User:Jjatip14

Lita Ford From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lita Ford

Lita Ford at Jones Beach 2012 Background information Born	 19 September 1958 (age 55) London, England[1] Origin	United States Genres	Glam Metal, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock Occupations	Musician, songwriter Instruments	Guitar, vocals, drums, keyboards Years active	1975–1995, 2008-present Labels	Mercury, RCA, JLRG Entertainment, SPV/Steamhammer Associated acts	The Runaways, Joan Jett, Ozzy Osbourne, Cherie Currie Website	litafordonline.com Notable instruments B.C. Rich Warlock, Gibson Explorer Lita Rossana Ford (born 19 September 1958)[2][3] is an 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. Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Music career 2.1 The Runaways 2.2 Solo career 2.3 Hiatus and return to stage 3 Personal life 4 Other 5 Discography 5.1 Studio albums 5.2 Live albums 5.3 Compilation albums 5.4 Other appearances 5.5 Singles 6 References 7 External links Early life[edit]

Ford was born to a British father and an Italian mother in London, England. At the age of four she moved with her family to the United States, eventually settling in the Los Angeles area by the time she was in the second grade.[4] Inspired by Ritchie Blackmore's work with Deep Purple, she began playing the guitar at the age of 11. Her vocal range is mezzo-soprano.[5] Music career[edit]

The Runaways[edit] In 1975, at the age of 16, Ford was recruited by recording impresario Kim Fowley to join the all-female rock band he was assembling called The Runaways. The band soon secured a recording contract and released their first album in 1976. The band's "jailbait on the run" gimmick[6] garnered significant media attention and The Runaways became a successful recording and touring act during their late 1970s heyday. Ford's lead-guitar playing became an integral element of the band's sound until their eventual break-up in 1979. In 1979, internal conflicts were erupting within The Runaways, who had by that time already parted ways with producer Fowley, lead singer Cherie Currie, and bassist Jackie Fox. Vocalist/guitarist Joan Jett wanted the band to shift to a more Ramones-influenced punk rock sound, while Ford and drummer Sandy West wanted to continue playing the hard rock-oriented songs the band had become known for.[7] With neither faction willing to compromise, the band finally broke up in late 1979.[7] Solo career[edit]

Ford performing on 19 December 1988 in the "Olympiahalle" venue of Munich, Germany. Following the breakup of The Runaways, Ford set about launching a solo career. Her debut solo album, entitled Out for Blood, was released in 1983 and was a commercial disappointment. Her next release, 1984's Dancin' on the Edge achieved moderate success and Ford's popularity began to rise, due largely to her sex appeal with the largely male heavy metal audience. Dancin' on the Edge included the single "Fire In My Heart", which reached the Top 10 in several countries outside the US. The follow-up single, "Gotta Let Go", was a bonafide hit for Ford, reaching Number One on the Mainstream Rock charts. Ford toured extensively for the next four years while not releasing any new music. A follow-up to Dancin' On The Edge, entitled The Bride Wore Black, was recorded with Tony Iommi serving as producer, but never released. Ford claims this was because the new Mercury Records president "was a country fan and he didn't have a clue as what to do with me". The status of those recordings remains unclear; Ford has alternately stated that the unfinished album remains "sitting in my closet" and may still be released one day[8] or is "in (record) label hell! Who knows what shelf that is sitting on!"[9] Following the failure to have her third solo album released, Ford signed with RCA Records, hired Sharon Osbourne Management, and re-emerged with a more radio-friendly pop-metal sound. In 1988 she released her most commercially successful album, the self-produced Lita. The album featured four commercial hits, including "Kiss Me Deadly", "Back To The Cave", "Close My Eyes Forever", and "Falling In And Out Of Love", a song co-written by Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe. The ballad "Close My Eyes Forever", a duet with Ozzy Osbourne, remains her most successful song, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ford followed up the success of Lita with the 1990 album Stiletto. Stiletto featured the singles "Hungry" and "Lisa" (a song dedicated to her mother). However, the album failed to match the success of her previous release. Ford's next release was 1991's Dangerous Curves on Spitfire Records, which featured her last charting single to date, "Shot Of Poison". Ford's final album prior to a lengthy recording hiatus was Black on the German ZYX label. Hiatus and return to stage[edit]

Ford performing on 27 June 2009. By the mid-1990s, Ford placed a reduced priority on her music career as she turned her attention towards raising her two young sons. Following the release of Black in 1995, Ford did not release new material until the Wicked Wonderland album almost fifteen years later. In June 2008, Ford re-emerged with a new band, playing several warm-up gigs under the moniker Kiss Me Deadly prior to Rocklahoma in the New York City area.[10] In June 2009, she began touring the United States and Europe with a new line-up consisting of current Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal, Bumblefoot drummer Dennis Leeflang, and Deepfield bassist PJ Farley. After a long recording hiatus, Ford released the new album Wicked Wonderland on October 6, 2009, on the JLRG Entertainment label.[11] In an interview with ExclusiveMagazine.com, Ford spoke about her new material: "I just wanted to kick ass! I don't know what's popular, or the flavor of the day. I just wanted the music to rock! The lyrics are very personal and that's it. I wasn't going to come out in sandals with hairy armpits!".[12] In May 2011, Ford promised to release a "real comeback album" later in the year, saying that 2009's nu metal-inspired Wicked Wonderland, was too much of a collective project with ex-husband Jim Gillette. "A lot of people have told me that they want a real Lita Ford album, and I know what they mean. They are going to get it," she was quoted as saying at the time.[13] The album Living Like a Runaway was released in June 2012 on on SPV/Steamhammer Records. True to her word, the album was much more in line with her earlier work. The title is also celebratory, as Ford had recently settled differences with her former Runaways' bandmates.[14] Personal life[edit]

