Lita Ford (born September 19, 1958) is an English-born American rock guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, who was the lead guitarist for The Runaways in the late 1970s before embarking on a solo career in the 1980s. (More from Wikipedia)
Initially the Runaways was a power trio with the other member being bassist Micki Steele. Lead guitarist Lita Ford was added shortly afterward; she had auditioned to be the new bass guitarist. Cherie Currie was added as the lead vocalist. After Steele was fired, Peggy Foster took over on bass and was replaced after a month with Jackie Fox.
Another former Runaway, Lita Ford became prominent in heavy metal in the 1980’s; her manager was Sharon Osbourne. Ford had a hit single with “Kiss Me Deadly”; she and Ozzy Osbourne (Sharon’s husband) recorded one of the great heavy metal duets in 1988, “Close My Eyes Forever” (included on her third album Lita). Lita Ford married Chris Holmes of the controversial heavy metal band W.A.S.P.
The bandmembers in the Runaways were all young girls when the band was formed – much as “runaways” are in real life – and several went on to successful musical careers, among them Joan Jett, Micki Steele (later in the Bangles), and heavy metal chanteuse Lita Ford.
Two of the bandmembers were also featured in major motion pictures; Cherie Currie appeared in the 1980 film Foxes and also (with Vicki Blue) in the 1984 cult classic This Is Spinal Tap.
I wrote about the Runaways in some detail about a year ago, so I won’t say too much more about them now. But I will mention this. I have previously noted that their first album, The Runaways listed the bandmembers’ ages on the back cover. For the record, they are a little older than I had remembered (or at least they were by the time the album was released): Joan Jett (16), Sandy West (16), Cherie Currie (16), Jackie Fox (16), and Lita Ford (17).
(January 2015/1)
