
Rolling Stones bassist Wyman caused a furor in the UK in the early 1980s when he first met 13-year-old Mandy Smith in a London nightclub. The ensuing relationship, approved by Smith’s parents, was played out on the front pages of the nation’s newspapers.
There was a 34-year age gap between the rocker, then a divorced father of one, and Smith, whom the tabloids dubbed “the original wild child.” Smith claimed she had sex with Wyman when she was 14 and the pair married in June 1989 when she was 18. They separated after two years and divorced two years later.
In a 2010 interview with the Daily Mail, Smith, then 40, expressed regret about the past. “You can never get that part of your life — your childhood — back,” she said. “I never could.”
In common with Maddox, she believes the age of consent should be raised to 18 — it’s 16 in some states and in the UK — at a minimum.
“And some girls aren’t even ready then,” she said. Smith also acknowledged that times have changed. “If it happened today, [Wyman] would be absolutely vilified by the press. He’d be in jail.”
R. Kelly
The musician who has created the most repulsion over his treatment of young girls is R. Kelly. As a rising producer, he allegedly illegally married 15-year-old singer Aaliyah in 1994 — charges Kelly has denied. The starlet, who tragically died in a plane crash 20 years ago, was more than a decade his junior. Showing his contempt for the law, he named her debut album “Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number.”
The marriage was annulled after her family found out about the union along with a horrified public. Then, in 2002, Kelly was charged with 21 counts related to child pornography, mostly involving a 14-year-old girl. However, he walked free from court in 2008.
His fortunes changed after the 2019 broadcast of gritty Lifetime documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly,” in which multiple women came forward with shocking allegations of abuse.
The outcry led to the singer-songwriter being dropped by his record label and indicted for a number of alleged federal sex crimes including human trafficking, child pornography, racketeering and obstruction of justice. At the age of 54, he is about to stand trial Wednesday in Brooklyn.