Lita Ford never ran away from fame. Indeed, as one of The Runaways, along with Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, Sandy West and Jackie Fox, Ford for a time was a part of one of the most famous, albeit short-lived, all-girl rock 'n' roll bands.
Ford, now 56, was born in London, but moved with her parents to Los Angeles when she was 4. Inspired by the guitar skills of Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore, Ford began playing guitar at 11 and loving the music of Black Sabbath and the Santana song "Black Magic Woman."
Lita Ford/Loverboy
8 p.m. Saturday, Magic Springs & Crystal Falls Water and Theme Park, 1701 E. Grand Ave. (U.S. 70 East), Hot Springs
$59.99 day of concert; children 3 and younger admitted free and children shorter than 48 inches admitted for $36.99, as are adults age 55 and older. (Season passes are $69.99). Lawn seating included in price of admission; (reserved seating sold out for this week’s concert.) Parking costs $10.
(501) 624-0100
"When I first started putting The Runaways together, there were no female bands," says Ford, who will perform Saturday at Hot Springs' Magic Springs & Crystal Falls Water and Theme Park. "That whole experience was a mix of super highs and super lows, the way life goes, I guess. It was kind of like going to college before going out into the real world. It was in my blood, something of a gift from God, almost, to be able to play guitar."
It was an era when popular music was splintering into a variety of formats: pop, disco, punk, singer-songwriter and hard rock, also called heavy metal and even "hair metal" by some.
The Runaways broke up in 1979 and Ford spent four years out of music, working in a variety of odd jobs, including as a fitness instructor and as a perfume salesperson. She also took voice lessons and jumped back into music in 1983 with her first solo album, Out for Blood, followed by Dancin' on the Edge in 1984, Lita in 1988, Stiletto in 1990, Dangerous Curves in 1991, Black in 1995, Wicked Wonderland in 2009 and Living Like a Runaway in 2012.
Lita was her most successful album, thanks to the singles "Kiss Me Deadly" and "Close My Eyes Forever," the latter a duet with Ozzy Osbourne and a No. 8 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Ford's pursuit of her musical dreams has not been without cost. She and her second husband, Jim Gillette, who was in the band Nitro, divorced after 16 years of marriage and had two sons: James, 18, and Rocco, 5.
"Their father is raising them now," Ford says.
As for the possibility of a reunion of The Runaways, Ford says only one of the members is delaying such a project.
"Joan [Jett] is holding it up," Ford says. "She doesn't comment on that. I've sent her an email and she doesn't respond."
Meanwhile, Ford is working on a new album, targeted for release in February, and an autobiography, to be titled Living Like a Runaway, and set for release in March.
"We're in the writing phase, doing shows on the weekend and writing during the week," she says. "I tried to work with a co-writer on the book and then decided to do it myself."
Also performing Saturday will be Loverboy. The Vancouver, British Columbia, band first hit the charts with "Turn Me Loose" in 1980, followed by a succession of successful singles between 1980-87, although never a No. 1 hit: "The Kid Is Hot Tonite," "Workin' for the Weekend," "When It's Over," "Hot Girls in Love," "Queen of the Broken Hearts," "Lovin' Every Minute of It," "Dangerous," "This Could Be the Night," "Heaven in Your Eyes" and "Notorious."
Weekend on 07/23/2015