In the mid-1980s, Ford was briefly engaged to be married to guitarist Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath.[15][16] Iommi co-produced her album The Bride Wore Black, an album which was never released. Ford said in a 1989 interview with Kerrang! magazine that "there's a certain amount of bad blood between Tony (Iommi) and I". Ford was married to W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes in the early 1990s for a short time; the pair divorced and Ford began dating former Nitro vocalist Jim Gillette in 1994. The couple were married after knowing each other for only two weeks. They have two sons, James and Rocco Gillette. The family moved to Turks and Caicos, where Gillette operated a small building and real estate developing business.[17] In a February 2011 radio interview, Ford acknowledged that she and Gillette were divorcing.[18] The family were in negotiations for a reality TV show, tentatively titled "The Gillettes: An Extreme American Family" on TLC. The couple's impending divorce ended any plans for the television show. In a March, 2011, interview on the Classic Rock Revisited website, Ford claimed that she had taken a business trip to Los Angeles to discuss the reality show with TLC executives, and returned home to find her husband and sons not speaking to her. She also claimed that her sons physically attacked her, encouraged by Gillette, which was when she decided to divorce him.[19] Other[edit]

During her solo career, Ford was endorsed by musical instrument manufacturer B.C. Rich and exclusively used several of the brand's guitars, most notably the Warlock. Ford had a small role in the 1992 horror/comedy film Highway to Hell playing a character called "The Hitchhiker". Ford was also asked by VH-1 to join the cast of the seventh season of the reality television program The Surreal Life in 2007. She declined.[citation needed] Ford contributed her likeness and voice to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC video game Brütal Legend. She appears as the character Rima, alongside Jack Black, Tim Curry, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Halford, and Lemmy Kilmister. Her song "Betrayal" is also one of the 100+ songs that appear in the game. In 2010, a major Hollywood motion picture chronicling the career of Ford's first band, The Runaways, was produced. Ford was portrayed by actress Scout Taylor-Compton in the movie, entitled The Runaways. Ford is featured extensively in the 2005 documentary film Edgeplay: A film about The Runaways, in which she spoke candidly about her time in the all-girl band. Among other things, she alludes to verbal and sexual abuse endured by the band members at the hands of their management, specifically Kim Fowley. In 2013, Ford re-united with former Runaways band mate Cherie Currie to record a Christmas single.[20] The single ties into work Currie and Ford are both doing on behalf of Toys For Tots, a charity run by the U.S. Marine Corps, which gives holiday toys to poor children. Discography[edit]

See also The Runaways discography. Studio albums[edit] Year	Album details	Peak chart positions	Certifications (sales threshold) UK [21]	US [22]	US Indie [23]	NZ [24]	SWE [25]	SWI [26] 1983	Out for Blood Release date: 1983 Label: Mercury Records —	—	—	—	—	—	1984	Dancin' on the Edge Release date: 1984 Label: Mercury Records 96	66	—	—	—	—	1988	Lita Release date: February 1988 Label: RCA Records 58	29	—	45	—	—	US: Platinum[27] CAN: Gold[28] 1990	Stiletto Release date: 1990 Label: Spitfire Records 66	52	—	—	36	26	1991	Dangerous Curves Release date: October 1991 Label: Spitfire Records 51	132	—	—	—	—	1995	Black Release date: February 14, 1995 Label: ZYX Records —	—	—	—	—	—	2009	Wicked Wonderland Release date: October 6, 2009 Label: JLRG Entertainment —	—	38	—	—	—	2012	Living Like a Runaway Release date: June 19, 2012 Label: SPV / Steamhammer Records —	—	-	—	—	"—" denotes releases that did not chart Live albums[edit] Greatest Hits Live! (2000) Kiss me Dealy - Live (pink vinyl LP - Cleopatra Records cat # CLP 2036 (2007) The Bitch is Back... Live (scheduled for release on October 22, 2013, in North America) Compilation albums[edit] The Best of Lita Ford (1992) Greatest Hits (1999) Platinum and Gold Collection - The Best of Lita Ford (2004) Nobody's Child (2012) Other appearances[edit] " Herman's Head Season 2 Episode 24 "Love Me Two Timer" May 2, 1993 as herself "I Want To Be Loved" with "LOU" on The Other Side (2005) "I'll Be Home for Christmas" with Twisted Sister on A Twisted Christmas (2006) "Brütal Legend" Video Game (2009) "Big Time Rush" Big Time Moms Mothers Day Special 2011, appearing as herself Guest appearance on Geoff Tate's version of Queensrÿche's Frequency Unknown (2013) Singles[edit] Year	Single	Peak chart positions	Certifications (sales threshold)	Album US [29]	US Main [30]	NZ [31]	UK [21]	SWE [32] 1983	"Out for Blood"	—	—	—	—	—		Out for Blood "Dressed to Kill"	—	—	—	—	—		Dancin' on the Edge 1984	"Fire In My Heart"	—	—	—	—	— "Gotta Let Go"	—	—	—	94	— 1988	"Kiss Me Deadly"	12	40	21	75	—		Lita "Back to the Cave"	—	22	—	—	— 1989	"Close My Eyes Forever" (with Ozzy Osbourne)	8	25	16	47	14 US: Gold[33] "Falling In and Out of Love"	—	37	—	—	— 1990	"Hungry"	98	14	—	76	—		Stiletto "Lisa"	—	—	—	—	— 1991	"Shot of Poison"	45	21	—	63	—		Dangerous Curves 1992	"Playing with Fire"	—	—	—	—	— "Larger Than Life"	—	—	—	—	— 1995	"Killin' Kind"	—	—	—	—	—		Black 2009	"Crave"	—	—	—	—	—		Wicked Wonderland 2012	"Living Like A Runaway"	—	—	—	—	—		Living Like A Runaway 2012	"Mother"	—	—	—	—	—		Living Like A Runaway 2013	"Rock This Christmas Down" (with Cherie Currie)	-	-	-	-	-		Single Only "—" denotes releases that did not chart References[edit]

