21-year-old actress Taylor Momsen, best known for her role as Jenny Humphrey on the teen drama series Gossip Girl, now leads a hard rock band called The Pretty Reckless. Momsen (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) is on tour promoting The Pretty Reckless’s latest album “Going To Hell,” which debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Top 200. The video for the album’s first single “Heaven Knows” has been seen more than 10 million times on YouTube (see below).
Momsen said in an interview with MTV that her personal influences are Kurt Cobain and Joan Jett. You can see hints of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “I Love Rock and Roll” in the “Heaven Knows” video. Momsen struts through an empty hall of a high school rocking a black leather vest Jett would be proud of. Artist Direct wrote: “The Pretty Reckless are about to set fire to rock ‘n’ roll. The genre’s been begging for an honest-to-goodnesss firestarter like Taylor Momsen for years now.”