Lita Ford is an American musician who first rose to fame as the lead guitarist of The Runaways in the 70’s. Encouraged by her mother to pursue her musical interests, she took up the guitar when she was eleven years old. Almost immediately after laying her hands on the instrument, she wrote and composed her first songー”a fancy Spanish piece” as he mother later recalled. Growing up, she regularly exposed herself to music but was especially fond of the bands Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Recognized for her talents, Ford was eventually invited to join an all-girl rock band called The Runaways in her teen years; taking the opportunity, she soon found herself acting as the group’s lead guitarist. Together, the girls released their debut album, The Runaways in 1976 under Mercury Records. A hit upon its release, it garnered The Runaways much positive attention as an up-and-coming rock band at the time.
Throughout the the rest of the 70’s, the all-girl band released three more albumsーmany of which charted in multiple countries. To date, some of The Runaways’ best known songs include Queens of Noise, Hollywood and Cherry Bomb. After the dissolution of the group in 1979, Ford made the decision to embark on a solo music career in the 80’s. Signing with their previous label Mercury Records, the former lead guitarist released her debut solo album, Out For Blood in 1983; she later followed up with a second album release the next year entitled, Dancin’ on the Edge, which ultimately saw more success than the first record. Altogether, Ford has released over half a dozen studio albums throughout her solo career; the most successful being that of the self-titled Lita which was made available in 1988.
Shortly after the release of her second album, Ford received her first Grammy Award nomination for the category of “Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Female Artist” in 1985. Since then, she’s also received another Grammy Award nomination for her 1991 hit Shot of Poison and a MTV Video Music Award nomination for her 1988 classic, Kiss Me Deadly. Aside from her musical endeavours, the artist also received some screen-time on television when she was featured exclusively in the 2005 documentary, Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways, which chronicled the history of the all-girl rock band that she was a member of. More recently in 2015, Ford was also a contestant on the reality cooking show, Chopped.
So what has the music artist been up to nowadays? Where has her work brought her these past few years? What happened to Lita Ford? Where is she now in 2024?
Lita Ford’s Early Life and Musical Beginnings with The Runaways
Around that time, she was eventually approached by a few girls that invited her to join their rock band, The Runaways. Taking the opportunity to be part of a novel, all-girl music group, she soon joined the band and became their lead guitarist; other original members included singer and bassist Micki Steele, drummer, Sand West and rhythm guitarist, Joan Jett. After gathering all the members together, The Runaways secured a recording deal with Mercury Records in the mid 70’s and went off to work on the first album; the self-titled, The Runaways was later released in June 1976. Climbing in popularity after its release, the band embarked on an American tour and performed countless sold-out concerts.
Lita Ford and Her Time with The Runaways
The following year, Ford and her bandmates released their second studio album entitled, Queens of Noise in January 1977. Although it was essentially a hard rock album, it incorporated many other influences from blues rock, heat metal as well as punk rock. While many consider it to be comparable to that of their debut work, the album is noted for putting much greater emphasis on both musical sophistication and volume. The Runaway’s best performing album in the United States to date, it consisted of ten tracks, a handful of which were co-written by Ford. Commended for its “improved studio sound” by contemporary music critics, Queens of Noise peaked at number 172 on the US Billboard 200 and at number twenty eight in Sweden. The album went on to spawn one single, Heartbeat which made its way to number 110 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in the US.
Coming out with two full-length albums in one year, The Runaways released their third studio album, Waitin’ for the Night in October 1977. Their first record to feature the girls as a quartet, it was fairly successful in Europe although it failed to be a major hit in their native United States. Given a modest C+ rating from the “Dean of American Rock Critics” Robert Christgau, its hard/punk rock track-list consisted of ten songs, two of which were composed by Ford. Waitin’ for the Night saw the most success in Sweden where it reached number thirty-four on the Albums Chart shortly after its release. One single, School Days was later released as a single; although not an overnight sensation, it did go on to peak at number twenty-nine on the Ultratop 50 Belgian Singles Chart.
Prior to their dissolution in the spring of 1979, the all-girls group released one final studio album entitled, And Now…The Runaways. Distributed via Polydor Records and Cherry Red Records in the US and UK respectively, it was known for including more glam-rock oriented sounds in its track-list compared to their preceding album. Produced by John Alcock, And Now…The Runaways showcased a total nine songs, one of which featured Ford as its lead vocalist (e.g. I’m a Million). Although the album failed to chart, it was given a modest three star rating from critics at Allmusic. A few years after its original release in 1981, the record was re-issued as a picture-disc under the name, Little Lost Girls.
Lita Ford’s Eventual Solo Music Career
It wasn’t until the spring of 1988 that Ford received a break in her solo music career with the release of her third studio album, Lita. Her first record with RCA Records, it was met with favourable reviews upon its release; it currently holds a four and a half star rating from the UK based Kerrang! Magazine. Largely a hit, the self-titled album peaked at number twenty-nine in the US Billboard 200 chart and also reached number forty-two and forty-five on the Canadian and New Zealand Albums Chart respectively. In addition to the success of the album, it also spawned several single hits including Close My Eyes Forever, Kiss Me Deadly, Falling In and Out of Love and Back to the Cave; Close My Eyes Forever eventually became the best-performing song, having peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. Her most successful album to date, it has received Platinum certification from the RIAA for selling over a million copies in the US as of 1989.
What’s Lita Ford Doing Now in 2024 – Recent Updates
Lita Ford hasn’t released any new albums in many years (her most recent release is Living Like a Runaway in 2012). She was, however, recently featured in Ace Frehley’s cover album, Origins, which came out in 2020. The two had worked together on a cover version of The Beatles’ Jumping’ Jack Flash. While it didn’t reach the top of the US music charts, it did peak at number 9 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums and number 14 on Billboard’s Top Independent Album.
Will she ever release a new solo album? The answer is yes. According to a 2019 interview, she’s been putting the finishing touches on her new album, which she’d hoped to release in 2022. It’s currently unknown whether or not that’ll still happen as there hasn’t been any recent news on the project.
She’s also performed several concerts over the past couple of years. In 2021, she participated in the M3 Rock Festival alongside several other artists. She also performed at various venues across the United States including the Beaver Dam Amphitheater in Beaver Dam, Kentucky, Key West Amphitheater in Key West, Florida, and the Genesse Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois. And before the pandemic had gotten out of hand in 2020, she performed with Alice Cooper at the Miller High Life Theatre.
Fast forward to 2024 and it’s been announced that she’ll be taking part in the Live to Rock Tour (also featuring Warrant, Quiet Riot, and Skid Row). In total, there will be 10 concerts, with the first one kicking off on April 30th at the Paramount Arts Centre in Ashland, Kentucky. From there, they’ll travel across the country to perform in Florida, Ohio, Indiana, California, and several other states.
They’ll also be making a stop in Canada to perform at The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor in Windsor, Ontario before returning to the US for their final show on September 15. Those who are interested can purchase tickets from her official website. Also, according to her, there will be new guitar designs and VIP meets and greets at most of their upcoming concerts.
It’s also worth mentioning that she’ll be participating in the Rock Fest Cadott 22, which will take place on July 13th. As far as we can tell, she’ll be joined by Firehouse, Islander, Warrant, Paralandra, Versus Me, and Otherwise. And in 2023, she’ll be making an appearance at the H-E-B Centre at Cedar Park in Texas alongside Dokken.
For those who’d like to stay in touch with the artist, you can follow her on Instagram (@litafordofficial). She’s also active on Twitter (@litaford) where she has over 202K fans. There’s her official website and Facebook page as well for those who are interested.