Jump up ^ http://www.biography.com/people/lita-ford-17169494 Lita Ford biography Jump up ^ "Lita Ford." Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 9. Detroit: Gale, 1993. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ "Lita Ford." Almanac of Famous People. Gale, 2011. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ Ramirez, Carlos (April 25, 2012). "Lita Ford on Her Wild Teenage Days in '70s Southern California". Noisecreep. AOL Inc. Retrieved June 10, 2012. Jump up ^ Martin, Bill (2002). Pro Secrets Of Heavy Rock Singing. Sanctuary Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 1-86074-437-0. Jump up ^ "The Runaways - Television Tropes & Idioms". Tvtropes.org. Retrieved 2012-12-28. ^ Jump up to: a b Sherman, Dale. 20th Century Rock And Roll : Women In Rock. Collector's Guide Publishing, inc, p53 Jump up ^ "Lita Ford Interview". Sleaze Roxx. 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2012-12-28. Jump up ^ "Exclusive Magazine". Anne Carlini. Retrieved 2012-12-28. Jump up ^ "Eddie Trunk". Eddie Trunk. Retrieved 2011-10-09. Jump up ^ Price, Jason (2008-11-12). "Lita Ford: The Next Chapter In Her Rockin' History". Live-Metal.net. Retrieved 2010-03-14. Jump up ^ Russell A. Trunk. "Lita Ford - 'Desert Island Diva!'". Exclusive Magazine. Retrieved 2010-09-05. Jump up ^ "Blabbermouth.net - Lita Ford: New Video Interview Posted Online". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2012-12-28. Jump up ^ Greg Prato (2012-06-18). "Album Premiere: Lita Ford, 'Living Like a Runaway' | Music News". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-12-28. Jump up ^ "IMDB Page- Tony Iommi". Retrieved 2011-07-26. Jump up ^ "Lita Ford History: Sleaze Roxx". Retrieved 2011-07-26. Jump up ^ "Colonies and Territories". Outpostmagazine.com. 2009-03-20. Retrieved 2011-10-09. Jump up ^ "Lita Ford interview". Ultimate-guitar.com. 2011-01-26. Retrieved 2011-10-09. Jump up ^ "Lita Ford interview". Classicrockrevisited.com. Retrieved 2011-10-09. Jump up ^ Lita Ford & Cherie Currie - 2013 Christmas single ^ Jump up to: a b "Chart Stats - Lita Ford". chartstats.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2010. Jump up ^ "Lita Ford Album & Song Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved September 17, 2010. Jump up ^ "Lita Ford Album & Song Chart History - Independent Albums". Billboard. Retrieved September 17, 2010. Jump up ^ "charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal". charts.org.nz. Retrieved September 17, 2010. Jump up ^ "swedishcharts.com - Swedish charts portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved September 17, 2010. Jump up ^ "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community". hitparade.ch. Retrieved September 17, 2010. Jump up ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - September 17, 2010: Lita Ford certified albums". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 17, 2010. Jump up ^ "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved September 17, 2010. Jump up ^ "Lita Ford Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved September 17, 2010. Jump up ^ "allmusic ((( Lita Ford > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Allmusic. Retrieved September 17, 2010. Jump up ^ "charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal". charts.org.nz. Retrieved September 17, 2010. Jump up ^ "swedishcharts.com - Swedish charts portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved September 17, 2010. Jump up ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - September 18, 2010: Lita Ford certified singles". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 18, 2010.