Lita Ford, One Tough Runaway & Possible Diva for Good Reasons?

When the word "diva" comes to mind (in Rock or Metal) one name stands out, that name is Lita Ford. Well, when you have an album titled, The Bitch is Back, then there must be a reason? But, in the case of Lita Ford; in what ways was or wasn't she one of the top "Metal" or "Hard Rock" divas, and looking into her past are there reasons for her possible behavior?

You may know of Lita Ford from when she was with a band called The Runaways. But, where did it all begin for her? This Metal or Hard Rock diva was born in London England in September of 1958. but was raised in Los Angeles, California. Her full name is Carmelita Rosanna Ford, thus where the name "Lita" comes from. Her parents were both Europeans, the mother from Italy and her father from England. (Much like myself) she was uprooted and brought to the states when she was around four years old. But, musically she picked up guitar first when she was around 11 and would start playing in bands in her teens that apparently played parties and events around the Long Beach area.

Later on, she tried out for The Runaways when she was 16. At the time, their producer or manager was Kim Fowley (who was allegedly charged with raping the bassist Jackie Fuchs, however one would have to verify if there is truth to that.) The band was of course later fronted by the also famous and successful guitarist & vocalist, Joan Jett, she would later form Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. Well, when Ford tried out she did well enough for Sandy West (drummer at the time) and Jett to enlist her in the rebellious and wild punk band. But, at the time Cherie West was the main vocalist and Jackie Fox was on bass duties. Later on, in 1976 the debut album of the band The Runaways would be "exposed."

After the band had put out around five works and Mrs. Ford had her stint with the band, she would begin her solo career and then she would run into the more "Hard Rock" and "Heavy Metal" side of music. Before that she partook in voice lessons and other jobs, like seller of perfume and instructor of fitness. Her solo album in 1983, Out for Blood. 

The year after saw the reveal of her next album, Dancin' On The Edge. However, it would be some time after that she would put out another album.

In 1988 her album Lita, which could also be her most popular album, was put out in 1988. In this work was her famous song, "Close My Eyes Forever" with none other than Ozzy Osbourne, and the song would peak as a top 10 single. A video was played on MTV's The Headbanger's Ball, for example: on 10/14/89 Adam Curry with "Michael Monroe" or Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm of Hanoi Rocks hosted an episode, which had the lineup of videos by: Skid Row, Mr. Big (with Paul Gilbert, check out his guitar work); Banshee, Cinderella, Extreme, Dangerous Toys, D-A-D / Disney After Dark, Dirty Looks, EZO, Badlands, Mötley Crüe, Princess Pang, Fates Warning, Scorpions, Michael Monroe, Kix, Megadeth, Dokken, Lääz Rockit, Faster Pussycat, King's X, Roxx Gang, Winger, L.A. Guns, Babylon A.D., Steve Jones (of the Sex Pistols), Cats In Boots, Van Halen, Killer Dwarfs, and Icon, etc. Needless to say that at the time she was in the "Glam Rock or Metal" genre of music and was getting more known through the song and the album. It also did help that "Glam Rock or Metal" was a popular genre of music.

After that however, she would not do much (as far as non-live albums, etc. was concerned) until 2009's Wicked Wonderland album. But first, there was a promo for that called. A Taste of Wicked Wonderland.

Okay, now that we have gotten past the nice pictures and such, in what way is she a diva, you might ask? Well, her personal life is where that can be evident, but before we get into that, more information on her might be required to perhaps shed light on why or why not she might be a diva.

In the 80's she married and later divorced Chris Holmes, W.A.S.P. guitarist, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, and would later do the same with Jim Gillette of the (underrated in my opinion), band Nitro. This is where accounts of her most "diva nature," (if you will), are. The main accounts are in the marriage with the Nitro guitarist, where she had her kids and where most of the actions were made public, true or not.

Her album, The Bitch is Back was released in 2013.

First off, you should know that Mrs. Ford put out a book called, Living Like A Runaway: A Memoir, in February 23rd of 2016. in the work she mentioned that her Rock N' Roll lifestyle debuted with an abortion around the age of 16 and would later involve street fights, etc. As well, she mentions that Tony Iommi was abusive in their relationship, among other things. Now, with that in mind we can look at what the media portrays her as. There is also an album Living Like A Runaway as well that was released back in 2012.

