Lita Ford

Lita Ford Artistfacts

  • September 19, 1958
  • At age 16, Lita Ford joined The Runaways, a band formed by lead singer Cherie Currie and guitarist Joan Jett. One year later, the band scored a record deal and released their debut album. Future Bangle Micki Steele was also in the group.
  • Lita Ford was born to a British father and an Italian mother in London in 1958. At the age of 4, she moved with her family to the United States and took up guitar at age 11.
  • She was briefly married to Chris Holmes, the guitarist for the band W.A.S.P. She also dated Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue.
  • In 1992, she was a member of the house band on Howie Mandel's short lived talk show, Howie.
  • In the mid '80s, Lita Ford was engaged to Black Sabbath guitarist Tommy Iommi. Iommi co-produced Ford's album The Bride Wore Black, which was never released. In an interview with metal magazine Kerrang! in 1989, Ford explained that there was "a certain amount of bad blood" between herself and Iommi.
  • The original cover for Lita Ford's 1983 debut solo album Out for Blood featured Ford standing in front of a spider web holding a broken, blood-spurting guitar. It was later replaced by a more conservative picture of Ford holding her in-tact guitar in front of a purple background.
  • Lita Ford's second album, 1984's Dancin' on the Edge, did better commercially than her debut album Out for Blood the year before. Dancin' on the Edge featured Randy Costillo on drums (who later played for Ozzy Osbourne) and Hugh McDonald on bass (who is now known as Bon Jovi's studio/session bassist.)
  • In 2010, Lita Ford contributed her voice to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game Brutal Legend. Ford appears as a character named Rima, along with fellow entertainers Jack Black, Tim Curry, Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister, and Rob Halford.
  • In 1994, Lita Ford married Nitro lead singer Jim Gillette. The couple have two sons: James and Rocco. In 2011, Ford announced that she and Gillette were divorcing, despite the fact that they had begun plans to work on a new series for TLC. The series was later dropped because of the impending divorce.
  • In our interview with Lita Ford, she explained that her home life was great, and that she was a runaway in band name only. "I think I was the only girl in The Runaways who did have a solid family," she said. "Other girls in The Runaways had families that were divorced or maybe had one parent that had passed away and the other parent remarried. My parents were the only ones that were literally till death do us part."

Comments: 1

  • Shelby from C-wood, KyLita ford is the awesomest!! She is one of the few girls that can actually play guitar and she inspired me to pick up the instrument
see more comments

Editor's Picks

JJ Burnel of The Stranglers

JJ Burnel of The StranglersSongwriter Interviews

JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Glen Burtnik

Glen BurtnikSongwriter Interviews

On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.

Dino Cazares of Fear Factory

Dino Cazares of Fear FactorySongwriter Interviews

The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.

George Harrison

George HarrisonFact or Fiction

Did Eric Clapton really steal George's wife? What's the George Harrison-Monty Python connection? Set the record straight with our Fact or Fiction quiz.

Steely Dan

Steely DanFact or Fiction

Did they really trade their guitarist to The Doobie Brothers? Are they named after something naughty? And what's up with the band name?