Back to the fact that she had two children, James in 1997 and Rocco in 2010. Well, the couple had been having marital problems and divorced around 2011, but later apparently the oldest son stated that Lita was a child abuser and that he wanted to remain with the father, who after years of fighting, has custody of the children. However, Lita responded by making a page on the internet called, "Lita Ford's Parental Alienation Awareness." However, later on James had an interview with a magazine or website called, "Metal Sludge." Here is some of what he supposedly stated,

"We have not been kidnapped. We live with our dad and have every right to. Thankfully we never have to see our mother again and we have the legal paperwork to prove it. By the way, I’m 18 and can live wherever I want, with whoever I want, and I choose to live with my dad. Our mother is a child abuser. She was violent, threatening, and tried to make my brother and me hate our dad. Her attempts at parental alienation were constant and never ending. When we didn’t agree with her she would become livid and out of control. We told child services, the sheriffs department, and many court appointed professionals that our mother was crazy, violent, and we were afraid she would someday kill us in a fit of rage. Our mother said horrible things about our dad all the time. She even said things about me and my brother. She called us “fucking faggots” because we used to sit with our dad and watch movies. Our mother threatened to have us thrown in a Foster home and said we’d never see our dad again. Why? Because we told her we didn’t want to be with her and she was angry we told all the professionals that she beat us. She also threatened us and said she would have our dad thrown in jail for the same reasons."

Now with this in mind, the alleged actions of Mrs. Ford are leaning towards a diva that is fighting to get her way. But, this is a case of "he said she said" the children and the father are siding with each other here though. The father did at one point provide copies of an official Sheriff's report and one of Florida's Broward County court, the documents appear to have backed the statements that the father and children had given. Lita had been posting about the matter for some time online, and while doing so she had called out the grandfather of the children along with the U.S., Africa, and Canada, etc. as being connected or accountable for behaviors related to the matter.

But, on the opposite side, word is that Mr. Gillette has been taking steroids and if claims that the domestic violence were Jim's fault, then this could provide reason for that. Lita had been saying that the husband was brainwashing the children against her and that her children were effectively kidnapped. She had put out a song called "Mother" which may deal heavily with these events in her life.

All in all, the life and situations that Lita Ford has been involved in are difficult. The purpose of this article was not to choose a side in any of these matters, but from the actions that Gillette and the children are accusing her of, these actions seem befitting of a "diva" personality in my opinion. How is Mrs. Ford relevant currently? Well, as of April 1st to August 14th of 2016 she will be touring with her band. They are: Patrick Kennison (guitar here, The Union Underground, and Heaven Below); Bobby Rock (drums for here, Nelson, Slaughter, Alcatrazz with Graham Bonnet (of Rainbow & the Graham Bonnet Band) & Gary Hoey, Vinnie Vincent Invasion, Stu Hamm Band, Monster Circus with Dee Snider, Rare Earth, Carnival of Souls, Hardline, Scrap Metal, Michael Angelo Batio, Brett Garsed, T.J Helmerich, Bob Kulick (guitarist that was on the "Sweet Victory" song for the Spongebob Squarepants TV show, among other works of course); Neil Zaza, Carl Carter, and Bill "The Buddha" Dickens, etc.), and Marty O'Brien (who did bass here. He has done work for: Smile Empty Soul, Emissary (from Rhode Island), Pre)Thing / PreThing, 3Faced, Meat Riot, Against All Will, Gus G. (Firewind), Ben Moody (Evanescence, We Are The Fallen, worked with Anastacia, his solo work, and so on); Deadsy, Kilgore, We Are The Fallen, Heaven Below, Methods of Mayhem, The Violution, A World With Heroes: Kiss Tribute Album, Tommy Lee, Jason Hook, Tina Guo & Al DiMeola, Rob Decoup, Andy Ost, Ed Vick, Jason Charles Miller, John Marble, Brian McKnight / MYA, Celine Dion, Lesley Roy, Hana Pestle, Kelly Clarkson, Nina Ferraro, and Lindsay Lohan. She is still playing live, and despite of all of the media and name-calling she will be known for her involvement with the controversial and influential band, The Runaways to her solo project, and known not only in the Punk and Rock genres, but also in Metal as well. You can determine as to what kind of star for yourself and also, should there be any weight to her accusations, did she develop these traits (or not) from her past abuse or did she allow life to "runaway" from her?

(The pictures used were taken from the internet. The links to them can be provided if need be.)